James Cameron says Titan passengers had warning of implosion Los Angeles Times
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The astonishing energy harnessed within the implosive process has left experts in awe. Bob Ballard, a pivotal figure in the discovery of the Titanic wreck, articulated the sheer force of an implosion, likening it to a relentless force that obliterates and tears apart everything in its path. This necessitates meticulous orientation of individual layers to ensure optimal mechanical traits in diverse directions.
James Cameron says Titan submersible passengers likely had warning just before implosion
“It’s really quite surreal, it’s just astonishing,” he said. “P.H., the French legendary submersible dive pilot, was a friend of mine. And that’s not even the problem that horrifies Alex the most. And that’s not taking into account the depth-worthiness of the viewing port only being certified at a depth of 1,300 meters while routinely sinking to 4,000 meters, as NPR reports.
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Skirting Certification Saved Time and Costs
Still, left out of the public record are any proprietary tricks and improvements that OceanGate may have made as it gained field experience with its experimental sub. To further cut costs for the 2023 season, Mr. Rush rented a mothership that was smaller, older and less expensive than those on previous expeditions. Called the Polar Prince, it was too small and cramped to carry Titan on its deck.
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There’s a reason most deep sea vessels are made with steel or titanium (and most car-bodies are not) because those metals are homogeneous when properly manufactured, meaning less potential for a point of failure. Carbon fiber, however, is more inhomogeneous as the material is made with woven strands and epoxy. Once in operation, it would need to be checked closely for wear and tear, which Rush said was impossible to do.
You know, we've made our own lights at times, and then we end up buying them. It's no different than what I used to experience when I built my own airplane. And 25, 30 years ago when I built it, there were still a lotta people who said, "You can't use composites in airplanes!" And now we all fly in planes with composites. That's pretty critical, but they're bolts; you can tell if the bolt is tightened right. So we wouldn't have someone do something where you couldn't easily see if it was done wrong.
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According to an OceanGate blog post, Titan is not classified according to industry standards — a decision taken in favor of "innovation," the company said. These procedures minimize composite defects, ensuring structural integrity aligns with design specifications for safe functioning. “Titanic” director James Cameron, who has made multiple descents to the wreck, said there are several possible reasons for the submersible’s destruction, but the most likely is a failure of the composite hull.
In her free time, she enjoys hikes, skiing and a good Brooklyn bagel. Alexandra E. Petri is a former Los Angeles Times staff writer who covered trends and breaking news. A two-time reporting fellow with the International Women’s Media Foundation, she graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism and international studies. The colors—when we get within about four or five feet, all the reds and oranges start to come out, and the greens and the blues. I think that's what people don't appreciate, is just how incredibly beautiful it is. Now, we had three days of bad weather on two missions, two days on another.
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How the unconventional design of the Titan sub may have destined it for disaster.
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The debris was consistent with “catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” said Mauger. OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Söhnlein has appeared on various news outlets defending the company and responding directly to Cameron’s comments. There are a multitude of opinions on how to build submersibles and operating dives, he said. He called it “impossible” for anyone not involved in OceanGate’s processes to speculate.
The Titan departed from Canada, was loaded onto a Canadian ship and launched into a remote area of the North Atlantic. As such, it did not need to register with a country, fly a flag or observe regulations set for other kinds of vessels, according to Mercogliano. The University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory stated this week that its prior work with OceanGate resulted in a different vessel that could travel to a depth of just 500 meters (or one-third of a mile), named the Cyclops 1. And right about the time you're goin', "That's amazing," it's gone.
“People in the deep sea submergence engineering community warned the company that this could lead to catastrophic failure,” Cameron told ABC’s Good Morning America show on Friday morning, referring to the carbon fiber hull of the 22ft (6.7m) vessel. Unlike most other submersibles, Titan’s hull was shaped like a pill, which fit more passengers. A sphere has been the industry standard, known to be better suited for deep-sea pressures. The water pressure at the depth of the Titanic, which is about 12,500 feet, is nearly 400 times greater than that at sea level.
The simulation unravels the technical aspects of the Titan submersible’s implosion and the profound human dimensions intertwined with this somber event. Dr. Ronald Wagner, an accomplished engineer from the Technical University Braunschweig specializing in the buckling dynamics of thin-walled shell structures, embarked on a mission to decipher the intricate collapse of the Titan submersible. Unlike conventional metallic constructs, composites exhibit anisotropic characteristics—uneven distribution of properties across axes. Strength and rigidity are notably higher along the fiber orientation. “This might be small and undetectable to start but would soon become critical and produce rapid and uncontrollable growth,” he said. “This weight reduction allows us to carry a significantly greater payload, which we use to carry five crew members,” said Stockton Rush, OceanGate’s chief executive, in a company news release last year.
The system was renamed the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS) when the Navy added mobile and deployable sensors to its collection capabilities. Another issue that will be scrutinized is lack of certification for Titan. Most submersibles are certified by international maritime safety organizations. OceanGate maintained that Titan was so innovative that certification would take too long.
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