Tragic submersible explosion provides a valuable lesson on stress-strain mechanics
Tragic submersible explosion provides a valuable lesson on stress-strain mechanics lead image
The Titan submersible, which imploded underwater on its way down to explore the Titanic wreckage, serves as a tragic lesson and an impactful case study.
In June 2023, the Titan began its descent to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to view the wreck of the Titanic. Unfortunately, the submersible never reached its destination, as the craft likely imploded due to the intense pressure of the ocean.
DiLisi et al. developed a lesson plan for students to introduce how objects change dimensions under stress using the story of the Titan as an example.
“Over the past several years, my colleagues and I have explored how a forensics-style re-examination of significant historical events can be used as a motivation to introduce fundamental concepts to students in introductory physics and engineering courses,” said author Gregory DiLisi.
In the classroom experiment, students create gelatin cylinders with different concentrations and stiffnesses, and then they stack weights on them and measure the compression of the cylinders.
“Using our case study approach, students explore how homemade materials deform in response to simple applied compressive loads, then visualize these responses by constructing stress-strain plots,” DiLisi said.
The lesson was run with undergraduate students enrolled in an interdisciplinary science course, and DiLisi believes that the students responded favorably due to how the subject matter connected to real-world events.
“They were glad to see current events brought into the classroom, they were extremely curious to try to solve some aspects of the Titan mystery, in their own minds, by doing some sort of hands-on investigation, and they were enthusiastic to see faculty members engaged in real-time research of their own,” he said.
Source: “The Implosion of the Titan Submersible: A Stress-Strain Experiment,” by Gregory A. DiLisi, Steven J. Eppell, and Richard A. Rarick, The Physics Teacher (2025). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0178277 .
