4 ms·
The sub had 7 redundant ways to surface (drop weights / ballast), several of which work without power, and one of which triggers automatically after ~20 hrs of
by carlosdp 3y ago
The sub had 7 redundant ways to surface (drop weights / ballast), several of which work without power, and one of which triggers automatically after ~20 hrs of exposure to seawater.
The only way it wouldn't have already surfaced on day 1 is if it got stuck on something (and lost power, unlikely), or it imploded.
- moneywoes 3y agoWhat I don’t get is what factors could have caused it to implode now when it didn’t previously?
- floxy 3y agoFatigue failure: https://community.sw.siemens.com/s/article/what-is-a-sn-curve https://community.sw.siemens.com/s/article/what-is-a-sn-curv...
- dboreham 3y agoMaterial failure after a certain number of stress cycles.
- jandrese 3y agoFailure modes for advanced composites are less well understood than for traditional metals as well. The sub's pressure hull was also made out of three disparate materials joined together which adds additional complications. Carbon Fiber in particular is notorious for performing flawlessly until it catastrophically fails in an instant.
- chasd00 3y agoI know doing amateur rocketry pressure vessels work until they don't. Motor cases will gladly handle multiple launches and then on the 20th launch, explode. I think it's a matter of the metal fatiguing over time but I'm not sure how you measure the rate or severity.