UNOLS STANDARD WIRES AND CABLES
SCIENCE MISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE NEXT GENERATION
Oceanographic wires and cables are a component of the
scientific infrastructure on board research vessels that are often taken for
granted, until they fail or prove to be inadequate. They are absolutely essential
to a variety of scientific operations. Many factors go into defining the capabilities
of these wires and cables and once defined, the resulting characteristics
affect many other components of a research vessel, such as winch size and
power, A-frame structure and strength, deck and internal space utilization,
and the structural components of the vessel itself. Most importantly the vessel's
capacity to accommodate the developing needs of science is determined by the
availability of appropriate wires /cables and their matched handling components.The
cost of a spool of wire can approach $250,000 and the cost of developing new
wires and adapting (or building new) winches to handle those wires are not
insignificant. For these reasons it is absolutely imperative that the development
of any new Standard wires and cables to be used in the UNOLS fleet be accomplished
based on well defined scientific requirements resulting from broad community
input. We will also need to examine ways to use new technology and engineering
advancements to better utilize existing wires and cables whenever possible.
The Standard UNOLS cables that we have all used over the past twenty plus
years have served the community well and any changes to that suite of wires
and cables should be designed to further improve the overall capabilities
of the Academic Research Fleet. These changes can not be made lightly. As
a result we are asking for your help in this endeavor.
Steering Committee for Wire and Cable Science Mission Requirements:
Fred Spiess/SIO, Albert J. (Sandy) Williams/WHOI , Andy Bowen/WHOI, Dan Fornari/WHOI,
James Broda/WHOI, Peter Weibe/WHO, Roy WIlkens/UH, Craig Lee/UW, Stewart Lamerdin/MLML,
Steve Rabalais/LUMCON, Dale Chayes/LDEO, Jon Alberts/WHOI, Tom Althouse/SIO,
Mark Willis/OSU, Rich Findley/RSMAS, Theo Moniz/WHOI & Mike Prince/UNOLS
WE NEED YOUR INPUT
Goals
- Identify the scientific uses for current
& future UNOLS wire/cables and develop Science Mission Requirements
for a new generation of wire & cables.
- Create specifications for UNOLS Standard
wires and cables to meet these requirements.
- Develop recommendations for introducing
new standard wires and cables into the UNOLS fleet.
Objectives
- Continue work toward development of safe working load standards and procedures
that are compatible with typical operations on UNOLS vessels.
- Define, based on broad community input, the types of activities and equipment
that will be used in the future and in particular those that will stress
the capabilities of existing wires and cables
- Quantify the resulting physical loads, dynamic stresses, power transmission
requirements and data transmission requirements.
- Identify those requirements that are met or could be met by current Standard
UNOLS wires and cables with the goal of justifying the retention of those
Standard wires and cables that will continue to be useful for the foreseeable
future.
- Identify capabilities that cannot be met by current Standard UNOLS wires
and cables and recommend which of those capabilities should be met by new
Standard wires or cable designs if possible.
- Determine if some capabilities can be met by engineering changes to the
sampling or survey equipment or by changing procedures given the high cost
of providing new Standard Wires.
- Determine what information wire manufacturers will need in order to specify
and/or design the appropriate wires and cables.
- Provide the necessary information to define future wire specifications
and obtain vendor proposals for wires to meet new requirements.
- Agree on and choose specifications for any new Standard UNOLS wires or
cables.
Background
- NSF sponsors and oversees a wire pool of Standard Wires and Cables that
are purchased in bulk for use on UNOLS vessels.
- Current Standard Wires and Cables include:
| 3 x 19 Torque Balance Wire Rope |
| Size (inches) |
Breaking Strength (lbs)* |
SWL
5:1 |
SWL
3:1 |
SWL
2:1 |
| 3/16 |
4,000 |
|
1,333 |
2,000 |
| 1/4 |
6,750 |
1,350 |
2,250 |
3,375 |
| 3/8 |
14,800 |
2,960 |
4,933 |
7,400 |
| 1/2 |
25,700 |
5,140 |
8,567 |
12,850 |
| 9/16 |
32,500 |
6,500 |
10,833 |
16,250 |
| Conducting and Fiber Optic Cables Strength
info |
| Size (inches) |
Breaking Strength (lbs)* |
SWL
5:1 |
SWL
3:1 |
SWL
2:1 |
| .252 |
5,600 |
1,120 |
1,867 |
2,800 |
| .322 |
11,600 |
2,320 |
3,867 |
5,800 |
| .680 |
37,000 |
7,400 |
12,333 |
18,500 |
| .680 |
46,000 |
9,200 |
15,333 |
23,000 |
* Breaking Strength gives the relative strength of these wires and cables
Actual working loads are determined by applying a safety factor that
may vary according to type of operation, equipment and ship operator.
Typically the safety factors range from 2:1 to 5:1 which would result
in working loads for the .680 FO cable from 23,000 lbs to 9,000 lbs.
A separate committee is working on standardizing safety factors based
on engineering input and regulatory considerations.
Graphs that show SWL's at 5:1, 3:1, and 2:1 along
with the weight of the wire in water with depth. This should be able to give
people an idea of how much weight could be hung fromt he end of the wire depending
on how deep it is going and what safety factors to use.
| Conducting & Fiber Optic Cables
conductor/fiber info |
| Size (inches) |
Breaking Strength (lbs)* |
Conductors |
Fibers |
| .252 |
5,600 |
1 |
0 |
| .322 |
11,600 |
3 |
0 |
| .680 |
37,000 |
Coax |
0 |
| .680 |
46,000 |
3 |
3 |
- Most standard winches on UNOLS vessels are designed around one or more
of these Standard wires or cables.
- A-Frames and other overboard system components are designed to be at least
1.5 times stronger than wires or cables deployed by them.
- Even using safety factors approaching 2 to 1, many cables are reaching
the limit of their capabilities, especially when working at depth.
- Data and Power requirements continue to move beyond the capabilities of
existing cables.
- Manufacturer's and developers of many new sampling equipment are requiring
cables (& winches) with capabilities beyond current standard cables.
At the Winch and Wire Symposium held in New Orleans (Dec 1999), there were
several recommendations including three related to developing new cables.
Recommendations and action taken to date (10/1/2001):
- UNOLS (RVOC/RVTEC) be tasked to establish a safe working load (SWL) criteria
for .322 cable.
Committee formed (Capt. Tom Althouse/SIO is the chair). They plan to
use methods developed by others and engineering support to develop a standard
method for determining safe working loads.
- NSF entertain proposals to develop specifications for a new wire to replace
.322 EM cable that is stronger and provides a broader band width.
- NSF entertain proposals to develop specifications for a stronger cable
to replace the .680 cable.
- NSF entertain proposals to develop specifications for a lighter .680 cable
with the same breaking strength.
Committee formed and this effort is designed to bring broad community
input to bear on the process of defining new wire and cable specifications.
The end product will be recommendations to develop and procure new Standard
cables if required. These three requirements were identified at the winch
& wire symposium. A goal for the current effort is to verify the need
for cables with these specifications and to identify other requirements
such as a smaller diameter fiber optic cable that will work with towed undulating
profilers.
- UNOLS be tasked to increase and standardize operator training for winch
operations, wire care and maintenance.
This effort will grow out of developing standards for safe working load
and as part of the process of implementing ISM in the fleet. The Winch and
Wire Handbook has been updated and the Third Edition published to support
this effort.
- UNOLS operators be encouraged to maintain a complete set of records on
winches and wires and NSF include a requirement in the NSF Inspection to
review these records.
These records are encouraged by the UNOLS Research Vessel Safety Standards
and this section will be reviewed with the possibility of strengthening
it. The NSF Inspection program has examined these records in the past and
will do so under the new contract.
- UNOLS operators be encouraged to investigate new innovations in winch
and wire handling systems such as motion compensation.
Some individual efforts have been made in this regard. The subject is
on the agenda for the combined RVOC/RVTEC meeting in 2001.
- NSF fund a winch and wire symposium every five years to bring scientists,
operators, technicians and manufacturers together for information exchange.
UNOLS will recommend an appropriate forum at that time.