How did a piece of ice cut through the solid steel hull of the Titanic?
In: Physics
Ferritic steels have what is called a ductile to brittle transition temperature. This means as steel is cooled through a specific temperature (dependent on the chemical composition, heat treatment, etc) it will rapidly lose toughness and become brittle. The steel used in the Titanic would also have significantly more inclusions than modern steels.
Because the temperature of the steel would have been around 30 degrees fahrenheit, it was too brittle and did not have the toughness required to absorb the impact of the iceberg.
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