What happens when a printed part is exposed to 3000 meters of water pressure

What happens when a printed part is exposed to 3000 meters of water pressure for 48 hours?

not a whole lot. The part is porous enough that water forces its way in, eliminating any air pockets, and filling the structure. The part on the left, which was exposed, is even smoother then it’s companion (they were smoothed in acetone vapor together.) The larger pulley part I tested was a bit waterlogged but doesn’t seem to have any significant reduction in strength!

Looks like there is a lot of moisture trapped under the surface as well! Or is that staining from salt?

Do the bolts still fit snugly?

Bolt / nut trap fit did not change. I thought salt stains as well at first, but it doesn’t disolve or scrape off. Looked at it under low magnification, appears to be the location of the main outer finish- plastic turned white where deformed to allow air to escape. This might have been facing “up” in the tank - I don’t know the orientation they were in.

Interesting. So why was this part underwater? Is it part of something, or was it a test of the part itself?

I have access to a high pressure testing chamber, and while it’s used for QC tool for vehicle components, I wanted to see how parts might hold up in the unusual and somewhat extreme environment.

Here are some articles on previous tests done. I imagine you can weigh the wet vs dry part to determine exactly how much water was absorbed into the plastic vs into the holes between the infill patterns. Water absorption is pretty well known for various plastics so I think you could calculate this from the weight.

http://www2.basf.us//PLASTICSWEB/displayanyfile?id=0901a5e18000488a

http://www.curbellplastics.com/technical-resources/pdf/water-absorption-plastics.pdf

I’m guessing more water would change how things fail as well at high and low temperatures. Would freezing caused the plastic to break if the water crystalizes inside the object?

Oh… a pressure tester… I was sitting here thinking… Gee I wonder how he managed to drop it 3km down & then retrieve it.

Next step might be sticking it on one of our AUVs… then it would actually go that deep and come back!

With 3D printing , I’m sure the future of manufacturing will be great. If it prints out 3d metal and fibers, then it’s cool.

@Tolu_David what makes you think anything whill ever print metal or fibers? stereolithography with powders may do metals but the resulting parts are brittle. There certainly will not be any FDM using molten aluminum or steel.

Was wondering because the 3d outcomes really look overwhelming.
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-----Original Message-
From: “Marcus Wolschon (Google+)” <@>
Date: Mon, 06 May 2013 07:06:03
To: <@>

@Anthony. I think it’s a matter of time,Nothing is impossible. Who ever believed there would be a wireless mobile, Bluetooth or your ability to chat with me via wave science, fiber optics and chips… It’s only a matter of time.