Filling a 3D printed cavity with foam

Waterproof Housing, Frames, and Buoyancy Methods.
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Astronaut
Posts: 8
Joined: Jun 25th, 2015, 1:11 pm

Filling a 3D printed cavity with foam

Post by Astronaut »

I 3D printed a hollow float for my ROV, but I would like to fill it with foam instead of leaving it full of air to handle deeper working depths.

I've debated using spray foam, but from what I've heard, it absorbs a lot of water. That shouldn't be a problem if my float is waterproof, but if there is a leak the robot might not come up. That, and since it is open cell, it would collapse under depth.

The other option I've considered is making my own syntactic foam, but that might be expensive. I have also yet to find a place (here in Sweden) which sells mikrobaloons that are strong. The only ones I've found in Sweden are these: https://primenta.se/komposit/additiv/mi ... -19-g.html

Would spray foam work? Should I go with Syntactic foam instead? Has anyone else done this and found a floating material?

Thank you!
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sthone
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Joined: Nov 8th, 2010, 9:25 pm
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Re: Filling a 3D printed cavity with foam

Post by sthone »

I went the microballoons route but I have not finished the rov yet so it hasn't been tested.

See page 4 of this thread for how I went about it.

-Steve
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