Implosion-Proof SOF Mission Equipment Storage Container

The ultimate goal of the Phase I effort is to research the most common failure modes of small implodable volumes in order to determine characteristics of the resultant shock wave and determine what hazards this shock wave represents to divers. Texas Research Institute Austin, Inc. (TRI/Austin) will develop a man portable container that protects divers from multiple hazards related to equipment being carried, including harmful off-gassing and flammability of contents under pressure, and implosion or explosion of small sealed volumes due to pressure changes. TRI/Austin is in a unique position to transfer technology and lesson learned from previous implosion and blast mitigation projects to ensure success at the lowest cost. TRI/Austin will use our knowledge and equipment from this past research to modify the existing Special Operation (SOF) diver bag to mitigate the hazards associated with implosion, explosion, and fire. The existing bag will provide the requirement of waterproof and containment of the VOC. To prove the feasibility of this goal TRI/Austin will design and fabricate a 200 cubic inch implodable volume and test the diver’s bag by imploding the volume within the bag.