New Buoyancy Material for Deep Submersibles : Final Report

Abstract

The syntactic foam, micro-hollow sphere embedded in resin matrix, has many superiorities as the buoyancy material for deep sea applications. Micro-hollow spheres of various material with various properties are available to the filler of syntactic foam. The glass spheres are most efficient filler for deep sea applications that are available today. The syntactic foam suitable for 6,000m depth applications could be obtained by combination with high strength glass sphere and epoxy resin. The details of these mensioned above are shown in the previous reports. As the final report of our investigations on the syntactic foam this report presents the properties of water absorption under various conditions and non-destructive test results to confirm its qualities.