Investigation on fatigue characteristics of transparent submersible manned cabin structure

Fatigue life prediction of transparent submersible manned cabin (TSMC) structure is investigated. Firstly, a simplified mechanical model of a cylindrical shell-hemispherical shell (CS-HS) structure is established, and the strength characteristic of the TSMC structure is gained, as well as deflections and displacements are obtained by solving the model with the non-moment theory and moment theory. Secondly, the load history of the TSMC structure is analyzed, and the load spectrum of this structure is got by analyzing and fitting the existing diving data. Finally, a method of nonlinear virtual interval division technique for the load spectrum is first presented. The predicted results have excellent agreement with the experimental data. The results show that the working depth of the large-deep deep manned cabins is within the range of 0 m–500 m, while the load history is composed of the submersible loading-uploading-unloading and payload-uplifting-unloading. In addition, the load spectrum shows that the number of dives is within the range from 299.7 m to 432.9 m. The proposed model can efficiently provide a guideline of the design and manufacturing of the transparent submersible manned cabin structure.