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Engineering Assessment of the OceanGate Titan Failure
The Captains Journal ^ | 25 June 2023 | Herschel Smith

Posted on 06/26/2023 9:42:29 AM PDT by Chad C. Mulligan

The title of this article is rather broad and audacious, so let’s do what all good engineers would do and set the boundary conditions for the analysis.

All calculations will be approximate given the time invested in this analysis and the purpose thereto. Some assumptions and engineering judgments will be made due to the lack of independently verified information and data. This analysis is meant to be brief and the intended audience is both engineers and non-engineers (for educational purposes). Why am I writing this – out of some sort of ghoulish focus on death? Well, engineers study the ghoulish consequences of the failures of other engineers as part of our profession. Consider the fact that most engineers can explain the cause of the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse (if you can’t, you shouldn’t be an engineer), the Tacoma Narrows bridge failure, the Union Carbide Bhopal disaster, and the space shuttle Challenger disaster (where Morton Thiokol was told to take off their engineer hats and put on their manager hats when considering O-ring temperature certification). This is part of what we do to become better.

(Excerpt) Read more at captainsjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: canada; oceangate; oceangateexpeditions; submarine; submersible; titanic
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This is as comprehensive analysis of what went wrong as you'll get anywhere.
1 posted on 06/26/2023 9:42:29 AM PDT by Chad C. Mulligan
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To: Chad C. Mulligan

Bkmrk


2 posted on 06/26/2023 9:45:06 AM PDT by rockabyebaby (THE BEST IS YET TO COME - (PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP))
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To: Chad C. Mulligan

At least the billionaires died doing what they loved:

Spending extravagant money on stupid things to get their kicks


3 posted on 06/26/2023 9:47:27 AM PDT by NWFree (Sigma male 🤪)
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To: Chad C. Mulligan
Why was the sub named 'Titan'???

Is it because of the 1898 novel "Futility: The Wreck of the Titan", published by the U.S. writer Morgan Robertson? The 1898 Titan was the largest ship in the world and unsinkable. It sank 14 years (in print form) before the Titanic.

The novel that predicted the sinking of the Titanic, 14 years before it happened

4 posted on 06/26/2023 9:47:32 AM PDT by C210N (Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.)
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To: Chad C. Mulligan

Bkmrk


5 posted on 06/26/2023 9:47:41 AM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear ("Equity" = "All animals are equal. Some animals are more equal than others.")
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To: Chad C. Mulligan

As an engineer I can say the Titan was a POS with lipstick on it.


6 posted on 06/26/2023 9:50:43 AM PDT by Dennis M.
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To: Chad C. Mulligan

“I would assess that it’s mostly likely that the catastrophic failure the Titan sustained was caused by the viewport. It was previously stated by the CEO that each time he descended to that depth, the viewport deformed several inches inward.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yikes, several inches of deformation.


7 posted on 06/26/2023 10:00:24 AM PDT by Yardstick
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To: C210N

Sounds like giants hate water!
8+(


8 posted on 06/26/2023 10:03:13 AM PDT by milagro (There is no peace in appeasement! There)
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To: Dennis M.

Agreed. They were absolutely insane to use carbon fiber/titanium threads. Carbon fiber doesn’t deform like metals. It shatters catastrophically when it goes beyond its tolerances. There is simply no way that I would bet my life on this design.


9 posted on 06/26/2023 10:05:22 AM PDT by Tom in Seattle
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To: Chad C. Mulligan

Excellent!


10 posted on 06/26/2023 10:07:18 AM PDT by G Larry (It is RACIST to impose SLAVE WAGES on LEGAL Immigrants by importing Cheap ILLEGAL Labor!)
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To: Dennis M.

A carbon fiber shell could be crushed by he weight of atoddler with the resin. Who would enter a submarine held togther with glue?


11 posted on 06/26/2023 10:12:23 AM PDT by reviled downesdad (Some of the lost will never believe the Truth.)
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To: Chad C. Mulligan

“...Thoughts on What Engineering Is and Is Not...”

It’s time to stop the Liberal habit of playing with definitions.

Go ahead and flame me here


12 posted on 06/26/2023 10:16:42 AM PDT by SMARTY (“Liberalism is totalitarianism with a human face.” Thomas Sowell)
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To: Dennis M.

From what I’ve been hearing the company cut corners all over the place and avoided certification because they knew it would fail.

If all that proves to be the case, what led to this incident is nothing less than gross negligence IMO.


13 posted on 06/26/2023 10:16:53 AM PDT by V_TWIN (America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave!)
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To: Chad C. Mulligan
It was previously stated by the CEO that each time he descended to that depth, the viewport deformed several inches inward.

Wow! The veiwport was only 21 inches across!

14 posted on 06/26/2023 10:17:30 AM PDT by marktwain
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To: Chad C. Mulligan

It wasn’t strong enough to withstand the pressure. Analysis complete.


15 posted on 06/26/2023 10:18:46 AM PDT by webheart
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To: Chad C. Mulligan

The failure of a single part caused the Titan to implode. That part was the gray mass between Stockton Rush’s ears.


16 posted on 06/26/2023 10:24:15 AM PDT by LIConFem (This Space For Rent)
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To: NWFree

What was really stupid IMHO is that the Titan had no windows so they could only view anything on computer monitors or tv screens inside it. They could have viewed the same thing from the surface with none of the water pressure risk. The whole thing is mind boggling.


17 posted on 06/26/2023 10:24:36 AM PDT by xp38
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To: Chad C. Mulligan

First error, the density of seawater is 64 lbs/ft3 not 62.4 which is the value for freshwater.


18 posted on 06/26/2023 10:24:42 AM PDT by AndyJackson
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To: Chad C. Mulligan

Who wants to read more about the submarine accident? It happened 10 days ago. The only reason we were hearing about it constantly for the five days after that was the need for news media to milk the story for more commercials and to keep people from talking about Biden corruption. The navy heard the noise of the implosion and told the coast guard. They kept the information under wraps to stretch out the news cycle. And here we are rehashing a comprehensive analysis of a fairly simple occurrence in the same way as we might analyze the crushing of a soda can, which has about the same value intellectually.


19 posted on 06/26/2023 10:26:38 AM PDT by webheart
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To: Chad C. Mulligan
You are remembered for the rules you break.

A profoundly true statement.

20 posted on 06/26/2023 10:28:33 AM PDT by CodeJockey
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