Abstract
Underwater inflatable structures (UISs) are distributed in an initial folded state for ease of transportation and deployment. They are able to morph into their intended geometry upon arrival at their destination. This morphing/inflation process can be driven by hydrogel beads, which swell when they contact water. In this research, we study the physical characteristics of tubular UISs with different configurations (length, slenderness, beads density). We fabricated sets of tubular UISs with nylon sleeves filled with different amounts of hydrogel beads and built a flexural test platform mounted on the test tank for the bending experiment. This work provides the experimental Young’s modulus of the tubular UISs under elastic and plastic deformations, and also discusses how the different configurations contribute to the tubular UIS’s stiffness.
Highlights
As much of the Earth’s ocean remains unexplored, there is a need for new structural materials suitable for these environments, and that can operate under significant surrounding pressure environment
The structures are able to morph into their intended geometry and maintain their inflated status via hydraulic approach
Upon coming in contact with water, the hydrogel beads expand, which drives the tubular underwater inflatable structures (UISs) to morph into its final shape
Summary
As much of the Earth’s ocean remains unexplored, there is a need for new structural materials suitable for these environments, and that can operate under significant surrounding pressure environment. The concept of underwater inflatable structures (UISs) was initially proposed [1] to build morphing oceanic structures as an underwater architecture to aid with ocean exploration and research work. UISs initially come in a folded state for easy transportation and manipulation. The structures are able to morph into their intended geometry and maintain their inflated status via hydraulic approach. The hydraulic approach employs an underwater pump to inject the surrounding water into the UIS which effectively maintains the inflated status, giving the structure an inner and outer pressure difference. There is a practical alternate approach to achieve the same effect using hydrophilic infill materials, like hydrogel products
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