Design and construction of shallow water spherical pressure hull for a manned cabin

Abstract

ABSTRACT Design and fabrication procedures used in spherical pressure hull construction have been described in this paper. An appropriate design standard has been applied to ensure the safety and reliability of the pressure hull. Considering the material and manufacturing facility available, steel has been chosen as the pressure hull material. Design and manufacturing of spherical pressure hull have been carried out using ASME PVHO-1 and finite element analysis is used for full model analysis and verification. The manufacturing process is followed as per the approved quality assurance procedure. The spherical pressure hull has been tested for the reduced test diving depth of 189 m at sea. After the test, it is observed that there is no physical damage and no leakage. The same pressure hull can be used for further studies in the shallow water depths.