Deep Sea Exploration
Deep Sea Exploration has been completely overshadowed by Space Exploration ever since that fateful day in 1960 when John F. Kennedy shocked the world by announcing that the United States was going to send a man to the moon and bring him back safely by the end of the decade. However, as we continue to deplete the natural resources on the surface of the planet, looking for new energy sources and minerals under the ocean floor has become a necessary industry with much more funding available.
Nu-Cast makes a variety of housings designed specifically to endure the stresses and unimaginable pressures that exist at a depth of 2,000 feet. Our aluminum housings are made to protect the electronics contained inside unmanned underwater exploration crafts, which means that the casting must be flawless. As well, the engineering specifications for parts used on robots that repair the fiber optic cables running under the ocean floor from continent to continent, are different from those that are particular to robots that secure oil platforms to the ocean floor. Robotics plays a key role in deep Sea Exploration because it is very difficult to sustain human beings at the pressures and depths to which they need to descend. Nu-Cast has been a leading producer of aluminum investment castings for various functions on deep sea exploration robots.
Deep Sea Diving Suits
Deep sea diving suits that look remarkably like the space suits worn by astronauts conducting repairs outside the Space Shuttle must be able to withstand enormously high pressures. In cooperation (concurrent engineering) with the scientists at OceanWorks International, Nu-Cast has been able to mold, cast, and test a chest plate and vital helmet components for deep sea diving suits. It goes without saying that the tolerances of these aluminum casts are minute to say the least.
As is true in the Space Exploration, Commercial Aerospace, and the military and civilian aircraft industries, many of these parts have been the result of a process of concurrent engineering between the lead technicians at Nu-Cast and our customers’ engineering development teams. Together, we are able to produce the specifications for a design that is better because of the open cooperation of everyone involved.
Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUAV)
Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUAV) are able to travel to depths that human beings cannot go. They are remote controlled drones that are used to map the ocean floor, gather mineral samples, and give scientists better data with which to predict seismic shifts which lead to volcanoes and tsunamis. Nu-Cast has helped develop housings to be used aboard UUAV’s and these housings are made to meet the strictest of tolerances. It is vital that these fixtures are totally secure and rigid so that the cameras that record the data are entirely stable.
One would never imagine that an aluminum foundry has such a tremendous responsibility in the gathering of essential scientific data.