Structural Design and Analysis of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle by Fiber Reinforced Plastics

Abstract

This research investigated to find out the possibilities of applying FRPs to the AUVs. In this study, two kinds of metal materials, which is one of the popularly used materials for manufacturing AUVs, and 6 kinds of FRP materials were considered. Material properties of FRPs were derived by tensile tests and chemical analysis. Moreover, various types of AUVs were designed by 8 kinds of materials. From structural analysis, we can find out that the weights of AUV by CFRP-Autoclave could be reduced by 60% in comparison with the weights of AUV by Al 7075-T6. Also, 40% weight reduction could be expected compared to the AUV by Ti-6Al-4V. In this result, we could conclude that the material of CFRP-Autoclave have various merits and potentialities as one of the AUV materials.