nperature and pressure low cycle fatigue tests. 
requiring extensive test time. 
Once gross integrity of the hardware system 
and man have been assured, it is 
important to determine mission effectiveness of 
complex manned systems operating in a challeng- 
ing environment. Experience has indicated many 
occasions where complex interaction of vehicle, 
sensors, auxiliary systems, and man require prior 
analysis and simulation to determine overall effec- 
tiveness for mission goals. No simulation facilities 
exist where relevant parameters including pressure, 
temperature, and salinity can be reproduced and 
manipulated to assess their combined effects. 
Navy data indicate a tremendous deficiency in 
simulation test facilities, particularly for great 
depths. A deficiency of 430 test years in tank 
sizes up to 20 cubic feet at pressures over 15,000 
psi was noted, without including the need for 
low-cycle fatigue testing. This deficiency was 
calculated on currently defined five-year funding 
plans and did not provide for an increased national 
effort in the deep sea. 
Equipment testing to less than the full sub- 
merged operating pressures has been necessary due 
to lack of adequate test facilities. For example, 
available facilities restricted testing the pressure 
hull for the first Deep Submergence Rescue 
Vehicle to only 2,700 feet rather than the poten- 
tial 5,000 foot performance capability. The first 
Deep Submergence Search Vehicle (DSSV) capsule 
will be only static tested to its operating depth of 
20,000 feet because no tank will be available for 
cyclic testing until at least two years after delivery. 
No chamber capable of cycling the DSSV or 
similar capsule to operating depth is planned. 
Over the next five years, deep submergence 
programs will pinpoint operational problems en- 
countered in sustained operations at 2,000 and 
20,000 feet. As feasibility of a new generation of 
operational systems is demonstrated, new deep 
diving systems will be developed with markedly 
increased capabilities. 
Military systems could include deeper operating 
attack submarines, new strategic missile sub- 
marines, and bottom-sitting or bottom-mobile 
systems. If these vehicles were approved for 
safety of 
5 Navy Ship Research and Development Center, Deep 
Sea Simulation Facilities Navy-Wide, Part I, Report C 
2515-1, (NSRDC, Annapolis, Maryland, 1967). 
VI-78 
production, they would require Navy simulation 
facility expenditures exceeding $1 billion over the 
next 10 years. 
If deep ocean programs merely doubled over 
the next 10 years, existing and planned test 
facilities would accommodate no more than 20 per 
cent of the required development work, only 10 
per cent of required equipment testing, and no 
testing to certify the fully assembled vehicle. 
Attempted use of off-the-shelf equipment on 
essentially all existing vehicles forced in situ 
testing and resulted in a long list of equipment 
failures. The NR-1 is an exception; all subsystems 
will be tested thoroughly before installation. 
Nevertheless, no facility exists to test the entire 
vehicle before launch. Initial at-sea operation 
without any equipment malfunction is the excep- 
tion rather than the rule. Because deep diving 
submersibles must have much equipment external 
to the pressure hull, many new structural and 
external machinery problems are encountered. 
2. Future Needs 
Progress in undersea systems will necessitate 
testing and evaluating equipment prior to selection 
and installation on vehicles. Testing, evaluation, 
and certification of whole vehicle systems are 
needed to minimize failures during at-sea opera- 
tions. 
In the decade 1970-1980, a proliferation of 
deep ocean simulation facilities will be needed. 
When economical and feasible, test facilities 
should have multiple capabilities. For example, a 
vehicle test facility might be built to accommodate 
diver tests as well. Requirements include: 
—Certification and test facilities for small submers- 
ibles to 20,000 feet. 
—Certification and test facilities for full size deep 
operating submarines and undersea stations. 
—Anechoic test chambers for sonar equipment and 
quiet operating machinery. 
—Coastal engineering facilities. 
—Test facilities for pressure capsules and housings 
to 20,000 feet. 
—Facilities for testing external machinery and 
power systems. 
