Flooding and structural forensic analysis of the sinking of the RMS Titanic

Abstract

To mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, a new detailed flooding and structural engineering study was commissioned by James Cameron and his Blue Planet Marine Research Institute. The goal of the study was to accurately model, simulate and evaluate the progressive flooding, sinking and structural failure of the Titanic following its collision with the iceberg. Detailed computer flooding analysis models were developed, and new novel techniques for dynamic flooding simulation using the commercial software GHS™ were developed and implemented. The results of these detailed flooding simulations were used in conjunction with detailed structural finite-element models developed using the commercial ship structural design and analysis software MAESTRO™ for conducting detailed stress and hull failure analyses. This paper provides technical documentation of the development of the detailed computer models, including sources of information, assumptions, conventions and methods. The paper also provides technical discussion of simulation and analysis methodologies, results of the detailed progressive flooding and sinking analyses, and results of the detailed structural stress and failure analyses, along with important ‘lessons learned’ that are applicable to future marine forensic analyses.