Systems and methods for compensating for compressibility and thermal expansion coefficient mismatch in buoyancy controlled underwater vehicles
First Claim
1. An underwater vehicle, comprising:
- a hull;
a compartment carried by the hull and at least partially flooded with a first liquid having similar properties as a surrounding liquid into which the hull is configured to be deployed, wherein the first liquid has a first compressibility; and
a compressibility compensation system comprising a container in the compartment and at least partially filled with a compressible liquid comprising silicone, the compressible liquid having a second compressibility higher than the first compressibility.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for compensating for compressibility and thermal expansion coefficient mismatch in buoyancy controlled or buoyancy-driven underwater vehicles are disclosed herein. An underwater vehicle configured in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosure, for example, can include a hull and a compartment carried by the hull and at least partially flooded with a first liquid having similar properties as a surrounding liquid into which the hull is configured to be deployed. The first liquid has a first compressibility and thermal expansion coefficient. The underwater vehicle can further include a compressibility and thermal expansion coefficient compensation system comprising a container filled or at least partially filled with a compressible liquid comprising silicone in the compartment. The compressible liquid has a second compressibility higher than the first compressibility and second thermal expansion coefficient higher than the first thermal expansion coefficient. The compressible liquid can include, for example, hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDS).
15 Citations
17 Claims
-
1. An underwater vehicle, comprising:
-
a hull; a compartment carried by the hull and at least partially flooded with a first liquid having similar properties as a surrounding liquid into which the hull is configured to be deployed, wherein the first liquid has a first compressibility; and a compressibility compensation system comprising a container in the compartment and at least partially filled with a compressible liquid comprising silicone, the compressible liquid having a second compressibility higher than the first compressibility. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
- 12. An underwater vehicle having a controllable buoyancy volume V, the underwater vehicle comprising a compressee having (a) a bladder, and (b) a compressible fluid within the bladder, wherein the compressee has a total volume VC less than V, and VC comprises approximately
-
14. A buoyancy controlled underwater vessel, comprising:
-
a body having a compressibility less than a liquid medium into which the vessel is to be deployed, the body including a first portion configured to be pressurized and a second portion separated from the first portion, wherein the second portion is configured to be flooded with the liquid medium; a flexible, pliable container positioned within the second portion of the body; and a volume of silicone material at least partially filling the pliable container. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
-
Specification