23 June 2023

The "Titan" Submersible.

I'm fishing for information from someone who knows more than I do.
The "Titan" apparently imploded on its way to visit the Titanic last week, killing its occupants in about .11 seconds.
That fact means they likely didn't even have the time to THINK "uh-oh" before they were vaporized.
My question is about "carbon fiber", stuff about which I need an education. I know it is VERY strong. I know it is light compared to other materials. And I know it is expensive, (but not as expensive as say, titanium, a fact that may enter into the cause of death of those five souls.)

Here's my query:
Compression/expansion-
The pressure vessel on that sub was being subjected to MASSIVE compression forces. I think that carbon fiber hull would have been much stronger in the other direction- expansion from inside to out.
Seems to me strength against compression in this case is the wrong application of the material.

Discussion, please.

2 comments:

Jess said...

I've worked with carbon fibers. In my application, it was to cover pilings to add strength and prevent further corrosion. It's very strong, but requires an epoxy to bond the fibers. My experiences with epoxy (and it's only from observation) is that temperature differences have a profound effect on the material. Whether that was a factor is something I don't know, but when it comes to extreme tensile, or flexural requirements, I've always found epoxy lacking.

Old NFO said...

Apparently, from videos, it was a 'wrap' on a steel cylinder, not a sphere. Other than that, I have no comment.