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Subject: ceramic hulled attack subs??
randomjester    9/26/2007 6:21:42 PM
Im a bit of a fan of Joe Buff's books, involving the USS Challenger, an ultra-high tech SSN, (basically a seawolf with VLS and a ASDS hangar). This sub is unusual in the face that its made out of something called 'alumina', described as a ceramic composite. The hull of this boat is supposed to enable it to dive to, and engage in combat at, depths of approaching 4000m. It is supposed to give this sub, and other ceramic-hulled SSN's in the books, a huge advantage in undersea combat. Would the expense (And Im assuming it would be very expensive!) of such a superstrong hull be worth the battlefield advantage? Thoughts..
 
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Jeff_F_F       9/27/2007 10:29:38 AM
alumina is aluminum oxide. Not to familiar with its properties.
 
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dwightlooi       10/30/2007 11:25:11 PM

Im a bit of a fan of Joe Buff's books, involving the USS Challenger, an ultra-high tech SSN, (basically a seawolf with VLS and a ASDS hangar). This sub is unusual in the face that its made out of something called 'alumina', described as a ceramic composite. The hull of this boat is supposed to enable it to dive to, and engage in combat at, depths of approaching 4000m. It is supposed to give this sub, and other ceramic-hulled SSN's in the books, a huge advantage in undersea combat. Would the expense (And Im assuming it would be very expensive!) of such a superstrong hull be worth the battlefield advantage? Thoughts..

Alumina is not a good material. Basically, its Aluminium oxide... the whitish stuff you find on the surface of corroded aluminum parts -- AL2O3. It is not a good hull material, lacking both toughness and tensile strength. Also, it likes to crack and cannot be welded. It is however quite good as ballistic armor because of its hardness and relatively low cost.

 
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