Recent content by exceter

Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely check that out! I've seen references to ASME before but I didn't look at it very closely because I thought that it was just a specification for pipes which are only subjected to internal pressure.

Also, I didn't mean to suggest that aluminum casting doesn't require skill and practise because it clearly does. I just meant that it's something that I can hypothetically do in my back yard without a lot of specialized equipment. On the topic of the safety margin, since posting this...

You've convinced me. Dangerous is bad. No internal gas pressure. :)

Thanks! That link is interesting, although they're building a different type of submersible than the one that I'm attempting to build. Rather than polluting this thread with submarine pressure vessel design I've started a new one: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=4150881

I'm working on the design for a dry-hull model submarine. My plan is to cast the hull shape that I want out of aluminum because this type of casting is cheap, easy to make, and because aluminum has a good strength to weight ratio. I want the hull to be able to withstand an external pressure of...

That's a really good point about detecting leaks. That would also allow me to release additional pressure into the interior of the sub to compensate for leaks, once they were detected. HPA/C02 tanks from paintball guns(which I was planning to use in my ballast system anyway) could easily provide...

This is a *slight* tangent but, on the topic of the hull design, one of the ideas that I've been toying with is the practicality of making the hull lighter by pressurizing the interior of the submarine to offset some of the external pressure. Is that even worth fooling with?

The second solution does do a better job of following the KISS rule. My only concern with it is that I can't test the safety factor. In your first solution, how would you recommend that I add an opening through which the submarine could be inserted into the pressure vessel? As for...

"Cheap" Hydrostatic Testing Chamber As background information, I'm a computer programmer by trade but I want to get into underwater ROVs as a hobby because I need a hobby that doesn't involve sitting in a chair all the time, because Bob Ballard was one of my heros as a child, and because there...