SYNTHETIC LINE HARDWARE

TERMINATIONS AND OTHER "HARDWARE" THAT ARE USED FOR ANCHORING, GRIPPING OR HANDLING SYNTHETIC FIBER LINES ARE AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT IN THE OPERATIONAL SUCCESS OF THESE LINES. SIZE, WEIGHT, LACK OF ENGINEERING DATA AND QUESTIONABLE RELIABILITY OF CURRENT EQUIPMENT HAS RESULTED IN LESS THAN OPTIMUM UTILIZATION OF SYNTHETIC FIBER LINES. THE PROPERTIES OF SYNTHETIC LINES ARE HIGH STRENGTH, LOW WEIGHT, ELASTICITY, CORROSION RESISTANCE AND FLEXIBILITY ARE HIGHLY DESIRABLE FOR MANY MILITARY APPLICATIONS. CONSIDERABLE DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR HARDWARE FOR THESE LINES SINCE ADAPTATION OF WIRE ROPE TECHNOLOGY HAS PROVED UNSATISFACTORY. THIS PROGRAM PROPOSES TO: GATHER AND QUANTIFY RELEVANT DATA FROM CURRENT OPERATIONS, CONDUCT A DESIGN FEASIBILITY STUDY, DEFINE HARDWARE FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT AND TO PRESENT A PLAN FOR THAT DEVELOPMENT. LIGHTWEIGHT COMPOSITE FIBER MATRIX STRUCTURES WILL BE EXTENSIVELY INVESTIGATED.