Fire Resistant Watertight Structural Doors

With the impact of increased fire resistance requirements that NAVSEA is invoking on ship programs, and the lack of structural doors (i.e., watertight) that are also fire resistant, the industry can benefit from having a compliant option for structural doors that maintains the required internal shipboard fire zone boundaries using only one structural door. Currently using either legacy Navy standard watertight single doors or the new standardized family of watertight single doors tested for pressure and shock qualification during the prior NSRP project, would require installation of two doors in close proximity to one another at fire zone boundaries. One that serves as a fire barrier and the other serving to maintain watertight integrity, or some other mitigating design. A fire resistant watertight door design will reduce the area and volume penalty to ship designs compared to alternate methods and will reduce the ship cost due to having fewer doors to purchase and install. Upon incorporation in a revised Navy standard drawing, these drawings are expected to be invoked on current and future shipbuilding contracts, which will provide a strong basis for widespread implementation after the project is completed.