Titanic Submersible missing

[wytonpjs]

Carbon fibre is usually hand laminated then autoclaved so after repeated dives I would hazard a direction for investigation to be delamination of the layers or the methods of adhesion/connection to the metal end caps, but they will know all that anyway by pulling in aircraft types to help.

It wasn’t autoclaved. There’s some interesting info in this link:

Composite submersibles: Under pressure in deep, deep waters

Manned deepsea exploration calls for a highly engineered composites solution that saves weight and preserves life — at 6,500-psi service pressure.

www.compositesworld.com

The biggest challenge, Spencer reports, was developing a manufacturable design that “would produce a consistent part with no wrinkles, voids or delaminations.” And without use of an autoclave. Spencer opted for a layup strategy that combines alternating placement of prepreg carbon fiber/epoxy unidirectional fabrics in the axial direction, with wet winding of carbon fiber/epoxy in the hoop direction, for a total of 480 plies. The carbon fiber is standard-modulus Grafil 37-800 (30K tow), supplied by Mitsubishi Chemical Carbon Fiber & Composites Inc. (Irvine, CA, US). Prepreg was supplied by Irvine-based Newport Composites, now part of Mitsubishi Chemical Carbon Fiber & Composites Inc. The wet-winding epoxy is Epon Resin 682 from Hexion Inc. (Columbus, OH, US). The curing agent is Lindride LS-81K frLindau Chemicals Inc.cals (Columbia, SC, US).

 

[Liveonce]

It wasn’t autoclaved. There’s some interesting info in this link:

Composite submersibles: Under pressure in deep, deep waters

Manned deepsea exploration calls for a highly engineered composites solution that saves weight and preserves life — at 6,500-psi service pressure.

www.compositesworld.com

The biggest challenge, Spencer reports, was developing a manufacturable design that “would produce a consistent part with no wrinkles, voids or delaminations.” And without use of an autoclave. Spencer opted for a layup strategy that combines alternating placement of prepreg carbon fiber/epoxy unidirectional fabrics in the axial direction, with wet winding of carbon fiber/epoxy in the hoop direction, for a total of 480 plies. The carbon fiber is standard-modulus Grafil 37-800 (30K tow), supplied by Mitsubishi Chemical Carbon Fiber & Composites Inc. (Irvine, CA, US). Prepreg was supplied by Irvine-based Newport Composites, now part of Mitsubishi Chemical Carbon Fiber & Composites Inc. The wet-winding epoxy is Epon Resin 682 from Hexion Inc. (Columbus, OH, US). The curing agent is Lindride LS-81K frLindau Chemicals Inc.cals (Columbia, SC, US).

interesting reading and we all now know how it ended.

 

[Bavarianbrit]

So it was hand layup as in F1 sport I have watched that being done plus the mixing of the epoxy to always get the right percentages of hardener/catalyst can be tricky we did it by weight. I spent a year doing layups with glass mat or roving cloth and Ciba Giga epoxy resins for car styling prototypes when I did my apprenticeship but that was back in 1968 so now I only have a laymans knowledge of the technology.

 

[Liveonce]

the very idea of only bonding or gluing the titanium end caps on would scare me.

two dissimilar materials with different expansion, contraction rates, look how aeroplanes grow in flight.