Hydraulic pressure resistance of the ceramic resin composite buoyancy materials based on cylindrical tube configuration

Abstract

Due to high modulus, high strength and low water absorption of the 99.5% alumina ceramic, the tubular ceramic resin composite (TCRC) has been designed and fabricated, which can provide a potential option for the deep-sea buoyancy materials. The reliability and applicability of TCRC under hydrostatic pressure are systematically discussed by means of theory, experiment and simulation. Circumferential instability and strength failure are two possible failure modes of the TCRC through theoretical analysis. The study indicates that the load-bearing capacity of TCRC decreases with the increase of the number of vertical/horizontal tube arrays m, the ratio of the inner to outer radius r/Rc of the ceramic tube or the ratio of the length to the outer radius L/Rc of the ceramic tube. Conversely, the load-bearing capacity of TCRC increases with the increase in the modulus of matrix phase Er. In addition, TCRC with parameters of “r/R-0.93/0.91-3X3-L40-E3.18” has excellent performance through experimental verification. That is, the core density and hydrostatic strength of the TCRC are 0.67 g/cm3 and 150.6 MPa, respectively. Better stated, our designed buoyancy material can be applied in the deep-sea environment of 12000m, which is the deepest spot on the ocean floor ever explored. The excellent performance of TCRC verifies the feasibility of ceramic circular honeycomb configuration in the application of hydrostatic pressure environment. Meanwhile, the buoyancy materials used in different water depths can be designed by changing the L/Rc or r/Rc of the round tube in circular honeycomb.