[algo_trader]

Well, the payload has a 20 year life time.

Solar panels, navigational lights, etc. Hopefully very little physical contact with other man made objects.

A decade of sea life before some sort of land refurbishment would be a nice value for the excel.

[jacquesm]

Is aluminum an option for your structural loads? If so I would pick that before I'd even look at steel. Check out 6061 if that will work for you.

Here is a nice little article comparing two common marine grade aluminum alloys:

https://www.marinealu.com/a/marine-grade-aluminium-5083-vs-6...

[algo_trader]

thanks!!

So many helpful responses here.

[lbrindze]

most objects like this I have passed in the water seem to be made of some sort of painted steel. I think this is a good combination of durability vs economical. I suspect your electronics will go long before anything corrodes away to nothing, since in my experience its always the electronics that fail first (even when properly sealed for marine use).

Note that the main issue with any barrier coating (assuming there are no collisions) is going to be due to sea life living on/underneath your object and slowly breaking down the material. A copper based metal (read bronze) could be interesting (but expensive) since it tends to stand up fairly well in marine environments and has biocidal properties that prevent fouling/growth. Also very clear to visually inspect since green means good and red means bad which I always thought was very easy to remember.

edit: re-reading your initial comment it looks like you are describing an autonomous vessel of some sort. I used to work at a company that produced such devices and they were made out of composite plastics (which have their own issues that cause them to break down eventually in the water as well).

[algo_trader]

> autonomous vessel of some sort.

Actually just a large floating shed to support all those panels.

But yeah, there are multiple moving pieces (floating?!) involved.

Would love to chat in the future and brain storm, if u want to leave your details in my profile puppet mail.

[Aeroi]

are you constructing a floating tower to mount microwave panels for HFT?

[thereisnospork]

I'd look at the nickel alloys, Inconel 625 and Hastelloy C22 would be a good start. They should be orders of magnitude more corrosion resistant than stainless steel and still have respectable strength. Of course they are more expensive and harder to fabricate.

[jacquesm]

The tooling alone will cost a small fortune though.