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old doc - now I know more, better?
Submarine Project - Snark
Status 9/26/93
by Ray Keefer
0. Introduction
Many of my interests have been over engineering type projects. I like to approach problems from the "What can the common man do" approach. In this manner I am approaching building your own submarine. Why a sub? I can't say for sure but I woke up one day and wanted to do it. I am not sure if I had a dream or not, but
I am interested in Submarines.
I could of gotten obcessed with worse things.
1. Components
The Submarine is compose of several components to make up the boat. The hull is the over all form of which the rest of the boat is hung from.
1.1 Hull
The hull will be of steel construction. The favored material
is 55 gallon oil drums for the hull. With fiberglass or sheet metal for stream lining and ballast tanks.
The drums will be held together by welding and a keel will run under the length of the boat.
1.1.1 Ballast tanks
All water flooding tanks are called ballast tanks. As trials
start, and experience is gained, certain tanks will be used as trim and others as purely ballast.
1.1.1.1 Vent/Blow holes/valves
Blow holes are holes at the top of the ballast tanks in with air is released from the ballast tanks. The air flow is controlled by blow valves.
1.1.1.2 Flood holes/valves
Flood holes are holes in the bottom of the ballast tanks in which water is let in or forced out of the ballast tanks.
1.1.1.3 Air holes
The air holes are the holes in which the compressed air, or diesel exhaust is piped into the ballast tank to force the water out of the ballast tank.
1.1.2 Propulsion
A propulsion drive train is composed of a diesel engine connected through a clutch to the electric motor, which is connected through a clutch to the propeller shaft. At the end of the propeller shaft is a fixed pitch propeller.
Two sets of engines and motors for reliability and maneuverability would be ideal, but if only a single set will fit in a hull then only a single set would be used. In a single set the propeller would be placed at the rear of the hull, where with a dual set the propellers would be placed off to the sides of the rear hull.
1.1.2.1 Diesel Engine
The diesel engine is the main motive force on the surface or at snort depths. The power of a diesel engine if far greater the motor. The engine can be clutched to the motor to spin the motor as a generator, or if both clutches are engaged then the engine will spin the propeller as well as the generator.
1.1.2.2 Electric Motor/Generator
In the Motor mode, the electric motor is used as a motor. The motor supplies the motive force for the sub when the sub is powered on electric power. This can be done on the surface, as snort, periscope or at deeper depths of the water from batter power.
In the generator mode the motor is spun by the diesel engine. The spinner motor acts like a generator to charge up the batteries.
1.1.2.3 Clutch
A clutch is used to engage the diesel engine to the motor, and a second clutch is used to engage the motor to the propeller shaft.
1.1.2.4 Shaft
1.1.2.5 Propellers
1.1.2.6 Propeller Shroud
1.1.2.7 Water jet
As a secondary, fine control, propulsion system will be via water jet. The purpose of this system is to allow greater handling of boat in tight places. Docking or trailering can be an example of this requirement. The water jet will be battery powered only.
The water jet propulsion will allow for yawl rotational and for trasitional movement on the horizontal plane.
1.1.3 Planes
1.1.3.1 Fore Planes
The fore planes aid the boat in submerging or surfacing by pitching the bow of the boat either down or up respectively.
1.1.3.2 Aft Planes
The aft planes aid the boat in submerging or surfacing by pitching the stern of the boat either up or down respectively.
1.1.3.3 Rudder
The rudder turns the boat to the port or to the starboard depending on which way the rudder is turned. Or it can make the boat go straight.
1.1.4 Sail
The sail the the conning tower on the top of the sub. The sail sticks up above the sub to give the boat some surface keeping. Like if a hatch is open and a medium wave comes by then the sub will not get flooded and sink.
1.1.4.1 Conn
One portion of the sail is for the conn. It is here that the boat is controlled. The pilot sits here.
1.1.4.2 Flood chamber
The flood chamber allow access to water while the sub is under water. The flood chamber has four hatches.
1.1.4.3 Periscope
1.1.4.4 Snort
1.1.4.4.1 diesel engine
1.1.4.4.2 Battery ventallation
1.1.4.4.3 Air compressor
1.1.4 Hatches
1.1.4.1 External
1.1.4.1.1 Sail
1.1.4.1.1.1 Conn
On top of the sail there will be two hatches. One hatch is to the conn. Through this hatch the helmsman/captain can standup and look out the top to the sail to pilot the boat, sit on top of the sail to pilot the boat, or enter to sit in the pilots seat.
1.1.4.1.1.2 Flood chamber
The flood chamber will have the second hatch to the sail. The second crew member can enter via this hatch as well as through the conn hatch. This hatch can be used underwater as the exit hatch from the flood chamber.
1.1.4.1.1.3 Diving bouy
1.1.4.1.1.4 Emergancy pack/raft
1.1.4.1.2 Access hatches
1.1.4.1.2.1 Ballast tanks
Ballast tanks need access hatches so inspection and repair can be done internally to the ballast tanks. These hatches are meant to only be used on shore for refit/preventive maintenance/repaire.
1.1.4.1.2.2 Other
The engine compartment may need a over sized hatch to refit/preventive maintenace/repair engines, motors, compressors, clutches,... The batteries may also need some kind of access to allow easy check of battery condition. These hatches are meant only for use on shore for refit/preventive maintenance/repair.
1.1.4.2 Internal
All areas of the boat that are held at one atmosphere within the pressure hull can be access internally through hatches. Normally these hatches must be closed to insure compartmentization incase of damage to water integrity.
1.1.5 Mooring
1.1.5.1 Anchor
1.1.5.2 Cleats
1.1.5.3 Winch eye bolt
1.1.6 Keel
1.1.6.1 Fixed
1.1.6.2 Adjustable weight
1.1.7 Flood chamber
1.1.7.1 Hatches
The flood chamber has the total of four hatches. The first hatch is on top. This hatch is to allow access out the top of the boat. This hatch will be used the most when the boat is on the surface and the second crew member wants to be on top.
The second hatch is at the bottom of the sub and the bottom of the flood chamber. This hatch allows for water access from the bottom of the boat. This hatch can be use from the surface as well at below the surface.
The third hatch is to lock out the second crew compartment from the flood chamber.
The forth hatch allows access to the rear compartments from the crew compartment, through the flood chamber to the battery/air compartment.
1.1.8 Compartments
1.1.9 Dielectric bar
1.1.10 Hatches
1.2 Electrical
1.2.1 Breaker panel
1.2.2 Power Busses
1.2.3 Batteries
1.2.3.1 +12VDC batteries
1.2.3.2 +5VDC batteries
1.2.4 Lighting
1.2.4.1 Internal
1.2.4.2 External
1.2.4.2.1 Navigation
1.2.4.2.2 Head lights
1.2.4.2.2.1 Surface
1.2.4.2.2.2 Submerged
1.2.4.2.3 Spot light
1.2.5 120VAC 60Hz power converter
1.2.6 Pumps
1.2.6.1 Bilge
1.2.7 Fans
1.2.7.1 Circulating
1.2.7.2 Window defogging
1.2.8 Solar cells along top of hull
1.3 Air
1.3.1 Compressor
1.3.2 Tanks
1.3.2.1 Breathing
1.3.2.1.1 Contaniments
1.3.2.1.1.1 Carbon Monoxide
1.3.2.1.1.2 Oil Vapor
1.3.2.2 Blow
1.3.2.3 Emergency
1.3.3 Pressure lines
1.3.3.1 High pressure
1.3.3.2 Medium pressure
1.3.3.3 Low pressure
1.3.3.4 Blow lines
1.3.4 Valves
1.4 Electronics
1.4.1 Sensors
1.4.1.1 Sonar (Fish Finder)
To act as a sonar to alert crew of under water hazard approaching from ahead, or as the sub more forward, get closer. Also can be pointed down to give depth under keel. So when in shallow area the boat can be put down on the bottom safely since the location of the bottom will be known.
1.4.1.2 Hydrophone
1.4.1.3 Pitch/Roll/Yawl
1.4.1.4 Compass
1.4.1.4.1 Gyro compass
1.4.1.4.2 Magnetic
The magnetic compass will be used as a standby compass. With all the metal of the sub the magnetic compass will be unreliable. Might only work on the surface where the compass can be held above the metal of the sub.
The effect can be evaluated during construction and during trials.
1.4.1.5 Depth
1.4.1.5.1 External pressure sensors
Need a sensor to indicate the depth of the sub under water. Since the sub will be crushed if it goes to deep a second redundant sensor would be a good idea.
1.4.1.5.2 Internal pressure sensors
Just to make sure sub interior is at 1 atmosphere.
1.4.1.6 Pressure
1.4.1.6.1 Compressed air system
Each pressure tank, line and valve will need some kind of remote gauge so the condition of each can be determined and reported by the computer.
1.4.1.7 Temperature
Temperature will be important for comfort of the crew and for the power realized in the batteries. The warmer the batteries the more power they will have.
1.4.1.7.1 Exterior water
1.4.1.7.2 Interior air
1.4.1.8 Ballast tank level
Need two sensors per ballast tanks. One at each end of the tank to give a complete indication of the water level in a ballast tank.
1.4.1.9 Plane position
1.4.1.9.1 For plane
1.4.1.9.2 Aft plane
1.4.1.9.3 Rudder
1.4.1.10 Interier air mix
1.4.1.10.1 O2
1.4.1.10.2 CO2
1.4.1.11 Engine
1.4.1.11.1 Temperature
1.4.1.11.2 Oil pressure
1.4.1.11.3 Fuel
1.4.1.11.4 Tachnometer
1.4.1.11.4.1 Engine
1.4.1.11.4.2 Motor
1.4.1.11.4.3 Shaft
1.4.1.11.5 Gear/direction
1.4.1.12 Electrical
1.4.1.12.1 Amps of battery charging/discharging
1.4.1.12.2 Volts of batteries
1.4.2 Computer
1.4.2.1 Requirements
1.4.2.1.1 Memory
1.4.2.1.2 CPU
1.4.2.1.3 Display
1.4.2.1.3.1 Conn
1.4.2.1.3.2 Nav
1.4.2.1.4 Disks
1.4.2.1.4.1 Hard disks
1.4.2.1.4.2 Floppy disk
1.4.2.1.5 Corrosion resistant
1.4.2.1.6 Controls
1.4.2.1.6.1 Conn
1.4.2.1.6.2 Nav
1.4.2.1.7 Security
Use of a password account will be needed to gain access to the computer.
1.4.3 Actuators
1.4.3.1 Motor control
1.4.3.2 Engine control
1.4.3.3 Valve control
1.4.3.4 Plane/rudder control
1.4.4 Communications
1.4.4.1 Radio
1.4.4.2 Tape recorder(s)
1.4.4.3 Internal audio
1.4.4.4 Periscope
1.4.4.5 Radar
1.4.5 Conn controls
1.4.5.1 Auto pilot
1.4.5.2 Joystick
1.4.5.3 Rudder pedals
1.4.5.4 Keyboard
1.4.5.5 Mouse
1.5 Appointments
1.5.1 Tools
1.5.2 Cooking hot plate (stove)
1.5.3 Head
1.5.4 Firearms
1.6 Safety
1.6.1 First aid kit
1.6.2 Extra compressed air cylinder in cabin.
1.6.3 Life jackets
1.6.4 Raft/boat
1.6.5 Safety harness
1.6.6 Rope
2.0 Evolution
2.1 Research
2.1.1 Physics
2.1.1.1 Laws
2.1.1.1.1 Pneumonic
Better B Boyle's Law
Ventilated V Volume (Charle's Law)
Drawers D Dalton's Law
Pamper P Partial
Peoples P Pressure
Hind H Henry's Law
Sides S Solubility
2.1.1.1.2 Boyle's Law
The volume of a gas variew inversely as the absolute pressure while the density varies directly as the absoute pressure, provided the temperature is constant.
2.1.1.1.3 Volume (Charle's Law)
The volume of a gas varies directly as the absolute temperature, if the pressure remains constant.
2.1.1.1.4 Dalton's Law
The partial pressure of each gas in a mixture is proportional to the relative amount (by volume) of that gas in the mixture.
2.1.1.1.5 Henry's Law
At a constant temperature, the solubility of any gas in a liquid is almost direcly proportional to the pressure the gas exerts on the liquid.
2.1.1.2 Constants
2.1.1.2.1 Air density at sea level 1.14kg/m^3 or .071lb/ft^3
2.1.1.3 Charts
2.1.2 Coast Guard requirements
2.1.3 Department of Transportation - trailer tax, fees, requirments
2.1.4 Dock fees, launching fees
2.2 Development
2.2.1 Models
2.2.2 Experiments
2.2.2.1 Blow/flood hole sizes
2.2.2.1.1 Ratio of blow hole diameter to take to fill with water
2.2.2.1.2 Ratio of blow hole diameter to take to empty out water
2.2.2.1.3 Ratio of flood hole diameter to take to fill with water
2.2.2.1.4 Ratio of floodd hole diameter to take to empty out
water
2.3 Construction
2.3.1 Keel
2.3.2 Pressure hull
2.3.3 Ballast tank
2.3.4 Air plumbing
2.3.5 Water plumbing
2.3.6 Electrical
2.3.7 Propulsion
2.3.8 Batteries
2.3.9 Trailer
2.4 Testing
2.4.1 Dry land
2.4.2 Water
2.4.2.1 Dock
2.4.2.1.1 Surface
2.4.2.1.1.1 Engines
2.4.2.1.1.2 Motors
2.4.2.1.1.3 Water jet
2.4.2.1.1.4 Fwd/Bwk control
2.4.2.1.1.5 Recharging
2.4.2.1.1.6 Air tank compressor function
2.4.2.1.1.7 Ventalation
2.4.2.1.1.8 Hatches
2.4.2.1.1.9 Computer controls
2.4.2.1.1.10 Ballast tank air integrety
2.4.2.1.1.11 Ballast tank water integrety
2.4.2.1.1.12 Hull intergrety
2.4.2.1.2 Diving
2.4.2.1.3 Submerged
2.4.2.1.3.1 Ballast tanks
2.4.2.1.3.2 Flood chamber
2.4.2.1.4 Surfacing
2.4.2.2 Shallows (<100 feet deep)
2.4.2.2.1 Surface
2.4.2.2.2 Diving
2.4.2.2.3 Submerged
2.4.2.2.4 Surfacing
2.4.2.3 Deep water (> 100 feet deep, water depth, not diving
depth)
2.4.2.3.1 Surface
2.4.2.3.2 Diving
2.4.2.3.3 Submerged
2.4.2.3.4 Surfacing
2.4.2.4 Ocean
2.4.2.4.1 Surface
2.4.2.4.2 Diving
2.4.2.4.3 Submerged
2.4.2.4.4 Surfacing
2.5 Documentation
2.5.1 Reading list
2.5.1.1 Diving
Diving for Fun by Joe Strykowski, Forth Revised Edition,
1974, Dacor Corporation, 161 Northfield Rd. Northfield,
Illinois 60093
A how to become a scuba diver. Very good introductry
manual. Details on equipment, human physiology, and
training.
2.5.1.2 Submarines
The Submarine and Sea Power by Vice Admmiral Sir Arthur
Hezlet, K.B.E., C.B., D.S.O., D.S.C. Copyright 1967, Library
of Congress Catalog Card No. 67-15760, Printed in Great
Britain, Stein and Day/Publishers/7 East 48 Street, New
York, N.Y. 10017
A general history of the submarine warefare. Most of
the details were of WWI and WWII.
U-Boat Commander by Peter Erich Cremer, 1982, By Verlag
Ullstein GmbH, Berlin, Translation 1982 by The Bodly Head,
Published and Dirstributed in the United States of America
by the Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland 21402
P21 Water pressuer 15lb/in^2 every 10 meters
P21-22 Surface by - comperessed air
- hydroplanes to surface then deisel engine exhaust
P22 Trim tanks for balance to bring equilibrium when ballast tanks are flooded
The rest of the book is a biography of Peter Cremer as a U-Boat captain of U-333 during WWII.
2.5.1.3 Physics
2.5.1.4 Other
Pneumatics and Hydralics by Harry L. Stewart, revised by Tom
Phillin, 4th Edition 1st Printing, Copywrite 1984, by
Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., ISBN 0-672-23412-2
A text book on the subject of Pneumatic and Hydralic
systems.
2.5.2 Notes/Sketches
2.5.3 Drawings
2.5.4 Logs
2.5.5 Tape recordings
2.5.5.1 Audio
2.5.5.1.1 Voice
2.5.5.1.2 Sounds
2.5.5.2 Data
2.6 Specs
2.6.1 Design Goals
Length 16-24 feet
Beam 3-4 feet
Height 3-5 feet
Displacement (in Sea water of density xxxxx)
Surface
Submerged
Displacement (in fresh water of density 1.000)
Surface
Submerged
Diving depth
Normal 100 feet
Emergancy 200 feet
Diving speed
Surface to snort depth
Surface to periscope depth
Surface to 100 feet
Surfacing speed
Snort depth to surface
Periscope depth to surface
100 feet to surface
Max Speed
Surface (two deisel engines) 10 knots
Snort (two deisel engines) 10 knots
Submerged (two electric motors) 5 knots
Water jet (best direction) 1 knots
Enderance
At max speed
Surface
Snort
Submerged
At best speed
Surface 1000 nautical miles
Snort 1000 nautical miles
Submerged 10 nautical miles
Number of engines HP each
Number of motors HP each
Water jet HP each
Diesel fuel tankage
Number of batteries
Time to recharge
Number of air tanks
Time to compress air for all tanks
2.6.2 Actual
2.7 Human Physiology
3.0 Crew
The sub is designed for 1 or 2 crew members. The sub can be fully operated by 1 crew member by the aid of the computer control. The allows for the second crew member to sleep, rest, look out of windows, or not even be on board.
For maximum safety, two crew members should be embarked at all times away from dock.
3.1 Members
The first crew member is know as Captain.
The second crew member is know a Number 1.
3.2 Training
3.2.1 Swimming
3.2.2 Scuba Diving
3.2.3 Sub operations
3.2.4 Navagation