The Titanic: The Reasons Of Plastic Failure

When the Titanic collided with the iceberg, the hull steel and the rivets failed because the hull body and rivets were made by brittle materials. At extremely high speeds, the brittle fracture caused plastic deformation. The reasons of plastic deformation include low temperature, poor properties of the hull steel, and high sulphur content of the material. When the Titanic disaster happened, each of these three factors was present: The water temperature was very low, the Titanic was travelling at a high speed and collided with the iceberg, and the hull steel contained high levels of Sulphur.
The Hull Steel: After collecting the piece of hull steel, the scientists noticed the condition of the edges. They found the edges of the piece of steel