Eor the near future, at least, oil and natural gas will continue to be critically important sources of energy worldwide. As easily tapped land and shallow coastal water reserves continue to decline, deepwater exploration and production is growing and with it, demand for strong yet lightweight materials able to stand up to incredibly harsh subsea environments. applications - in progress and planned. During introductory remarks, University of Houston vice chancellor R. Arthur Vailas pointed out that new materials, including composites, are almost a necessity in the deepwater environment, one of the most challenging next to space. Dr. Howard Hwang of Shell Exploration and Production described a few of those challenges, which include high hydrostatic pressure, low temperatures, vortex-induced vibration (VIV), platform designs that are maxed out with regard to payload capacity and scattered fields containing low volumes of oil or gas, which make drilling and gathering of oil increasingly difficult: "Composites can reduce the weight and size of platform structures and therefore reduce infrastructure costs," he explains.
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机译：至少在不久的将来，石油和天然气将继续成为全球至关重要的能源。随着易于开采的土地和沿海浅水储量的持续减少，深水勘探和生产正在增长，随之而来的是对坚固而轻便的材料的需求，这些材料能够承受极其恶劣的海底环境。申请-进行中和计划中。在介绍性讲话中，休斯顿大学副校长R. Arthur Vailas指出，包括复合材料在内的新材料几乎是深水环境中必不可少的，而深水环境是太空中最具挑战性的环境之一。壳牌勘探与生产公司的Howard Hwang博士描述了其中的一些挑战，其中包括高静水压力，低温，涡激振动（VIV），有效载荷容量最大的平台设计以及包含小体积的分散场石油或天然气的开采，这使得石油的开采和收集变得越来越困难：“复合材料可以减轻平台结构的重量和尺寸，从而降低基础设施成本，”他解释说。
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