Current submersibles use acrylic for the passenger compartments; however, this new design will be using a thick glass shaped in a sphere with a technique created by Rayotek Scientific, whose clients include 3M, Boeing, DuPont and NASA.
According to Rayotek CEO Bill Raggio, the borosilicate glass (soda-lime glass) gets stronger under compression, so the underwater pressure found at the ocean’s bottom should not cause it to crack. Because of the fact that the expansion and contraction rates are different in metal and glass, areas where the two join can become an issue. Rayotek has created a new patent pending technique which turns the glass into a sphere and more details cannot currently be released.
