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Surface Flotation Device for Cold-Water Aviation Survivors
Navy SBIR 2012.1 - Topic N121-009 NAVAIR - Ms. Donna Moore - [email protected] Opens: December 12, 2011 - Closes: January 11, 2012 N121-009 TITLE: Surface Flotation Device for Cold-Water Aviation Survivors TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Human Systems ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA 299 OBJECTIVE: Develop a surface flotation device for aviation survivors that is more durable, lighter, and less bulky than existing devices and that provides protection from exposure to cold water. DESCRIPTION: Global threats make flying over cold water a hazard that is increasingly faced by all military aviators. Ditching the aircraft is one of the most dangerous exigencies, as death can occur in mere minutes from immersion hypothermia. The best chance of surviving ditching is offered by surface flotation devices. Survival in cold water is dependent on not drowning, staying alive until rescued, and being found. These functions are currently performed by a combination of the life preserver, dry suit, and life raft. All three components are minimum-required survival equipment for all services, but the life raft is the most versatile and functional component of the cold water survival triad. Less costly, lighter, less bulky, and more durable surface flotation devices are a chronic and documented need. A plethora of Naval messages, multiple Operations Advisory Group/Naval Air Requirements Group submissions, and deficiency reports indicate that current surface flotation devices have logistical shortcomings that overwhelm their survival benefit. The aviation life raft and life preserver have not changed significantly in more than fifty years. In routine use, inadvertent or failed inflation has been reported, and in cold temperatures, CO2 cannot expand rapidly, creating slow or partially filled conditions that jeopardize boarding, stability, and buoyancy. Current life rafts are increasingly aircraft-specialized and logistically costly. Usually, a specific raft must be developed for the space that is grudgingly designated for the raft. With different raft types come different CO2 bottles; different manifolds with different inspection cycles and procedures; and different spares, repair parts, and consumables. This fracturing of demand across myriad rafts and spares often results in persistent supply deficits caused by sporadic contract awards that cannot keep up with demand. Current life rafts are chronically heavy and bulky. Because inflatable life rafts are built to withstand improvised stowage, crash damage, and long sea exposures, they can weigh more than 100 lbs., and their packed dimensions can be very bulky and sometimes exceed the dimensions of the escape hatch. Logistically, the opportunity cost of carrying rafts equals the commensurate amount of fuel, ammunition, or other cargo that must be left behind in order to make room for the raft. Current life rafts are also difficult to deploy and very hard to board. Swimming through an escape hatch with a man-mounted raft, or wrestling a multi-place out of the aircraft, is often possible through only one exit: the main door, which, to say the least, can be crowded in an emergency. Despite the addition of boarding aids, getting into the raft remains one of the most difficult survival tasks. A primary reason is that it is designed to be so; in order for a raft to keep water out, it must have high sidewalls. The inflated life preserver lobes act just like boat fenders, obstructing access and mobility to (as well as visibility of) the sidewalls. Deflating the jacket lobes is often necessary to allow boarding, an ironic burden and threat to the survivor. The goal of this project is to develop a surface flotation device for aviation survivors that is less costly, lighter, less bulky, and more durable than existing devices and that provides protection from exposure to cold water. Innovative approaches involving the leveraging of the marine environment, use of novel buoyancy media, and consolidation of surface flotation components are sought. The device should be able to maintain a user�s body core temperature = 95 �F and hand skin temperature = 60 �F for 4 hours immersion in turbulent 32 �F water; provide the survivor with egress from the underwater aircraft (i.e., inherent system buoyancy not to exceed +175N) and mobility and flexibility to perform water survival procedures without impediment (i.e., minimum flotation buoyancy of +275N); achieve deployed form in < 60 sec (ideally, 15 sec); and maintain intact flotation in rough seas for 72 hours. A one-size-fits-most (small female to large male) device is desired, with the capacity and ability to include survival aids typically stowed in life raft packs now (e.g., water desalinators, signaling devices, bailing aids). The device should also enable survivor-capable repair while in water that lasts for 72 hours. In regard to the mission, the device should be able to withstand an 11-hour flying time in routine ambient conditions (0 �F to 120 �F); provide resistance to environmental contaminants (e.g., sand, petroleum, oil, lubricants, solar radiation), prolonged exposures to temperature extremes of �20 �F to +140 �F, mold, mildew, flame, and salt fog; and ensure compatibility with current military gear and equipment required to be worn with military dry suits, such as armor, masks, gloves, helmets, and boots. The device should also be nontoxic to skin and have a low propensity to sudden static discharge or exposed surfaces. PHASE I: Design a concept of a surface flotation device that provides protection from cold water exposure. Verify that the concept can meet the requirements provided in the description as well as in ISO-15027-3, MSC.81(70), and AIR STD 61/102/20 through analysis and limited laboratory demonstrations. Provide cost and reliability estimates. PHASE II: Develop, demonstrate, and validate a prototype surface flotation device based on the design concept created in Phase I. Demonstrations should be performed on human subjects in controlled immersions in compliance with the requirements provided in Phase I. Provide engineering drawings, detail specifications, and benefit and cost/life-cycle cost analyses. PHASE III: Develop mass production capability of the surface flotation device for sustainment by defense supply and commercialization for the private sector. PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: Novel alternative flotation devices can benefit other military, industrial, and recreational aviation operators and passengers, as well as industrial, merchant, and recreational marine operators and their crews or passengers. This flotation device also could possibly be adapted for cargo transport protection and/or salvage. REFERENCES: 2. NATO Research and Technical Organization. (2008). Survival at sea for mariners, aviators, and search and rescue personnel (AGARD-o-Graph #AG-HFM-152). Available at http://www.rta.nato.int/Abstracts.aspx 3. NATO Research and Technical Organization. (1989). The human factors relating to escape and survival from helicopters ditching in water (AGAD-o-Graph AG-305(E)). Available at http://www.rta.nato.int/Abstracts.aspx 4. Trumbull, R. (1912). The raft: The courageous struggle of three naval airmen against the sea. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. KEYWORDS: survival; life raft; surface flotation/floatation; anti-exposure; immersion hypothermia; buoyancy
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