material testing
Testing starts with the material itself, although mechanical data is readily available for metals it is not always the case with plastics, for this reason we use our own device for obtaining the Young’s modulus or stiffness of the plastics we use, particularly because this value changes when the material is wet and when it is hot.

We also perform long term practical tests on our standard housings to establish their durability in harsh environments where they can be affected by creep and degradation from UV. The grade of Rigid Polyurethane we use has been found to be particularly good in these respects confirming it's reputation for reliability in the Subsea environment.








leak detection

All housings supplied by Sealed Enclosures are tested for leaks by drawing a vacuum inside the housing, this creates a pressure differential of one bar, although this is not a high pressure it is more demanding for the seals to prevent the leakage of air molecules compared with much larger water molecules.

We recommend that customers can perform their own vacuum test when all the assembly work is complete, just prior to the housing going in the water, housings are provided with a test point for this and we can also supply the valve and pressure gauge made up with the appropriate fittings, for more details click here
pressure test

To prove that a housing can withstand a given pressure we perform a hydrostatic test, this involves applying water pressure to the outer surfaces of the housing within the confinement of a pressure vessel. The pressure is normally measured in bar with one bar applied for every ten meters depth, plus a safety factor. Our pressure vessel (see picture right) has an internal diameter of 820mm, an internal height of 1500mm and can provide a pressure of 10 bar which is equivalent to 100 meters depth in water.

Occasionally it is important to prove the margin of safety, that is how much pressure can the housing take above working pressure before it will collapse, this can only be done with a test to destruction causing the housing to implode. In the case of our Sea Chest our calculations were confirmed by an implosion at fifty eight bar or seven times working pressure. At this pressure the housing would have been significantly distorted with the equivalent of over one hundred tons applied to the largest face.