“As part of a university project, I designed and built an underwater gripper for a submersible ROV. The gripper needed to operate in salt water at a depth of up to 400m and at 40 bars of pressure. A key component on the gripper was a power screw and traversing nut arrangement, which was initially made from stainless steel. The salt water and co-efficient of friction between the stainless steel screw and nut did not produce good results, leading to the use of Vesconite for the nut component. The Vesconite nut was the force actuator on the gripper and was tested to exert a clamping force of 150kg with no signs of deformation or stripping! Further to the nut, I used Vesconite as bushes and washes at all interfaces between aluminium and stainless Steel to prevent galvanic corrosion on the device. Vesconite’s machinability was fantastic in these unique designs of washers and capped bushes. The gripper performed brilliantly and served two years as the first prototype for the ROV.”
