Underwater wheel
Underwater wheel
(OP)
Hello all. I am currently designing a turntable that must operate underwater, but I am having a great deal of difficulty in finding a suitable support wheel. The wheel must take a load of 22kN and must be able to be continually submerged in freshwater. I have looked at stainless steel but the capacities are very low. I am aware of other projects that have used solid steel wheels but they became corroded quite quickly. I envisage the wheel running on a smooth stainless steel strip to keep the friction low, so I have the idea to use some form of engineering plastic. The only problem is finding the right material, and someone that can turn it into wheels. Id be very grateful for any help.





RE: Underwater wheel
RE: Underwater wheel
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Bring back the HP-15
www.hp15c.org
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RE: Underwater wheel
RE: Underwater wheel
Barry1961
RE: Underwater wheel
A safety shoe will probably take some of the load off the wheel during the loading phase, but the problem is that I cant be totally sure it will always do this and so I have to assume the loadpath is always through the wheel.
To be honest, I hadnt realised it would be so hard to find suitable wheels - none of the usual wheel and castor suppliers want to know, maybe theres a market there waiting to be tapped
RE: Underwater wheel
RE: Underwater wheel
Barry1961
RE: Underwater wheel
http://www.rlws.com/lit/load-cells/IP_ratings.html
RE: Underwater wheel
If your budget can stand it make two rolled, seamed, and machined unhardened 304L SST raceway rims and load it with 440C SST hardened steel balls (McMaster Carr). To see what it would look like go to:
http://www.rotek-inc.com/english/e_index2;
or download Kaydon's turn table bearing catalog pdf:
http://www.reali-slim.com/pdfs/catalog390.pdf.
Mount one side of raceway static to the underwater ground support and the other to the wheel. It will last a long time.
You can cop Rotek's design data because the 440C and 52100 Chrome steel balls perform about the same. In addition, you might ask Rotek, Kaydon, or some of the other turntable bearing mfg.rs if they would make you a stainless version. One thing you did not specify was overturning moments. Does your wheel support an axial load only (the 22kN) or is there an overhung load as well?
RE: Underwater wheel
To be honest I'd have thought some sort of rubber would do as a tyre, but have no great experience with rubber underwater.
Cheers
Greg Locock
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: Underwater wheel
The two web site references for the turntable bearing references may require registration (name and e-mail address) before proceeding to the subdirectories. Sorry about the gaff.
RE: Underwater wheel