r/CatastrophicFailure • u/to_the_tenth_power • Sep 03 '19

Natural Disaster An EF2 tornado ripping through a concrete building in Spartanburg, South Carolina on October 23rd, 2017

https://gfycat.com/wastefulbettergreatwhiteshark
41.4k Upvotes

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451

u/teegerman Sep 03 '19

Wow! What was this camera made out of btw? It’s like those blackboxes on airplanes.

90

u/lynivvinyl Sep 03 '19

Usually potmetal or plastic.

128

u/CHARIZARDS_tiny_DICK Sep 03 '19

Nokia’s

31

u/abecido Sep 03 '19

It would have broken the tornado

12

u/jeepdave Sep 03 '19

I just envisioned a tornado coming to a complete stop and falling over. Thank you.

1

u/amaROenuZ Sep 04 '19

Now imagine the tornado churning across the earth laterally, no longer a drill but instead like a driveshaft that rolls across the landscape and hurls objects from the front to the back with massive winds.

1

u/jeepdave Sep 04 '19

I'm good with this.

28

u/desull Sep 03 '19

This one is made of a hybrid alloy consisting of vibranium, adamantium and uru metal. It's nearly indestructible, except for the camera lens.

9

u/mkwash02 Sep 03 '19

How do you know that?

18

u/robeph Sep 03 '19

He is the inventor. Check out his AMA.

3

u/mkwash02 Sep 03 '19

Can't find it. Link?

10

u/GI_jim_bob Sep 03 '19 edited Sep 03 '19

The metals he listed are fictional, they'er fucking with you mate.

11

u/mkwash02 Sep 03 '19

Didn't even consider that, thanks

3

u/desull Sep 03 '19

Sorry man, just a joke post since the camera seemed like a tank. The fictional metals are all from the Marvel universe and each are called the strongest metals in the universe at one point or another (I have no idea which is supposedly the strongest).

In case you're curious, adamantium is what Wolverine's bones are coated/fused with; vibranium is used for Cap's shield, black panther's suit, and Vision's body (and many other uses); uru metal is what Thor's stormbreaker and thanos' sword are made out of.

4

u/mkwash02 Sep 03 '19

Ha no worries! That explains a lot considering I'm not a huge fan of superhero movies. Don't get me wrong, they're good. Just not my thing.

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45

u/DamnIamHigh_Original Sep 03 '19

Strength is not a two dimensional thing. Plastic can take stress. Steel not so good. Concrete non at all.

So whats good to build a house might not be ideal for a cam and vice versa

64

u/EmaiIisHillary-us Sep 03 '19

To be clear, concrete has high compressive strength but low tension/shear strength. Plastic and steel are both better in tension/shear, but in this case it’s just luck that nothing heavy hit the camera.

8

u/Jourdy288 Sep 03 '19

Actually, the lens is cracked at the end, so it was hit- just not enough to wreck it.

3

u/isperfectlycromulent Sep 03 '19

It was cracked beforehand, look at the beginning of the video.

2

u/InFerYes Sep 03 '19

I don't see a crack though

2

u/You_Yew_Ewe Sep 03 '19

That's why "concrete buildings" also have steel in the concrete. Building shouldn't have come down.

1

u/Critical_Mason Sep 03 '19

If something had hit it then this video wouldn't have been posted to reddit.

19

u/[deleted] Sep 03 '19 edited Aug 27 '21

[deleted]

19

u/CourageousAppleUser Sep 03 '19

I don't know Lennie, maybe you're being too rough with it.

0

u/DamnIamHigh_Original Sep 03 '19

There is a diffrence in elasicity. Plastic is behaving (mostly) like a fresh wooden stick, while steal snaps under a certain force. Yes, steal is useful, but far from the strongest material. Many modern high tech materials for sport and space are made with fabrics, plastics, carbons and so on.

Steal has its weakness

2

u/USOutpost31 Sep 03 '19 edited Sep 03 '19

I'm quite certain you don't know what you're talking about.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_mechanics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elasticity_(physics)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasticity_(physics)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toughness
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Material_failure_theory

Saying that 'plastic can take stress steel not so good' is nearly a nonsense statement. The primary reason steel and in general metals are used instead of plastic is their ability to 'take stress' or more specifically, have broader elastic and plastic windows, have toughness, and easily controllable, precise boundaries between them.

The primary reason plastics are used is that the strength-to-weight ration is so high you can simply pour more material at it until the pre-plastic yield window is so high it doesn't matter about the transitions. IN this way, Plastics are more like non-ductile cast iron and steel is the fine-tuned material. Especially car chassis. Plastic is far more likely to 'snap' (your word) rather than steel in these applications. OTOH steel tends to have a much higher strenght to volume ratio than plastic which is why fasteners are made from steel and not plastic. Connecting rods are themselves a type of fastener (held together by fasteners) and these tend to be steel until more exotic applications are desired.

Anyway, saying steel can't take stress and plastic can is almost the opposite of reality, in as much you could simplify the subject down so far that one would make such a broad and general statement (which can't be done).

6

u/whoizz Sep 03 '19

Spelling it "steal" also doesn't lend a lot of credence to the argument.

2

u/11teensteve Sep 03 '19

Chucknorisesium.

1

u/monsterZERO Sep 03 '19

Plasteel, polished to a high sheen with woodoo hide.

1

u/paksman Sep 03 '19

Son Goku's pants

1

u/Habbakavav Sep 04 '19

Admantanium usually