Abstract
This paper describes a method useful for determination of load carrying capacity of underwater vehicle, elaborated on the basis of investigations of series of vehicles of systematically changed geometrical dimensions. By using the set of the series of vehicles their structural mass and displacement - at a given structural material and assumed maximum permissible submersion depth - were determined, and next - approximation formulae for deadweight of vehicles were obtained. Vehicle's form may be consisted of one or a few cylindrical floats of circular cross-section, ended with caps. The floats are joined together with a space pipe frame. Acceptability of design solutions results from comparison of working stress values in float's shell plating with permissible stresses as well as critical stresses. The presented method may be useful in the preliminary stage of designing the underwater vehicles - i.e. may serve for preliminary determination of a vehicle deadweight - at its given, or determined, geometrical dimensions, maximum permissible submersion depth, as well as a selected structural material.