RESEARCH ON PRESSURE HULL FOR DEEP SUBMERGENCE RESEARCH VEHICLES MADE OF TITANIUM ALLOY

Abstract

Titanium alloy (Ti-6 A1-4 V ELI) has been selected as the constructional material for the pressure hull of the deep submergence research vehicle Shinkai 2,000. The feasibility of a fabrication process for the titanium sphere has been established by building a full scale model and investigations of the mechanical properties and collapse behaviour. The results have confirmed the validity of the design procedure and the manufacturing process.