实验技术与管理

针对极地海域极端环境对船舶救生装备可靠性的评估手段不足的问题，文章依托远东防寒实验室，构建了一套冰区船舶救生设备极寒环境模拟实验与效能评估方法。该实验系统集成了气水双路循环结冰模拟装置与多源感知测控架构，最低温度可达-70℃，并实现14路热工参量同步采集。依托该实验平台，对救生艇、保温服及求生套装等关键装备开展了全流程的低温材料、功能验证及热力学表征实验。实验结果不仅精准捕获了非金属拉链冻结、包装脆化硬化等材料极寒失效模式，更定量揭示了保温服与救生艇内部显著的空间热力学分布差异。研究填补了大型极地救生装备综合防寒验证手段的空白，为冰区船舶装备的适极化研发、测试平台建设及安全标准制定提供了关键的技术支撑与实验依据。

[Objective] Polar environments pose a severe threat to maritime safety, as extreme cold and ice accretion drastically increase the risk of equipment malfunction. Life-saving appliances(LSAs) are the final line of defense for personnel evacuation and survival. However, current marine LSAs frequently suffer from material embrittlement, mechanical blockage, and operational failure when exposed to extreme cold, leaving evacuees highly vulnerable. Despite the strict operational requirements mandated by the IMO Polar Code, there remains a critical lack of systematic, high-fidelity experimental frameworks for verifying the operating performance of LSA under extreme cold conditions. This study addresses this deficiency by developing a comprehensive environmental simulation and testing methodology to identify the specific failure mechanisms of polar LSA, thereby providing essential data to facilitate the polar-specific adaptation of maritime safety equipment. [Methods] Testing was conducted at the Far East Anti-Cold Laboratory using a large-scale environmental chamber capable of regulating temperatures down to -70 ℃, with a maximum cooling rate of 0.88 ℃/min and a temperature control accuracy of ±1 ℃. The test matrix included lifebuoys, lifejackets, fully enclosed lifeboats, immersion suits, and individual and group survival kits. To replicate dynamic equipment icing, the platform integrated a custom dual-path servo-driven subsystem that decoupled the supply temperature, pressure, and spray flow to generate precise supercooled water droplet conditions. The experimental protocol consisted of an 8 h deep-cold thermal equilibrium pre-treatment, followed by in-situ material evaluations(including a 2 m drop test), functional verification under 5 mm dynamic icing, and post-experiment recovery inspections. A multisource thermodynamic sensing network comprising 14 measurement points was used to continuously track spatial temperature gradients inside the equipment. [Results] Experimental data revealed distinct failure patterns across different LSA categories at-50 and-60 ℃. While primary structural LSA such as lifebuoys maintained mechanical integrity without macroscopic cracking, emergency survival kits experienced severe systemic failures. Polymer packaging exhibited cold embrittlement, making unsealing extremely difficult; liquid contents(e.g., hand sanitizers) froze; mechanical switches seized due to thermal contraction. Crucially, the freezing of nonmetallic zippers on immersion suits and lifejackets prevented unassisted donning. Under dynamic icing conditions, lifeboat doors and release hooks operated normally only after manual de-icing. Furthermore, the thermodynamic sensing network identified steep spatial temperature gradients within immersion suits and lifeboats, indicating significant heat distribution imbalances between localized heat sources and distal extremities. [Conclusions] The developed simulation platform and multisource measurement architecture successfully isolate the underlying material and functional failure mechanisms of LSA in polar conditions. The findings confirm that extreme cold and icing severely compromise the operational readiness of auxiliary survival gear and emergency donning mechanisms. Additionally, the internal heating strategies currently employed in LSA exhibit critical thermodynamic limitations. This study provides a robust methodological foundation and the necessary experimental evidence to guide material upgrades, thermal redesign, and system-level polar adaptation of maritime LSA.