Development of a synthetic fiber rope for underway replenishment

Synthetic fiber rope offers several advantages over wire rope for Naval underway replenishment (UNREP) applications. Synthetic fiber ropes do not corrode; eliminating the solvents and lubricants used in wire rope maintenance. A synthetic rope replacing an equivalent strength wire rope will be four to five times lighter and more pliable, and thus safer for ships' personnel to handle. A life cycle model has shown it to be cost effective to replace wire rope with synthetic fiber rope of equivalent service life for UNREP applications. UNREP operations with the Standard Tension Replenishment Alongside Method (STREAM) rely on wire rope rigging for the cargo carrying highline as well as the more lightly loaded inhaul/outhaul lines. The goal was to develop a synthetic fiber rope design suitable for the STREAM highline application. The highline is a particularly difficult application for synthetic fiber ropes because of the multiple wear mechanisms involved: lateral trolley loads, sheave bending, and crushing/scuffing on the winch. To minimize costs, the highline handling equipment is expected to remain unchanged or limited to very minor changes. Lateral cyclic loading tests have been performed on individual rope strands and sub-scale ropes. Lessons learned from sub-scale testing will be applied to a full-scale prototype demonstration at the Port Hueneme Division Naval Surface Warfare Center UNREP test site.