The U.S. Navy is retrofitting major combatant warships to enclose exposed topside cables in shielded conduit to protect low-power solid-state electronics from disruption or damage due to a nuclear electromagnetic pulse. Metal fittings are used to connect conduit to topside electrical penetrations and enclosures. Inappropriate material selection, insufficient weather sealing, and inadequate mechanical design led to corrosive failure of these fittings. Marine environmental exposure testing of typical fitting assemblies confirmed that incipient corrosion destroys the low-resistance electrical ground path required for EMP hardening. Short-term and long-term improvements in materials selection, fitting mechanical design, and weather-sealing materials and techniques are recommended to improve the life-cycle performance of EMP-hardening fittings.

Subject
Hardening, Materials, Aluminum, Tubes, Fittings, Grounding, Cables, Mechanical failure, Sealants, Shielding, Steel, Equipment, Marine vessels
© 1989 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1989
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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