April 2010 - Glenair, Inc.

around these openings are provided in the project
peculiar documentation in accordance with NAVSEA
preservation Process Instruction 63101-005 8 .
Composite■Electrical■Enclosures
Brass electrical enclosures have been widely
used on the weather decks of surface ships ever
since their original design implementation just after
Composite
Electrical■Enclosure■
and■Conduit■
Terminations
World War II. These legacy topside components do
not hold up to the corrosive marine environment and
typically degrade such that they need replacement
about every 5 years. There are chronic internal
and external corrosion issues that result in ship’s
QwikConnect n April 2010
force dedicating an inordinate amount of resources
replacing and repairing equipment that has faltered
or failed.
The composite program objectives were to
eliminate chronic internal and external corrosion
issues, to develop technologies that are corrosion
free by eliminating galvanic couples internally and
to the surrounding mounting areas, and, to develop
a product which is fire hardened providing extended
service life from current antiquated designs.
Shipboard inspection and interviews with maintenance
personnel led to desired attributes were incorporated
into the NAVSEA design That systems approach was
taken for the redesign of the electrical enclosures
which resulted in a corrosion free composite
enclosure which features and 316L alloy standoff
mounting system providing trouble free service.
Also, it is a true watertight design and the
composite material also reduces the thermal
cycling problematic of the steel, brass, and titanium
boxes. Also, spring loaded lid design enhances
the corrosion and water resistance and eliminates
the ‘lid on a leash’. This technology has provided
greater system reliability and significantly reduced
maintenance work load. Further refinements resulted
from two years of OPEVALs on CVN-71, DDG-52,
LSD 47 and CG-72 led to the development of a
standard NAVSEA Drawing 9 for composite boxes in
order to institutionalize these components.
Composite■Conduit■and
Box■Termination■End■Fittings
The most recent application of composites
has been in their use for electrical conduit and the
termination fittings that attach the conduit to the
already developed electrical boxes. The problem
of conduit is most evident in the well deck areas of
amphibious ships, where the salt spray combined
with the heated exhaust of Landing Craft Air
Cushioned (LCAC) units destroys the current system
in a matter of months. A commercially available
ribbed conduit made from Poly Ether Ether Keytone
(PEEK) was identified to solve this problem. The
use of composites for termination end fittings was
more problematic due to the need to ensure that
appropriate grounding was maintained between the
conduit, the enclosure and the ship’s hull.
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