[PSUBS-MAILIST] Acrylic Pressure Vessels

["Hugo Marrero" <hmarrero@hboi.edu>]

Hi Steve,

You assummed correctly! The JSL sub sphere is all acrylyc and is rated to
3000 ft. While it is a great material to build a p-sub, our sphere costs us
a whoping $120K, pressure tested and delivered. For a psub to 150 ft you are
looking at least $50K. The lead time can be up to a year from the time you
order it. Acrylic is adversely affected by uv light causing hazing,
discoloration and crazing. It is a very soft material and scratches very
easily, and once scratch it is expensive to repair. Acrylic is also very
intolerant of high temperatures, and certain solvents, both of which will
severely weaken the material's strenght.

For ABS approved design, acrylic viewports and hulls are placed out of
commission after 10 years for flat viewports and 20 years for hemispherical
viewports and spheres. This is whether they are in service or not. This is
due to the lack of existing data to substantiate a longer service life. They
can also expire after a pre-determined number of pressure cycles before the
10 or 20 year time allowance.


regards,

Hugo




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