Engineering Analysis - Did the Titan's Viewport Window Fail?

[@Maximili4n]

Fantastic explanation on the 3 ways the Titan's viewport window could have failed! I'm no engineer, but all this hubub about Oceangate's lax nature of the carbon fiber hull's design and maintenance makes me think that if it were the cause of the implosion the viewport would have been blown off the titanium encap outward. - Right as I finish typing this^ I get to the end of the video where you share the same theory lol. Great video all around.

[@theeverydayengineer1]

Thanks!

[@dousiastailfeather9454]

Consider this: if we set the pressure at the point where a "first bolt" fails and progresses through adjacent bolts until the lens pops out and any remaining bolts then stay in place. If we increase the pressure by a factor of, say 100, would the progression of bolt fails be any different? I say no. There SHOULD BE bolts and the ring still attached after the pressure wave on one side. It was removed for evidence and lifting/deck storage.

[@UncleKennysPlace]

_Mega water hammer._

[@randalljames1]

I have done a bit of destructive testing under compression.. I could see that view port popping out (concussed) by the implosion.. It would be the only time of the entire voyage that the bolts would have mattered.. Certainly not holding the viewport in the hole during the dive lol.. I saw one engineers calculations on the energy expressed when that thing imploaded.. The millisecond that it took equaled the power consumption of NY city for that millisecond (or 2).. I have no idea on that number but if only half right? that is a bunch of energy...

[@theeverydayengineer1]

That would likely be a rather complex system to model and come up with such a number, but at least we can agree on the fact that once the hull gave way, the immense water pressure accelerated some mass at great speed and would have created a rather significantly pressurized pockets of air.

[@randalljames1]

so what I could gather.. Implosion at that pressure is around 1500mph. The stored energy released was around 200Mj in one millisecond.. ? does that sound right?

[@williamforsyth6667]

For me it looks that not just the window, but the clamping ring is also missing. It means, that the pressure pushed out the window in once piece.

[@theeverydayengineer1]

Yes. I added that near the end in a text blurb. I meant to talk about it when I recorded it and then it slipped my mind. There was a few small bolts to shear off, easily doable.

[@williamforsyth6667]

Sorry, I did not notice, because I was more listening than watching this video.

[@theeverydayengineer1]

@@williamforsyth6667 no worries at all. My bad for missing it in the dialogue.

[@guitarista67]

In one shot of the recovery vids you can see the bent up clamping ring.

[@d_shepperd]

I'm no mechanical engineer so I remain confused how the pressure inside the container could become greater than that of the outside. It would seem to me the craft would crush until the pressure inside becomes equal to that of the outside at which point, no outward pressure would ever be present. Isn't that how it would work? OTOH, I understand that pressurizing the relative tiny bit of air inside would (very quickly) increase its temperature (to, I as I understand it, 1000's of degrees?) and would that also potentially increase the internal pressure to something more than that of the outside? Or would that just counteract any further crushing pressure? Isn't there something about conservation of energy involved somewhere in this? I don't get it. Inquiring minds want to know :)

[@theeverydayengineer1]

Think of a weight on the end of a spring. It will have a point where it will rest. Now either pull the weight down and let it go, or raise the weight and let it drop. It will oscillate up and down from its neutral resting point. The hill suddenly collapsing has mass and kinetic energy behind it and it can increase the internal air pressure to higher than the external water pressure, and then in theory the air bubble would then expand and contract again and again like the weight on the spring oscillating. It would all happen very quickly.

[@d_shepperd]

@@theeverydayengineer1 Oh. Thanks. And BTW, excellent video. Nicely done.

[@mkllove]

@@theeverydayengineer1 I'd add it was not just compressed gases on inside acting to shear out the viewport and retaining ring outward, but all matter with water in combination accelerating into funnel aspect of dome sections due to shape. Are there any better quality pictures showing the bolts ie, did they tear out of titanium base metal or broke at threads roots ?

[@gixxerlouis]

so basically what you are saying is when the carbon fiber hull collapsed and pressurized the air forcing it out the view port the people inside were pushed out of the 12' diameter view port simultaneously turning them into hamburger or caseless sausage? interesting...

[@dousiastailfeather9454]

No, they got impaled on the hull implosion.

[@gixxerlouis]

@@dousiastailfeather9454 do you understand what being “impaled “ is?

[@snaojao8136]

Wow.

[@vernonz8897]

"Promo sm"

[@theeverydayengineer1]

Thanks!

[@inraid]

too verbose for simply restating the obvious. any grade school kid understands all this.

[@mongohotline]

No they don't. Stop ripping on an informative video.

[@theeverydayengineer1]

The internet never fails to have its trolls.

[@UncleKennysPlace]

Any grade school kid understands the need for capital letters at the beginning of a sentence.