Intricacies of Using Kevlar and Thermal Knives in a Deployable Release System: Issues and Solutions

The utilization of Kevlar cord and thermal knives in a deployable release system produces a number of issues that must be addressed in the design of the system. This paper proposes design considerations that minimize the major issues, thermal knife failure, Kevlar cord relaxation, and the measurement of the cord tension. Design practices can minimize the potential for thermal knife laminate and element damage that result in failure of the knife. A process for in-situ inspection of the knife with resistance, rather than continuity, checks and 10x zoom optical imaging can detect damaged knives. Tests allow the characterization of the behavior of the particular Kevlar cord in use and the development of specific pre-stretching techniques and initial tension values needed to meet requirements. A new method can accurately measure the tension of the Kevlar cord using a guitar tuner, because more conventional methods do not apply to arimid cords such as Kevlar.