Advanced Composite Materials for Submarine Hatches

U.S. Navy submarine and submersible vessels incorporate numerous unique and high performance structural components. To meet their challenging mission requirements, these components must meet substantial performance requirements including resistance to considerable depth pressure, seawater corrosion and other unique U.S. Navy performance requirements. One such structural component is the watertight hatche that allows divers access to and from the vessel. These hatches are fairly complex assemblies and are traditionally made from metals. Unfortunately, corrosion of these hatch assemblies has created substantial maintenance issues for the U.S. Navy. Therefore there is considerable need for advanced materials and associated hatch designs that provide higher performance and reduced maintenance in comparison to the traditional, metal based hatches. To address this need, ADA Technologies, Inc. in partnership with Alion Science and Technology propose a program to develop new forms of fiber reinforced polymer composite materials and their associated manufacturing processes to enable highly structurally efficient and durable composite hatch assemblies.