Example underwater application

VE resins can be used for all possible applications discussed for UPE resins. Specifically, VE resins have replaced metals and UPE-based ERP for corrosion-resistant applications. Applications include use in tanks, piping and ducts primarily for handling dilute acids, solvents and fuels, corrosion-resistant mixing vessels, precipitation vessels, scrubbers and process columns. In electrical industries, VE resin-based ERP are used to make components for electrcity generating stations, transmission and distribution, televisions, and antennae. They are also used for making electrical maintenance equipment such as ladders, and booms. Better water resistance makes them suitable for use in air conditioners, humidifiers and other household appliances. VE resins perform better in underwater applications than epoxy resins. Thus VE resins are extensively used for marine applications. Examples are hull construction of various types of sail and motor boats, fishing boats, and naval vessels. 

Some Japanese researchers at the Kyoto University of Medicines have developed a new method for removal of large stones (mineral deposits) in kidney and bladder by using micro-explosive charges without any surgery [118-120]. Recently, applications of underwater shock waves have been extended to various clinical therapies for example, in orthopedic surgery for bone formation [121, 122], in cancer therapy, for enhancement of chemotherapeutic effects [123] and in drug delivery [124, 125]. 

Principal applications of Detasheet expls include field demolition, underwater explosions, seismic prospecting and metal cutting and hardening. For example, manganese (Hadfield) steel can be hardened by inducing a shock wave in the metal thru detonation of Detasheet placed direcdy on the metal s surface (Ref 5, p 5)... 

In some applications such as in underground or underwater cable, electrical insulation has to perform under relatively constant temperatures in other applications the equipment is subjected to wide ranging thermal cycles, for example, distribution transformers and direct current traction motors for locomotives. Both are exposed to cold winter and hot summer weather. Internal heating because of overload conditions enhances the effect of high ambient temperatures in the summer. 

In some generator applications it may not be possible or desirable to dry and seal the device. Nonetheless, data from dielectric elastomer actuator lifetime tests suggest that long lifetimes can still be achieved by a tradeoff in performance. For example. Fig. 3.14 shows operation of dielectric elastomer actuators submerged in salt water. In underwater operation, 6 out of 11 actuators survived for >10 million cycles with an electric field limited to 32 MV/m and approximately 2% strain (actuation strain). Operation while submerged in saline solution suggests the practicality of low-cost highly distributed ocean wave harvesters. 

For medical applications, in our view, mechanical resonances (see Section 9.4.2.3) present barriers to antibody interaction such that these soft elastic biomaterials exhibit a remarkable biocompatibility otherwise considered impossible for foreign proteins. As a specific example for medical and nonmedical applications, the author believes that the finding of mechanical resonances, so innovative as to be denounced as artifact by those constrained by the idols of the present, constitutes opportunities for the future ranging from biosensors capable of single molecule detection to hearing protection and underwater sound absorption. 

PU elastomers processed by RIM are widely used in automotive industries. Examples are bumper covers, external body panels, modular windows and exterior and interior trims. Such elastomers are also used in eqnipment housing, sports equipment and furniture. Castable PU elastomer sheets are used as vibration damping materials and acoustic window materials for various naval and civil applications. Because of higher water resistance, PU elastomers are preferable as encapsulant materials for underwater electronics. 

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