It can crack and break suddenly.Īlso, Titan had previously gone for deep sea dives a few times, which would have contributed to the fatigue of the hull to make the hull more prone to catastrophic failure. The properties of carbon fibers for deep sea applications are, however, not that well understood. It used mostly carbon fibers, which have the advantage of being lighter than titanium or steel, so Titan could have more space for passengers. However, the Titan’s hull had an experimental design. The performance of these materials under extreme stress is well understood. Much of the existing technology is based on steel, titanium and aluminum. The key is the design of the hull that protects the vessel against the large external water pressure that is trying to crush the hull. The occupants would not have experienced pain or realized what hit them.Ĭan you briefly explain, if you can, the engineering behind how submarines are able to navigate such crushing depths in the first place-and why Titan was presumably unable to? As the hull breaks apart under the huge external pressure, a large amount of energy is released, and the five occupants would have died instantly. Implosions like explosions are very violent. Officials overseeing the search for the submarine said the discovery of debris from the watercraft is consistent with a ‘catastrophic implosion.’ What would such an event have meant for the five occupants? When this force becomes larger than the force hull can withstand, the vessel implodes violently. When a submersible is deep in the ocean it experiences the force on its surface due to water pressure. In an explosion, the force acts outwards, but in an implosion, the force acts inwards. Quite simply, an implosion is the opposite of an explosion. What does it mean for a submarine to have ‘imploded?’ What causes a water submersible to implode? How is it different from an explosion? The brief conversation has been edited for clarity. How does such an implosion happen, and what kind of impact would it have had Titan’s crew? Northeastern Global News reached out to Arun Bansil, university distinguished professor of physics at Northeastern, to provide a basic overview of the physics involved-and the violent consequences associated with it. The tragic result, authorities said, is that the five occupants on board are presumed to have died during the implosion. The submersible “Titan” that recently garnered much of the world’s attention experienced a “catastrophic implosion,” according to the U.S. (Artist’s concept of a submarine implosion.) The failure is believed to have occurred due to the experimental design of the vessel’s hull, which was primarily made of less-durable, less understood carbon fibers instead of traditional materials. The submersible “Titan” suffered a catastrophic implosion due to extreme water pressure, causing the presumed deaths of all five occupants.
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