Base Materials announced a strategic collaboration with Triton Submarines to support the upgrade of the Triton 7500/3, the world’s deepest diving three-person acrylic submersible, with its Subtec buoyancy materials. The innovative DNV-certified vessel, with a fully transparent acrylic pressure hull, can dive to depths of 2,286 m (7,500 ft) for durations exceeding 10 hr, offering explorers, scientists, and filmmakers unprecedented access to the ocean’s bathypelagic zone, a realm of the ocean that lies between 1,000 and 4,000 m (3,280 to 13,123 ft) below the surface.
Base Materials and Triton Submarines entered a long-term technical partnership to strengthen support of Triton’s most ambitious subsea applications. Image: Triton Submarines
Following an upgrade to enhance the Triton 7500/3 capabilities, Base Materials has supplied six additional DNV-certified buoyancy modules to achieve the necessary uplift to allow the vessel to dive over 1.4 mi below the ocean’s surface. The modules are manufactured from Base Material’s DNV-approved Subtec 3,000 buoyancy material — a low-density, high-performance syntactic foam material qualified for use at depths down to 3,000 m.
In addition to providing the Subtec 3000 buoyancy material, Base Materials leveraged its network of trusted partners to ensure the modules were precisely CNC-machined to meet the project’s design requirements. Prior to delivery, DNV personnel witnessed the calibrated buoyancy checks and dimensional surveys, and conducted material documentation reviews at Base Materials’ facility in the UK, to ensure the modules fully complied with the Triton Submarines specifications and met the DNV requirements to maintain the vessel certification.
With densities from 400 – 650 kg/m3 and grades to suit a range of seawater depths from 2,000 to 11,500 m, Base Materials’ Subtec buoyancy materials comprise high-grade hollow glass microspheres and a novel thermoset polymer matrix, producing ultra-high strength-to-weight characteristics with excellent water ingress resistance. From water absorption to hydrostatic crush pressure, density to uniaxial compressive strength, and more, the range is rigorously tested in-house.
Base Materials
base-materials.com/industry/subsea-buoyancy
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