gpmj12
Active member
I don’t know about others but I found this bit of information about the implosion to be consoling when thinking of the lost souls.
## What is an implosion?
Implosion is an explosion in reverse, according to Professor Stefano Brizzolara, the co-director of Virginia Tech Center for Marine Autonomy and Robotics.
“Imagine a cylinder: during an explosion, the charge placed in the centre ignites and causes the pressure at the centre to increase instantaneously,” Professor Brizzolara told ABC News.
Such intense pressure is what causes the ejection of mass to move from the centre of the cylinder to the outside at an “incredible speed”.
“An implosion is the reverse of this,” Professor Brizzolara said.
"The inside of the cylinder can practically be considered void, while the pressure of the wave that breaches the hull is 400 times larger.
"This causes a violent flow of water from outside of the cylinder to the inside, with incredible speed.
“We’re talking water rushing in at a speed of the order of 1,000 kilometres per hour.”
## What made it ‘catastrophic’?
“Catastrophic implosion” literally means breaking into pieces and small fragments, says Professor Brizzolara.
Here’s where “the hull” comes in — it’s the main body of a ship or vessel and the Titan’s is made from carbon fibre and titanium.
Carbon-reinforced plastic collapses “catastrophically”, says Professor Brizzolara.
“This is because the material is not ductile like metal alloys and therefore it ‘catastrophically’ implodes.”
For context, navy submarines use high-strength steel or titanium alloys, Professor Brizzolara says.
“This is why current rules and regulations do not consider composite materials for underwater vehicles meant to operate at large depths,” he said.
## How did the implosion happen?
A flood or a failure of the pressure vessel would have likely caused the implosion, says submarine expert Eric Fusil from the University of Adelaide.
That kind of “catastrophic event” would have happened within 20 milliseconds, Professor Fusil told ABC News Breakfast this morning.
The Titan’s pressure hull was made of a combination of titanium and a composite material of carbon fibres, which he described as “very new”.
“The titanium pressure vessel is very elastic — it can crush and then restore its initial shape,” Professor Fusil explained.
“But the carbon fibres are completely different — it’s something very stiff.”
“We have those two opposite forces,” he said.
Professor Fusil said it’s an “experimental technology” and it was too early to tell whether that design caused the issues.
## What does an implosion feel like?
The five passengers inside the Titan submersible might not have realised it was even happening, Professor Fusil says.
“They wouldn’t have realised they were dying because they cannot process that information that quickly,” he said.
Implosions can be similar to a balloon, says forensic engineer Bart Kemper.
“When I take a needle and poke it into a balloon, once you break that balloon, it’s gone,” Mr Kemper told 7.30’s Sarah Ferguson.
"That’s exactly the problem you have with a pressure vessel, and the fact that this is external pressure, not internal pressure, it doesn’t matter.
“Once you lose integrity, with these kinds of pressures, it’s gone,” he said.
In 2018, submarine experts had warned the company operating the Titan, OceanGate, that without industry oversight the submersible was exposing passengers to possible catastrophic failure.
One of those experts was Mr Kemper.
## What is an implosion?
Implosion is an explosion in reverse, according to Professor Stefano Brizzolara, the co-director of Virginia Tech Center for Marine Autonomy and Robotics.
“Imagine a cylinder: during an explosion, the charge placed in the centre ignites and causes the pressure at the centre to increase instantaneously,” Professor Brizzolara told ABC News.
Such intense pressure is what causes the ejection of mass to move from the centre of the cylinder to the outside at an “incredible speed”.
“An implosion is the reverse of this,” Professor Brizzolara said.
"The inside of the cylinder can practically be considered void, while the pressure of the wave that breaches the hull is 400 times larger.
"This causes a violent flow of water from outside of the cylinder to the inside, with incredible speed.
“We’re talking water rushing in at a speed of the order of 1,000 kilometres per hour.”
## What made it ‘catastrophic’?
“Catastrophic implosion” literally means breaking into pieces and small fragments, says Professor Brizzolara.
Here’s where “the hull” comes in — it’s the main body of a ship or vessel and the Titan’s is made from carbon fibre and titanium.
Carbon-reinforced plastic collapses “catastrophically”, says Professor Brizzolara.
“This is because the material is not ductile like metal alloys and therefore it ‘catastrophically’ implodes.”
For context, navy submarines use high-strength steel or titanium alloys, Professor Brizzolara says.
“This is why current rules and regulations do not consider composite materials for underwater vehicles meant to operate at large depths,” he said.
## How did the implosion happen?
A flood or a failure of the pressure vessel would have likely caused the implosion, says submarine expert Eric Fusil from the University of Adelaide.
That kind of “catastrophic event” would have happened within 20 milliseconds, Professor Fusil told ABC News Breakfast this morning.
The Titan’s pressure hull was made of a combination of titanium and a composite material of carbon fibres, which he described as “very new”.
“The titanium pressure vessel is very elastic — it can crush and then restore its initial shape,” Professor Fusil explained.
“But the carbon fibres are completely different — it’s something very stiff.”
“We have those two opposite forces,” he said.
Professor Fusil said it’s an “experimental technology” and it was too early to tell whether that design caused the issues.
## What does an implosion feel like?
The five passengers inside the Titan submersible might not have realised it was even happening, Professor Fusil says.
“They wouldn’t have realised they were dying because they cannot process that information that quickly,” he said.
Implosions can be similar to a balloon, says forensic engineer Bart Kemper.
“When I take a needle and poke it into a balloon, once you break that balloon, it’s gone,” Mr Kemper told 7.30’s Sarah Ferguson.
"That’s exactly the problem you have with a pressure vessel, and the fact that this is external pressure, not internal pressure, it doesn’t matter.
“Once you lose integrity, with these kinds of pressures, it’s gone,” he said.
In 2018, submarine experts had warned the company operating the Titan, OceanGate, that without industry oversight the submersible was exposing passengers to possible catastrophic failure.
One of those experts was Mr Kemper.
