- A 4-day search for Titan had a tragic end
- There was a terrible explosion in the Titan submarine
- The US Navy heard a bang like an explosion
A four-day search for the missing submarine Titan has come to a tragic end. According to reports, a submarine that visited the wreck of the Titanic suffered a catastrophic explosion, killing all five passengers on board instantly.
Five large pieces of the submarine have been found on the sea floor about 500 meters from where the Titanic sank, officials said. Their findings are consistent with earlier reports that the US Navy heard a loud bang like an explosion the same day the Titan entered the water. The Navy’s seafloor sensors detected the explosion in the area where the submarine lost contact with its flagship. At the time, the explosion was said to be undetermined.
What is a destructive explosion?
We can assume that the explosion occurred the same day the submarine hit the water, but not when it lost contact with its parent ship, but why did it happen? Most submersibles have a pressure vessel, which is made of a single metallic material. Steel is generally used for shallow depths (less than about 300 m) and titanium for greater depths.
A pressure vessel made of titanium or coarse steel is usually round and can withstand pressure up to 3,800 meters deep. The wreckage of the Titanic lies at such a depth.
The Titan submarine was different
However, the Titan submarine was different from them. Its pressure vessel was made of a combination of titanium and composite carbon fiber. This is somewhat unusual from an engineering perspective, as titanium and carbon fiber are materials with very different properties when it comes to immersion.
After returning to atmospheric pressure the titanium is inert and molds accordingly. It can also contract to adapt to forces applied by pressure and expand again when these forces are reduced. On the other hand, carbon-fiber is more rigid and does not have such flexibility.
One can only guess what would have happened with the combination of two different techniques. But one thing we can say for sure is that there was a disturbance due to the difference in these materials and the explosion must have been due to the pressure under the water. Precisely designed, manufactured and rigorously tested, the designed pressure vessel can withstand full pressure from all directions.
In such a situation, a submarine made of suitable materials can breathe – shrink and expand – as needed at depth. An explosion in Titan means that this did not happen to him. The explosion would have killed all the passengers on board in less than 20 milliseconds.
