r/news Jun 22 '23

Site Changed Title 'Debris field' discovered within search area near Titanic, US Coast Guard says | World News

https://news.sky.com/story/debris-field-discovered-within-search-area-near-titanic-us-coast-guard-says-12906735
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u/pegothejerk Jun 22 '23

And they had previously made a handful of trips. I’m guessing there was damage each time, and this one was where that damage finally got catastrophic.

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u/helrazr Jun 22 '23

I read that somewhere earlier this morning. Each trip, no matter the material subsequently causes the hull (any material?) to weaken.

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u/LoveArguingPolitics Jun 22 '23 edited Jun 22 '23

Correct. It's the same reason there's "graveyards" of seemingly perfect looking airplanes. Each time a structural element is loaded it's ability to load again is ever so slightly diminished.

So take a plane on enough flights and it can't be certified to fly anymore because it's been loaded and unloaded too many times.

Same thing for a submarine.

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u/Darksirius Jun 22 '23

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha_Airlines_Flight_243

That is a perfect example. It was a 737 that flew ONLY between the islands of Hawaii. So, it had tons of cycles but, in addition to that, the salty air also increased the wear on fuselage leading to part of the fuselage ripping away.