Summary of Aging Effects on 25-Year Old Nylon Parachutes

摘要

Structural evaluations were conducted on several parachute systems to determine the effects of aging on parachute materials. Most of the parachutes were 25 years old. Five 64 ft parachutes were evaluated along with one 4 ft guide surface parachute and three 16.5 ft ribbon parachutes. The parachute systems used in the study were all fabricated from nylon materials. Results were obtained for several material properties such as tensile strength, air permeability and melting point. Military specifications were used as zero-time data base due to lack of raw material data. The results indicate that over a period of about 25 years, parachute nylon materials do not degrade to unacceptable levels. 7 refs., 2 figs., 3 tabs. (ERA citation 14:001092)