[PSUBS-MAILIST] Introduction to new member

[peter mckellar <mckellar@earthlink.net>]

Hi All,

This is to introduce me to the group.

Im 44, and systems programmer (IBM mainframe world).  I live in Australia but
frequently travel to Asia and the States.  Ive been diving since 1976 and 
snorkelling or bodysurfing since before i can remember.  This doesn't mean I'm
any good, it just shows my interests :)

I decided I would like to build a sub about 2 years ago, thought about it a lot
and started researching about 3 mths ago - mostly lurking on PSUBS and archive
searching.

Whilst an armchair PSUBS member at present, I hope to make the transition to the
practical without losing too much of the idealism :)

As ideas form I hope to discuss them in the open forum of the PSUBS community, I
am paranoid about safety so all input would be appreciated, but no responsibility
is implied.  Once I have settled on a design, after discussion here etc, I plan
to have a naval engineer and a boat designer smooth out any final flaws :)

As a first question to the group:  I am considering building a scale model and
pressure testing it etc.  I figure than it should move as planned at scale, but
will the pressure features of the hull scale correctly to the full sized sub?
My concerns relate to the dynamics of materials being used when related to the
various laws - eg boyles law shows a linear relationship to pressure increase,
but does the hull material - with MoE, tensile stregth etc perform in a linear
fashion when scaled down - or will i need to proportionally make the model hull
thicker or thinner?

Thanks
Peter Mckellar