Submersible vessel external load mounting system
AssigneeNewport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
InventorClinton W. Stallard, III
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An external storage system for a submersible vessel, e.g. a submarine, includes an outer skin formed as a fairing member of the vessel. The internal volume of the external storage system, bounded by the outer skin and the hull of the vessel is occupied by support members appropriate for the selected load and syntactic foam. The syntactic foam provides structural support for the outer skin and load support members, an additional attachment bond between the hull, skin, and load support members, and the buoyancy required to compensate for the additional weight of the external load. The syntactic foam also provides certain acoustic advantages.
Claims18
An external storage system for a submarine having a hull comprising:
- a storage means externally mounted to said submarine hull;
- said external storage means being formed at least partly of syntactic material to provide structural support and compensating buoyancy;
- said syntactic material being filled with at least one from a group of fillers including microspheres and macrospheres that are resistant to deformation under hydrostatic pressure and resistant to migration of water;
- and
- said external storage means including an external boundary formed at least partly of said syntactic material and configured as a fairing member of said submarine.
A method for mounting external loads to an exterior of a submarine having a hull, comprising:
- attaching an external form to the outside of said hull of said submarine, wherein said form is configured as a fairing member of said submarine;
- treating said external form with a mold releasing agent;
- forming a syntactic material with at least one from a group of fillers including microspheres and macrospheres that are resistant to deformation under hydrostatic pressure and resistant to migration of water;
- filling said form at least partially with syntactic material to provide structural support and compensating buoyancy for said external loads;
- curing said syntactic material;
- and
- removing said form after said syntactic material is cured whereby said syntactic material forms at least a part of the external boundary of said submarine and said syntactic material is configured as a fairing member of said submarine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.