Safe Mating Envelope Enhancer Navy SBIR FY2018.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2018.1 Topic No.: N181-040 Topic Title: Safe Mating Envelope Enhancer Proposal No.: N181-040-0345 Firm: Physical Optics Corporation 1845 West 205th Street Torrance, California 90501 Contact: Kang-Bin Chua Phone: (310) 320-3088 Web Site: http://www.poc.com Abstract: To address the Navy needs for a solution to enhance the current submarine rescue capability to support shallow-water pressurized rescue, POC proposes to develop the Safe Mating Envelope Enhancer (SMEE), based on mature in-house and COTS components. In Phase I, POC will develop a SMEE concept to allow pressurized rescue of a disabled-submarine up to 5 ata at a depth of 100 ft, with a threshold of 200 feet, and 0-45 degrees list. The concept will be developed into a CAD model for modeling and simulation analysis. A reduced-function small-scale SMEE prototype will be fabricated and tested to validate its design concept. In Phase I Option, POC will develop the initial design specifications, capabilities description, and Phase II plan for building and testing a prototype solution. In Phase II, POC will develop, build, and deliver a small-scale SMEE prototype for proof of concept testing. This prototype will be evaluated and tested to produce empirical data verifying mating capabilities in shallow water at increased internal pressures at 0 degrees and 45 degrees list. We will use the Phase II results to develop Phase III plan to transition the technology for Navy production and potential commercial use. Benefits: The vacuum suction technology developed under SMEE is directly applicable to mooring for DoD ships. Such mooring technology applications can provide efficient support of military deployments through improved docking of Navy ships and also improved port management. The system can be incorporated by the Navy into the entire Naval base system and even in small vessel docking, which will benefit from this proposed technology by reducing manpower requirements and improving mooring speed, effectiveness, and efficiency. SMEE can also be modified to assist in underwater salvage and underwater construction applications. Almost every type of supply transportation (truck containing, container vessel ships, cargo planes, trains, etc.) are heavily dependent on efficiency and speed of transport. If there is a bottleneck in the transportation network, all of the users past the bottleneck will be negatively affected in productivity. All of these industries will greatly benefit from a highly efficient mechanical system for quickly docking vessels and holding them securely, which will eliminate overhead when loading and unloading passenger and cargo vessels. SMEE-derived ship mooring technology can be used on a variety of scales, whether on a tanker vessel or cruise liner, to increase productivity. Return