After the Titan failed, I began to wonder about the material "carbon fiber". I've used it to before in wrapping a bridge column to strengthen and prevent damage from the elements. It was a unique application, and not for a long term solution. The bridge is now gone, since it was on a list to be replaced in five years. My work is now rubble somewhere.
In my application, we painted the cleaned concrete with epoxy. The fiber was then wrapped from the roll around the column and we applied more epoxy. It was much like applying fiberglass, except for the materials. I don't remember how many coats we placed, but it wasn't many. Eventually we painted the completed sections with a paint designed to protect the fiber from the sun.
I found this site about the durability of carbon fiber. It brought some thoughts to mind about how the Titan failed, the information of how it was never tested for certification, and whether the extreme conditions of the depths introduced a limitation of carbon fibers that can't be tested at the surface. Eventually, if the material is still used in this application, I doubt it will be used without engineering studies to determine if it is suitable for the environment.
And it's better in tension than compression, which makes the choice for a vessel meant to protect from pressure . . . odd.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I read. It does seem odd, and it appears thorough testing for that application was never done.
DeleteWhen you hire "engineers" and "designers" for diversity and inclusion rather than for competence the eventual results are
ReplyDeleteeasily predicted. Yet another incident proving the west is entering a "competence crisis".
I worked with too many of those "engineers" during my career. With most larger organizations, I found they promoted them, instead of getting rid of them. That was easier, and allowed the lower level minions to punish the higher level minions.
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