Talk to someone who went on previous trips on the Titan submersible and they’re likely to mention a technology glitch. The propulsion system failed or the communications with people on the surface cut out. They are also likely to mention Stockton Rush. He’s the OceanGate Expeditions CEO who died this week on the sub. Rush has been described as both a meticulous planner and an overconfident pioneer. In the wake of the Titan’s fatal implosion Sunday near the Titanic shipwreck, some passengers from previous expeditions described concerning experiences that foreshadowed the tragedy. Still, others felt they were in “good hands” deep below the ocean’s surface.
“You know, at some point, safety just is pure waste,” said Rush. “I mean, if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed. Don’t get in your car. Don’t do anything. At some point, you’re going to take some risk, and it really is a risk/reward question. I think I can do this just as safely by breaking the rules.”
Remember that he fired a whistleblower and had the security escort the guy out. He killed 4 people who trusted him.
Over cigars one night, Rush told Weissmann that he got the carbon fiber for the Titan’s hull at a big discount because it was past its shelf-life for use in airplanes, Weissmann said. But Rush reassured him it was safe.
Death by hubris
Huh, I didn’t even know carbon fiber had a shelf life, I figured it’d be pretty stable over time.
Here’s the reason why, in case anyone’s curious (I know I was):
Fabrics and prepregs also degrade gradually over time. In composite laminates it is not the fiberglass, carbon fiber or Kevlar fibers themselves that initially degrade. It is the sizing or fiber primer however that degrades over time. Sizings are placed upon the fibers to make them more compatible with a given resin system during cure. As time goes on fiber sizings diminish, weakening the future link between the fabric and the resin, thus yielding a possibly weaker composite laminate.
The exact storage life of most sized fabrics is not always listed on a technical data sheet. Often one may need to research further into a manufacturer’s technical manuals for an expected shelf life of a fabric sizing. Fiber sizing life can range from a year to beyond five when stored under favorable conditions. For prepreg materials a general shelf life is first a year. After a year or after initial expiration some fabrics and prepregs may be re-tested for performance against its original stated performance specifications and bonding characteristics. In the case of a DIY project possibly using expired fabrics it is important to test a laminated section of the expired fabric to ensure its quality is up to par for its intended use.
wait wait wait. Does that mean carbon fiber bike frames are likely to bust in a crash after a few years??!!!
Death by hubris
“I’m just like Tony Stark, making a sub out of a box of scraps!”
If a material is known to have a component of it degrade over time, why on earth would you use an expired material in an application that at its prime it’s already not suitable for?!
Looking back, Weissmann believes Rush had a fatal flaw: overconfidence in his engineering skills and the perception that he was a pioneer in an area that others weren’t because they were sticking to the rules.
Dude learned the very hard way that “the rules” were there for a reason. That reason being even don’t follow them, your sub fricking implodes.
Sadly, he didn’t get a chance to learn from his mistake. Hopefully others will, however.
I think others already did. As James Cameron pointed out in his interviews, this is an engineering problem that has already been solved. Other people use submersibles that have been tested and certified for the appropriate depths and properly maintained, so they don’t have to worry about the integrity of their vehicles when they dive.
and those cost a lot more money than this idiots sub. its not that he was trying to solve a problem that has never been solved, he was trying to do it for the cheapest cost and paid the ultimate price. its why he had a camping world handle and a cheap logitech controller and construction equipment as ballast and apparently got old cf from boeing.
