DYNAMICS OF THE PARACHUTE SLING - TESTING PROCEDURES AND EVALUATIONS

This paper discusses material science aspects of a parachute sling. During the deployment of a parachute, the sling experiences the impact caused by rapid deceleration of the parachute. To survive this operation, the sling must have sufficient impact resistance in addition to the strength to withstand the tension due to the weight of payload. The amount of energy absorbed by the sling due to the impact was estimated from the dynamic analysis of a parachute. From the results of the dynamic analysis, the key properties required for a sling material were determined and testing procedures to evaluate those properties were established. The experimental evaluation results for two candidate materials are presented.