what about titan submarine

11 months ago 24
Nature

The Titan submarine was a five-person submersible vessel operated by OceanGate Inc. that was constructed from carbon fiber and titanium. It was formerly known as Cyclops 2 and was touted for its roomier cylinder-shaped cabin made of carbon fiber, which was a departure from the sphere-shaped cabins made of titanium used by most submersibles. The vessel was designed to dive four kilometers (2.4 miles) "with a comfortable safety margin". On June 18, 2023, the Titan imploded during an expedition to view the wreck of the Titanic. The submersible was believed to have been 3,500 meters below sea level when contact was lost, and the vessel was so deep that the amount of water on it would have been equivalent to the weight of the Eiffel Tower, tens of thousands of tonnes. The pressure vessels of deep vehicles like this are normally constructed from a robust metal such as titanium and are shaped in a sphere to spread the immense pressure equally around the passenger compartment. However, to fit more people inside, the OceanGate sub adopted a cylindrical shape, with a carbon fiber tube inserted between two titanium end caps. The unconventional design of the Titan submersible may have contributed to its implosion.