| Sol No.: |
Navy SBIR FY2012.2 |
| Topic No.: |
N122-129 |
| Topic Title: |
Retractable Advanced Mooring System (RAMS) |
| Proposal No.: |
N122-129-0928 |
| Firm: |
Mide Technology Corporation
200 Boston Avenue Suite 1000
Medford, Massachusetts 02155-3502 |
| Contact: |
Marthinus Schoor |
| Phone: |
(781) 306-0609 |
| Web Site: |
www.mide.com |
| Abstract: |
Retractable mooring fixtures are a critical component on the flight deck of a DDG51 class Navy ship. The chocks and bitts must be recessed below the deck level for helicopter operations, while reliably and easily deployed for mooring situations. The current mooring fixtures do not stand up to the highly corrosive environment of the flight deck and the lack of maintenance reduces the reliability of their performance. Mid�'s Retractable Advanced Mooring System (RAMS) aims to make the mooring fixtures corrosion resistant to reduce/eliminate required maintenance and increase the reliability so they can easily be deployed when necessary. Eliminating maintenance allows for reduced manpower while also lowering the lifetime cost and extending the overall life of the fixtures. RAMS will also ease the deployment of the mooring fixtures, allowing for simplified and reliable use. Mid� proposes to leverage its success with bulkhead shaft seals on the DDG51 class ship to further reduce unnecessary maintenance on the ship so that focus and time can be spent on more critical operations. Mid�'s knowledge of sealing in highly corrosive environments and ability to simulate those functions using in-house test equipment makes RAMS a strong candidate to solve the current problem for the Navy. |
| Benefits: |
Corrosion resistant and low maintenance retractable mooring fixtures would be a valuable asset to the DDG51 Class of the Navy along with other ship classes that have helicopter flight decks. The increased reliability and reduced maintenance costs may also make them desirable to other ships to created more deck space when the ship is not moored. The system could also enter the commercial ship industry in both applications. The technology developed in this program could then be applied to other various applications on both Navy and commercial ships where equipment is exposed to the same highly corrosive environment. |