attention to the problems of connectors, penetrators, and other hardware. 

 This problem is, of course, further compounded by the fact that most 

 early cable development was for cables which were to be terminated only 

 at the surface. Cable technology, therefore, has advanced significantly 

 beyond the technology of deep ocean connectors and penetrators, and the 

 connector designer is generally in the position of having to adapt his 

 hardware designs to fit already existing or specified cables. Recent 

 connector design has nonetheless shown areas of cable design in which 

 termination and penetration hardware considerations might be profitably 

 applied. Improved bonding characteristics of insulation materials, more 

 adquate cable waterblocking in the vicinity of connectors, and improved 

 flexibility to allow handling during connector mating operations are 

 needed. 



Cable Connectors and Other Hardware 



A dry submarine connector is one designed to be mated in the rela- 

 tively clean and dry conditions prevailing above the surface of the sea, 

 after which it can be subjected to immersion and hydrostatic pressure. 

 The military specified drv connectors under MIL-C-24217, MIL-C-22249, 

 and MIL-C-22539 use O-rings to seal the water out of a hard shell 

 compartment. 



To provide the expanded hardware technology necessary to fully uti- 

 lize existing high-strength, high-power E-M cables, a program is being 

 conducted to develop both a wet and a dry connector system capable of 

 carrying 360 kilowatts of three-phase, 4160 VAC power to depths of 6,000 

 feet, under mechanical working loads of 12,000 pounds. 



The original concept study included the design of the cable itself, 

 and this rather unique opportunity to design the cable and connectors 

 simultaneous lv proved very educational. Since the primary emphasis was 

 to be on the connector design, the choice of cable configuration was not 

 quite as restricted as might have been the case if it were being adapted 

 to a specific application. In fact, the onlv real constraints on the 

 cable design were those imposed by the manufacturer's capability. Recent 

 discussions with the cable manufacturer indicate that the three years of 

 experience they have gained now dictate a design that differs only slightly 

 from that originally chosen. They now have the capability to produce the 

 cable with the onlv real changes in the jacket thicknesses and armor wire 

 size. Some waterblocking would be added, but otherwise the electrical 

 components would be changed very little, and the basic cable structure 

 would not be changed. 



What this implies is that once an application is defined, the cable 

 design follows fairly closely; there is little room for adjustment. Even 

 when there was considerable opportunity to design the cable and connectors 

 simultaneously, the cable design promptly resolved itself to a fixed 

 configuration, leaving the connector hardware concept as the principal 

 area for adaptation and compromise. In fact, some portions of the more 

 advanced connectors (such as the penetrator pins and wet make/break con- 

 tact systems) are almost independent of the cable configuration. 



In other areas, however, there can be real conflict in the design 

 requirements of the two systems, and in these cases it usually appears 



44 



