Actually what separates flesh from fish on Hawke's
Deep flight 1 is four inches of fiberglass hull. A
staff of engineers and volunteers wound it in a
continuous monofilament wrap around a 26-inch-diameter
cylindrical mandrel.
Pretty nifty thing to watch the thing slowly spin
around like an old Ediphone record maker...
--- Andy Jensen <drewacard@charter.net> wrote:
Bill it is not a crazy idea Deep Flight 502 was cast
of Al i think it is like an inch and a half thick
only fits one person per pod. but it has been done.
Andy J.
---- Akins <lakins1@tampabay.rr.com> wrote:
Hi Sean.
You make a lot of sense and good points. Oh well, it
was just a conceptual idea anyway.
I guess if it was a good method to use, it would
already be in use. Just another crazy idea of mine.
Bill Akins.
----- Original Message -----
From: Sean T. Stevenson
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 5:36 PM
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Brass vs. Bronze
While certainly possible, I think that there are a
few practical
limitations to casting a submarine hull. The
obvious one is size - you
need to cast the entire thing in one continuous
pour, necessitating a
foundry with that melt capacity. The second is
quality control -
porosity is much more difficult to avoid in
casting than it is in weld
beads - once cast, every square inch of the hull
would need to be
examined through non-destructive testing (x-ray,
ultrasound, etc.), as
opposed to just weld seams, and then if you do
find a problem, you may
have to scrap the whole thing and re-cast if it is
not in an area that
is easily patchable. The third is dimensional
control - save for the
ideal case where you cast a perfect cylinder with
no hull penetrations,
bosses, stiffeners, etc., variable cooling rates
due to material
distribution within the cast will cause the
finished casting to deviate
from the original pattern. Ordinarily, foundries
will account for this
by modifying the pattern to compensate
(guesstimating), or by working
the finished castings in presses, etc. to bump
them back into
compliance. For commonly cast parts like pump
housings, etc., this is
no big deal, but pressure vessels are somewhat
more dependent on their
geometry for proper function. This is not to say
that it couldn't be
done, but my gut instinct is that it would be cost
prohibitive, as well
as a lot of work.
-Sean
************************************************************************
************************************************************************
************************************************************************
The personal submersibles mailing list complies with
the US Federal
CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. Your email address appears in
our database
because either you, or someone you know, requested
you receive messages
from our organization.
If you want to be removed from this mailing list
simply click on the
link below or send a blank email message to:
removeme-personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Removal of your email address from this mailing list
occurs by an
automated process and should be complete within five
minutes of
our server receiving your request.
PSUBS.ORG
PO Box 311
Weare, NH 03281
603-529-1100
************************************************************************
************************************************************************
************************************************************************
************************************************************************
************************************************************************
************************************************************************
The personal submersibles mailing list complies with the US Federal
CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. Your email address appears in our database
because either you, or someone you know, requested you receive messages
from our organization.
If you want to be removed from this mailing list simply click on the
link below or send a blank email message to:
removeme-personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Removal of your email address from this mailing list occurs by an
automated process and should be complete within five minutes of
our server receiving your request.
PSUBS.ORG
PO Box 311
Weare, NH 03281
603-529-1100
************************************************************************
************************************************************************
************************************************************************