Progress of research on the application of new titanium alloy underwater vehicles
2024,04,06
For a long time, China's naval service ships pressure-resistant shell sonar deflector as well as piping systems used by the material is basically carbon steel, aluminum alloy, Stainless Steel. It is worth noting that Russia (the former Soviet Union) once also chose these conventional materials, but then most of them switched to titanium alloys, and the final application of good results. For example, the nuclear submarine K166, which was completed at the end of 1968, had its hull, piping systems, and a large number of other fixtures and fittings made of titanium. The A-class nuclear attack submarine, which attracted a lot of attention in the early 1970s, was the most advanced nuclear submarine with the smallest tonnage (submerged displacement of 3,120 t), the fastest speed (maximum submerged speed of 41 kn), and the deepest dive (depth of 700 m, with an extreme depth of 750 m) among nuclear submarines at that time in the world, which was also constructed by using titanium alloys as the main material.
Russia and Ukraine have a skilled labor force and sophisticated test facilities, and have produced several types of underwater vehicles, such as MIR2, URAN-1, MASK-2, etc., in which titanium alloys and other advanced hull material technologies derived from spacecraft are their strengths. In addition to Russia and Ukraine, other countries are also conducting research in the field of titanium alloys. The United States began the research and application of titanium alloy submersibles in the 1960s. The USS Seacliff, a deep submersible constructed in 1981 and 1982, was equipped with observation and maneuvering compartments made of titanium alloy. The Nautilus submersible developed by France in 1985, the Deepsea 6500 investigative submersible developed by Japan, the Jiaolong manned deep submersible and the Orange Shark developed by China are also equipped with observation and operation chambers made of titanium alloy. The main structural components of the “Orange Shark” autonomous underwater vehicle are made of titanium alloy.
Titanium alloy has also made new breakthroughs in China's large-scale, large-depth vehicle research. Due to good mechanical properties, long service life and low maintenance cost, the application of titanium alloy in submarine vehicles has obvious advantages, especially the shell material of large submerged equipment, which not only needs to have both very high strength and good toughness, but also needs to have good anti-corrosion, sound transmission, non-magnetic and other comprehensive characteristics, so the research and application of high-performance titanium alloy materials is the main development trend, and there has been a certain technological breakthrough. . Dalian University of Technology, Wang Lei et al. put forward a cartridge type synchronous permanent magnet propulsion applied to underwater robots isolation sleeve is the use of titanium alloy materials, Zhejiang University, Hu Ren through the analysis of the pressure resistance of different materials to determine the titanium alloy as a pressure-resistant shell material for the underwater glider, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, under the support of pioneering special projects of the 7,000 m level of deep-sea glider sealing the head of the end cap is also the use of titanium alloy materials. Titanium alloy has outstanding performance in the field of manned deep diving, the working depth of “Deep Sea Warrior” manned submersible independently developed by China is up to 4,500 m, and the diving depth of “Jiaolong” manned submersible has successfully exceeded 7,000 m, and “Striver” manned submersible has successfully exceeded 7,000 m. The manned submersible “Struggler” (see Figure 4) has successfully reached the “fourth pole of the earth” in the Mariana Trench, with a depth of 10,909 m. The pressure resistance of these submersibles is very high, and the pressure resistance of the submersibles is very high. The pressure-resistant shells of these submersibles are made of high-strength titanium alloy materials, and other major structures are also made of titanium alloy materials. It can be said that titanium alloy has played a great role in the current field of China's new underwater vehicles, and will subsequently play a positive role in the development of high-performance vehicles.
