An engineering team at a California naval base has created a novel device for testing the load-carrying capacity of bollards, which are used to moor large ships in port and must withstand hundreds of tons of pressure.
The U.S. Navy maintains thousands of bollards around the world. To test them, the new device, rectangular in shape and made primarily of square steel tubing, is positioned around the bollard. Its adjustable struts are attached to the wharf.
A cable is placed around the bollard. Adjustable cross members and lock pins position the cable at various angles. A hydraulic arm or winch (tensioner) is activated by the test operator to pull the cable, applying force to the bollard at desired measurements.
For their work, U.S. Patent 11,215,541, titled In-situ Bollard Tester, was assigned to the U.S. Navy on January 4, 2022. It is the first patent assigned to the Navy this year, which typically receives over 250 patents per year, and makes them available for commercialization by private companies through technology transfer agreements.
The engineers who built the device are from the Naval Facilities Engineering Command in Port Hueneme. They are Gerritt Lang, Elaina Ryan, Juan Carrillo, Ricardo Contreras, Zachary Harwood, and Benjamin Hulbert.
According to their patent application:
"In-situ tests are the preferred method in determining whether bollards and other mooring hardware are performing at their design capacity. There is, however, no accepted standard testing device and procedure. If a bollard is degraded, a ship's mooring line may break the bollard, resulting in damage to the ship and creating a dangerous situation.
"Past bollard test procedures have included the use of tugboats, which is dangerous and not representative of vertical mooring line angles that may cause uplift on the bollards. In this regard, there is a need for improvement to develop a safe device and procedure for testing bollards in-situ."
Interested in using this device? It's not yet available or for sale, but the newly issued 20-year utility patent can now be licensed by the Navy to private companies who can then commercialize it.
TechLink, the U.S. Navy's national partnership intermediary for technology transfer, guides companies through the licensing process. To learn more tap the contact button below.
