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[INNOVATIONS] CALDWELL SPEARHEADS


MODERNIZATION With A New Line of Composite Lifting and Spreader Beams


BY LAURA RELYEA


For generations steel has been the lynchpin of the rigging industry. Brawny, fortified, and seemingly irreplaceable, no other material has held a candle to its dependable strength – until now, with Caldwell’s introduction of their composite lifting and spreader beams.


Tree years ago Caldwell’s President, Doug Stitt had a wild hair: incorporate Fiber-Reinforced Polymer into the substantial line of products that Caldwell has developed in its 60+ years of existence. For years the gold standard of the rigging industry’s beams and spreader has been steel. It seemed nothing could trump its robust properties. But President Stitt, always looking around himself for inspiration, knew that an opportunity for advancement was at hand. He rallied his team and got them to work incorporating a material that had revolutionized innumerable other industries in previous decades. “Te beams are manufactured from Fiber-Reinforced


Polymer (FRP) – high-strength fiber glass material.” Dan Mongan, Caldwell’s New Product Development Engineer, says. Te introduction of FRP into the business poses some serious advantages to its heavy predecessor. “Its primary advantage is that it’s lightweight.” Mongan goes on to say. In fact, FRP has proven to be stronger than steel while reducing weight up to 75%. “It’s significantly lighter than its steel equivalent.” Te substantial drop in weight isn’t the only advantage


to the new material. FRP is corrosion resistant, a welcome change for water and chemical-based factions of the industry. It also happens to be non-conductive unlike its steel counterpart. “Te initial testing amazed us in performance,” President Doug Stitt says. “I got the idea from watching developments in other industries. We frequently look at what other people are doing in regards to design or material and application. Steel has been a mainstay in lifting for years and years. Composite offers the same amount of strength,” Stitt says. “We’re applying technology and material science that people in the aerial and construction industries have been using for a number of years. It’s strong. It’s lightweight.” Indeed, FRP made its


30 JULY-AUGUST 2015 WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE


first debut in the aviation and auto industries in the early 1940’s, and has surpassed steel in annual manufacturing production since the 1970’s. With the introduction of these composite lifting and spreader beams, the rigging industry will now follow suit. Te implications of FRP replacing steel in the lifting and rigging industries are vast. between embraced and non-conductive, add ‘the’ to read: already embraced the non-conductive properties of the new material; its corrosive resistance is being taken full advantage of by the Marines and Navy; and since FRP cannot be sensed by radar, it is quickly gaining popularity throughout other branches of the military as well. President Stitt anticipates that a sweeping advance of this level hasn’t come about for quite some time. “In our industry, many, many years ago all you had was chain and wire rope,” President Stitt says. “Ten someone introduced synthetic sling, and look where we are today. Tis is similar – someday everyone in the industry is going to reminisce about when composite first came about.” For Stitt and his team, this progress has been 2 to 3


WRE_Caption


years in the making. After Stitt’s first introduction of the idea to his team, Caldwell brought on board engineers whose focus was in composite materials, and began to coordinate the necessary material suppliers. From there they went into initial testing, and were wowed by the results. “Te composite’s testing really amazed us,” Mongan says. “We went on to investigate and develop full product lines, then refined our design criteria.” Te true brilliance and durability of the composite material came into light when the initial product lines progressed into fatigue testing. “Tis product loaded over 2 million times and had no failures.” Mongan tells us. “In fact, the hardware used throughout the testing became fatigued


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