Mainstream Engineering Awarded Contract from the Navy for Processing and Fabrication Method to Enhance the Mechanical Performance and Extend the Overall Service Life of Arresting Gear Purchase Cable Wire

ROCKLEDGE, FL — June 30th, 2017 —  Mainstream Engineering Corporation, a 31-year-old Brevard County manufacturer with a history of leading-edge research and development that has resulted in advanced, lean-manufacturing, cost-competitive products, which are all Made in the USA, has been awarded a contract from the Navy for Processing and Fabrication Method to Enhance the Mechanical Performance and Extend the Overall Service Life of Arresting Gear Purchase Cable Wire.

Mainstream will develop a processing and fabrication method to enhance the mechanical performance and extend the overall service life of arresting gear purchase cable wire through incorporation by homogeneous dispersion of reinforcing micro-and nano-particles in the base steel material. Service life under repeated mechanical loading and degradation-inducing environmental conditions are crucial for consideration for Naval Aircraft Launch and Recovery (ALRE) arresting gear purchase cables within aircraft arrestment systems. Service use cycles, as well as corrosion and bend-over-sheave wear and fatigue, are critical performance factors for such cables. As an alternative to modifying or replacing cable arrestment systems to mitigate cable stresses, enhancement of the base metallic material used in the cable may prove to be more advantageous and economical.

The aim of this project will be to improve the service life of the cable through a designed combination of current base materials and novel reinforcing high-strength particulates. The use of particulate-reinforced composites has allowed for strength, thermal stability, and fatigue life improvement in structures and materials while retaining or lowering overall structural weight. Such benefits have the potential to enhance arresting gear functionality and service life, thus decreasing total ownership cost.

About Mainstream Engineering Corporation
Mainstream Engineering Corporation is a solutions-oriented research, development, and manufacturing small business with a history of leading-edge R&D that has resulted in advanced, American-made, cost-competitive products. Founded in 1986, Mainstream’s mission is to transition thermal control, energy storage, and energy conversion technology into high-quality, cost-effective, environmentally safe green, commercial products. Products include lightweight diesel engines, thermal control units, biomass conversion technologies, refrigerators/freezers for shipping containers, and the QwikProduct line of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC/R) products. Areas of research include thermal control, energy conversion, power electronics, turbomachinery, chemical technology, and materials science.