USCG INTERSHIP AT THE AIRWORTHINESS SUSTAINMENT BRANCH-2023
Discipline: Technology and Engineering
Subcategory: Civil/Mechanical/Manufacturing Engineering
Session: 1
Room: Farragut North
Brianna Barbee - Elizabeth City State University
Co-Author(s): Paul Dixon, Elizabeth City State University, Elizabeth City, NC
This article explains the design project of a five-week internship program at the US Coast Guard base in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The internship provided opportunities to utilize all the technical skills and knowledge that we learned in the Engineering Technology Program at Elizabeth City State University. In addition, we gained more technical knowledge by working with a mentor and receiving hands-on experiences in the lab at the Airworthiness Sustainment Branch on the base. Our objective was to analyze if dynamic roll could occur during operations with the rescue hoist. This analysis is needed because the US Coast Guard is developing a new Search and Rescue (SAR) hoisting procedure whereby the SAR Swimmer will be hoisted simultaneously with the Litter in a procedure known as “Litter Augmented Double Pick Up” (LADPU). To aid in the development of the new lifting procedure, the Aviation Life Saving Equipment (ALSE) Branch requested the Airworthiness Sustainment Branch (ASB) to analyze the Dynamic roll to determine the safety of connecting the Search and Rescue (SAR) Litter V-Ring and the Triton Harness to the Rescue Hook simultaneously. Force analysis on the Rescue Hook’s Gate and Slide Latch, and the corrosion potential of the Gate’s Torsional Spring were part of this analysis. Aviation Life Saving Equipment provided ASB with the following as-received components for the analysis of this report. All components such as the Litter, Triton SAR Harness, and Rescue hook were in operable condition. Destructive testing was not authorized nor performed. Several approaches are used to analyze and validate the design including theoretical and physical testing. The classical and Finite Element Analysis to analyze and simulate the spring, hertzian contact pressure, and friction forces are used for comparison. To validate the results, physical testing for dynamic roll and force analysis was performed as well.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): Gray Harrison
Faculty Advisor: Akbar Eslami, aeslami@ecsu.edu
Role: I did every part of the research that is stated in the abstract along side with my co author Paul Dixon.