The iceberg wasn't the only culprit in the Titanic's sinking. In this edition of Science Xplained, materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez of Yale University demonstrates how the metal rivets that held the ship together became brittle in the frigid waters and broke apart on impact with the iceberg, likely contributing to the enormity of the tragedy.

15 Comments

1. 1. sjn 01:16 PM 4/16/12

   Come on - you can't do better than this??????
   
   If you want to show the contribution of material properties to the titanic disaster, show how real/actual materials might really behave under the conditions experienced.
   
   Don't show some simplistic extreme cases and then provide unverified/unsubstantiated extrapolations to conditions & materials as used in the titanic. That is neither good science nor real engineering.
   
   I thought I might actually learn something in this video - as it is I am still waiting for a reliable engineering demonstration of actual materials deficiencies that may have contributed to real failures.
   
   As a technologist who has had to provide substantiated failure analyses for real product problems I find this video far from standards.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

2. 2. Teklanika1 01:51 PM 4/16/12

   This video seems to have adopted the political style of partial truth and propaganda. The Titanic was not "struck by an ice berg". Really, is this the best you can do? Universities should tell it like it is, and not try to jazz science up. It's unecessary.....unless you are trying to sell a point of view.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

3. 3. legendary 03:25 PM 4/16/12

   Only the rivets? What about the sheet steel used in the hull? I read that rivets/sheets were made according to the same metallurgical process. The process allowed for impurities in the steel; impurities led to low fracture resistance in cold water conditions.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

4. 4. julianpenrod 08:21 PM 4/16/12

   Then why would ships even go into frigid waters in the first place? Only another questionable feature trying to be entered into the alreadt eminently non credible "official story" of the Titanic. Such as that the lifeboats would have carried most of the passengers and crew, but, the first lifeboat launched had only 19 people in it, not the 65 or more it could have handled! Or that no ship manufacturer or cruise line would play games with insurance claims for deliberately foregoing the correct number of lifeboats. Or that no radio operator, such as is claimed for the Titanic, would tell other ships to stop bothering him with ice reports. Or that the Carpathian, less than 60 miles away, would take four hours to reach Titanic. Or that no ship, like the Californian, would watch emergency flares going off and not assume the other party was in trouble! Or that any captain, such as is claimed for the Californian, would order their wireless operator toi go off at 12 midnight. Or that a band would play out in the open, since, if they wore clothes fit for the cold, they wouldn't be able to operate their instruments easily, if at all, and, if they wore evening clothes, they would be so cold they would be shivering uncontrollably or would be too numb to play. The "official story" of the Titanic is a fraud.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

5. 5. smiler03 07:06 PM 4/17/12

   I assume somebody had a sense of humour when making this video. If you watch it fullscreen then you see that the camera wobbles in a controlled fashion just like a ship and induced mild seasickness in me!

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

6. 6. Bob32 11:16 PM 4/17/12

   A representative of Yale University in a university laboratory is presenting this as informative scientific enlightenment? Next time try for more details re. steel, actual temperatures encountered etc.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

7. 7. bucove 02:07 PM 4/18/12

   Everyone seems to agree this was lame.
   I wanted to see the rivet give it up to liquid nitrogen and the torch! We got a hairpin. Sad.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

8. 8. jgrosay 02:14 PM 4/18/12

   The remark about bolts becoming brittle under very cold conditions is a very interesting one, in very much below zero temperatures, metals are more fragile than glass. It would be good that the people that took the decission of launching the Space Shuttle that blow away during take-off, a decision made despite of the warnings from engineers about the dubious safety of O-rings after suffering the low temperatures in the days previous to countdown have been aware of this.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

9. 9. legendary in reply to jgrosay 04:15 PM 4/18/12

   Please search: 'Ethical Decisions – Morton Thiokol and the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster'

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

10. 10. legendary in reply to jgrosay 04:23 PM 4/18/12

    It appears that rivets quality wasn't uniform because of being made by different makers. Please search 'Poor choice of materials made Titanic more vulnerable' CBC News and associated links in the article (Book blames cheap rivets for Titanic tragedy).

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

11. 11. jgrosay in reply to legendary 05:21 PM 4/18/12

    There's nothing like free press. The problem in some sick leaves is that there's a diagnosis called compensation neurosis, and the problems in suspiciousness and paranoia can be brought to the movie "Gas light" featuring I Bergman and C Boyer, this is a remake of another movie on the same subject, the first movie on this was judged as describing so well the way to make somebody insane that was considered dangerous, and taken away. The reference you gave is just superb. Thanks a lot.

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

12. 12. jgrosay 05:31 PM 4/18/12

    In a TV specializing in law subjects, a program was devoted to "Forensic engineering". It was a pity, content was not freely available, just the title and the introduction from the chairperson. Some things remind me the Sutter vs. Congress case.

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

13. 13. legendary in reply to jgrosay 07:23 PM 4/18/12

    jgrosay I have to admit that you have a very unique way of explaining your thoughts. Regards.

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

14. 14. Luckyloonie 01:48 AM 5/7/12

    Brittle yes and the coal fire didn't help, but the iceberg didn't sink, they could of ferried some of the extra 1500 passengers onto the iceberg. It had a gentle slope on one side and a few pick axes could of carved out an area for people to wait for rescue.

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

15. 15. legendary in reply to Luckyloonie 08:29 PM 5/10/12

    Easier said than done. Desperate and panicked passengers in the middle of the night, ship is listing, not enough rescue boats, sea water at freezing temperatures, no leader to coordinate the rescue and you suggest that someone go search for a few pick axes to carve an area on the iceberg. Did you think about how difficult is it to 'board' a slippery ice mountain? With all the due respect, but I think that you have watched too many MacGyver episodes.

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this