These inflatable bags have little mass but have substantial buoyancy when filled with air. In the submerged condition, the variable buoyancy chamber component is deflated, resulting in a total negative buoyancy force of 16.78 kN of the 4 × 4 system. In the submerged configuration, however, the buoyancy of the corner mooring buoys contributes to the vertical component of the force. The numerical model of the entire 4 × 4 cabinet module and frame abalone cage system is shown in
Fig. 12.