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As an ex machinist I can
warn you about titanium, this stuff is not fun to machine or weld. It melts
normal drill bits and work hardens easily. Making a sub from it would be a
nightmare! You would have much better luck using stainless steel which is
also not fun to cut but can be done in the home shop with standard HSS tooling
with some patience.
I can't see what you would gain from using
aluminum as it corrodes with salt water and doesn't weigh enough to be
practical. A lightweight sub will just bob up and down in the water like a
cork.
From: owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org [mailto:owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org] On Behalf Of Brian Cox Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2006 11:36 AM To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] External vs Internal Stiffners Doug,
I found this
one, but his question was never really answerd:
It appears most subs have
internal stiffening T beams, but I see a
number of references to external ones as well. External beams certainly have their appeal from the standpoint of internal space (and even some ease of construction). BUT, what do you do after putting on external stiffeners? How do you restore the hydrodynamic body shape to escape the drag of exposed beams? Putting on a second thin hull (perhaps with internal ballast tanks, etc.) seems like the inevitable thing to do, but then how would you maintain/rust proof the inner hull? Along those lines, is there any advice on how to treat the hull? A special type of paint? Anybody up to hot-dip galvanizing a whole sub? :-) Materials. Steel is cheap and easily worked, but what about aluminum and titanium? Aluminum would sacrafice some strength, but for a person with money titanium seems like the gold standard for submarine material. Besides the strength of titanium, it's almost complete invulnerability to corrosion makes it a very appealing material. Anybody know what titanium costs in bulk and if it's unreasonably hard to work? (The last time I saw a price on titanium it was about $30 a pound, but that was for wire, not plate/beam.) Brian
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