Pressure Tolerant Energy Converter for Deep Sea Applications

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Frank Kirchner
• Subject Area: Automation, Mechatronics, Control Systems, Intelligent Technical Systems, Robotics ; Engineering Design, Machine Elements, Product Development
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 404971005

The aim of the project is the enhancement of robustness and compactness of deep sea systems through reduction of system complexity. To reach diving levels of 500 meters or even deeper, conventional systems with pressure hulls reach their limits. An enormous effort has to be taken to grand these systems to be deep sea capable. Rising hull thicknesses of the heavy pressure hulls demand large volume lifting bodies for weight compensation. Assembly-, development- and maintenance costs explode. A size reduction of the systems is not imaginable. Within the scope of the applied project fundamental research in the field of complexity reduction through the development of pressure tolerant functional units made out of soft materials should be done. The ambient pressure will be distributed uniformly on the soft material encapsulated units, so that a pressure hull can be neglected. Regarding a deep-sea application all inherent characteristics of soft materials can be used positively. Due to the underwater prevailing buoyancy even the load-bearing structure can be made of soft material. By way of example, a fluid transport system for the deep sea is to be developed as a largely flexible functional unit. The soft material is intended to be used multifunctional as a pressure housing for the components embedded therein, as a corrosion protection, as a supporting structure and for the realization of joints. Soft energy converters should also be integrated in the soft carrier material. The use of soft material in addition to multifunctional material use allows a system development with high functional integration, which leads to an increase in robustness and compactness.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 2100: Soft Material Robotic Systems
• Co-Investigators: Professor Dr.-Ing. Franz Dietrich; Dr.-Ing. Marc Simnofske