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Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] hull and glass



Mike,
 
A thousand feet is deep for many PSUBS.  My material of choice is "tried and true" Steel. Pressure vestal quality steel.  It's easy to find and not to bad to work with.  There's a lot of information available on it too.  The extra weight in a sub isn't usually a really big deal since your building it to sink anyway.  If it doesn't weigh it's weight in water displaced, you built a surface boat. 
 
To build a steel sub to go a thousand feet of depth though you may be reaching the upper end of weight to PSUB size ratio though.  It depends on the overall displacement of the sub your building.  With steel, you MUST know how to weld.  Even if you farm out most of it, there will still be many small welding jobs that you have to do along the way. 
 
Plexiglas G is the material of choice for viewports.  It too is easy to come by and work with.  Do some research in how to machine and anneal it though.  There is good data available on it also. 
 
You may consider designing 2.5 safety factor for a collapse depth.  You should do an unmanned test to 1.5-2.0, just to prove the hull. 
 
I don't know about fabric over any kind of frame.  It's not my area. 
You will probably have to have frames in your hull to keep roundness no matter the material.  Your hull must be concentric.  You can't have any flat spots or even out of roundness.  You can't be out of round anymore then half the hull material thickness.
 
Good luck,
Dan H.
----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Fodor
To: Personal_Submersibles@psubs.org
Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2003 8:47 AM
Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] hull and glass

Hi everybody I want to know what most of you guys perfeer to use for building your hulls ? I am designing a 1 Atmosphere sub that will ba able to dive to 1,000' ( I know I have to build it with a 2X safety factor ), what should I make the pressure hull out of ? What should I make the cabin windows out of ? What is one of the best ways to weld everthing together ?

 

   Thanks for the help,

                     Mike



HGC. Michael

The new Guardian



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