Zinc creep brought down the Arecibo telescope — the first case in a century of use
Zinc creep in cable spelter sockets brought down the Arecibo telescope in 2020
A National Academies report traces the 2020 collapse of the Arecibo Observatory's 57-year-old telescope to long-term zinc creep in the cable spelter sockets that held its platform. The failure sequence began with Hurricane Maria three years earlier, when inspections revealed large, progressive cable pullouts that should have triggered remedial action. The report calls it the first documented case of long-term zinc-induced creep failure in over a century of socket use, and raises the possibility that low-current electroplasticity from the telescope's own electromagnetic waves accelerated it.
The report calls the Arecibo failure the first documented case of long-term zinc-induced creep failure despite a long history of usage over a century.
- metalman
not good, not good at all, as this is how ALL bridges and towers are supported, the basic engineering bieng that any cable end will be stronger than the cable itself and will last longer than the cable itself, except now, when it isn't, not good, not easy to inspect, not easy to service.
- snypher
(2024). Here's the report 'Failure Analysis of the Arecibo Observatory 305-Meter Telescope Collapse'