Protection of a Textile Parachute Riser from Temperature and Abrasion Using a Textile Cover System

摘要

Steel cable was chosen to replace the Kevlar webbing at the lower end of the drogue and main parachute risers on NASA's Orion Crew exploration Vehicle Parachute Assembly System (CPAS) to protect the risers from extreme temperatures and abrasion should they contact the crew module during deployment. This causes a significant mass increase to the system, as well as an increase in the deployment complexity. For these reasons, an investigation was conducted to determine whether sacrificial, non-load-bearing textile riser covers could be developed to mitigate thermal and abrasion concerns. Testing was conducted to evaluate the performance of numerous combinations of candidate cover materials, as well as different protection approaches. The testing consisted of subjecting Kevlar riser samples protected by these covers to thermal and abrasion conditions approximating the worst-case riser/crew module contact interactions. Modifications to the cover design and protection approach were made as testing progressed to optimize the effectiveness, weight, and flexibility of the covers. This paper describes the testing performed and documents the results of this investigation.