Mooring ropes

U.S. market is about 20 million pounds per year. The applications are those where one needs very high flame resistance (clothing for firefighters and welders, welder s protective shield, upholstery and drapes), heat resistance (ironing board covers, insulation film for electrical motors and transformers, aerospace and military), dimensional stability (fire hose, V- and conveyor belts), or strength and modulus (circuit boards, bulletproof vests, fiber optic and power lines, ship mooring ropes, automobile tire cord, puncture-resistant bicycle tires). 

It is for these reasons that such materials are of interest for tension members in applications like mooring ropes and very long span bridges. 

Aluminium-air cells were first developed for portable applications such as mooring lights, and for recharging nickel-cadmium and lead-acid storage batteries. They have been fabricated in many unusual designs, e.g. the concentric rope battery which has an aluminium core surrounded by a separator and then the oxygen cathode. The rope may be several hundred metres long and can provide 0.03 W/m for a period of 6 months on immersion in the sea. 

Fable and Eros came to the sea. A barque of polished steel was moored by the shore. They went on board and slipped the rope. The prow turned itself to the North, and the vessel cut through the dallying waves as if it were flying. Whispering reeds checked the headlong flight, and it touched gently ashore. 

Aramid fibers and ultra high molecular weight polyetlylene fibers (UHMWPE) are used in a variety of apphcations. For example, marine tow ropes, mooring cables, anti-ballistic clothing, fishing nets, sail doth are prime... 

Ropes, cables, coated fabrics for inflatables, architectural fabrics, and for ballistic protection fabrics. Ship to shore mooring lines are made of aramid fibers because of its resistance to saltwater corrosion. Vests made of Kevlar 29 are used by law enforcement agencies in many countries. Later we discuss this application in some detail. 

The cable, rising from the bottom, consisted of a (o) 4.5 cm (in.) wire rope (p) 45.7 m (yd) long attached to a (q) 4,536 kg (ton) sinker followed by a second wire rope of (r) 579 m (ft). This was connected to a more flexible nylon rope (s) 365 m (ft) long and (t) 13 cm (in.) in diameter. The nylon ropes were attached to mooring buoys which were chained to the barge. 

The turtle torpedo is so named from its re. ceniblance to that animal, and is placed to prevent raking or gmppling for a moored bm torpedo, being connected with the latter by a rope 13(F or 14(F long. 

The first major activity undertaken by the Marine Farm Project involved studies of Macrocystis transplants moored on artificial structures in oceanic environments. The largest of three such experiments consisted of a three-hectare structure designed and installed by the Naval Undersea Center off San Clemente Island, about 100 km from the mainland. The structure consisted of a grid or network of ropes, deployed 15 to 20 m beneath the sea surface by a system of cables, buoys, and anchors ( ). Overall water depth ranged from about 70 to 150 m. Approximately 130 adult Macrocystis transplants were relocated onto the grid during summer and fall. 1974. The source of transplants was a nearby kelp bed at San Clemente Island which... 

The properties of the most important LCP fibers are listed in Table 1.2. The key application areas for LCP fibers include hard armor (vehicles, helmets), soft ballistic protection (vests), cut protection (gloves), and a variety of composite uses that include honeycomb structure, pressure vessels, and rubber reinforcement. Ropes and cables find utility in the mooring of huge offshore structures such as oil-drilling platforms and the reinforcement and support of optical cables. LCP fibers also find specialty niche markets such as sails for racing yachts, specialized fishing nets, etc. 

Recreational marine Sailing vessels, large and small mooring lines flag halyards waterski tow ropes sail boards... 

Custom ropes Speciality appbcations marine salvage deep sea mooring space tethers guy lines lariat ropes... 

The chapter will follow the many applications of ropes throngh sections on retail, marine, industrial, sport, and other nses. Inevitably, there are some common featnres, which leads to a cross-over of information, while the nses of ropes and cords are so nn-merons that some will not be mentioned. Mostly, the seqnence will move from the less demanding retail uses, typically served by supermarkets and hardware stores, to the more demanding recreational and commercial uses. For the more commonplace nses, the descriptions will be brief for more specialised applications, more technical detail will be included. In particular, section 13.3.4 on deepwater mooring covers an extensive investigation of a new use of fibre ropes and has many featnres of wider interest. 

Fig. 13.10 Mooring at quayside with a reduced recoil aratnid/nylon rope.

A failure in 1983 when aramid fibres began to be used illustrates the problems that can arise. A ship. Ocean Builder, was to be used to erect an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Five weeks before, 12 buoys were secured to anchors by Kevlar ropes. When the Ocean Builder arrived and the mooring lines were picked up, four ropes broke reportedly at 20% of break load. The up-and-down movement of the buoys had led to axial compression fatigue of the Kevlar fibres. 

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