Titanic's Pianos

[Roger Jolly]

Greets Cy,
          Interesting question, But you can not compare the situation to a
hydraulic press for the following reason, due to the viscosity of the water
it would be forced into the capillaries of the wood fiber at these
pressures, therefore the pressure gradient across the material would not be
any where near the 3000psi range. With time a state of equilibrium re; the
pressure gradient would exist. 
  Each spiecies of lumber would react differently.  Specific gravity of
maple for instance starts to approach 1, but sitka spruce is much lower, so
we have a lot of variables to play with. The materials resistance to
compression. the amount of cavities in the material for water to move into,
porosity, all would have an effect on how the material would reach an
internal equilibrium.
  1000 year old ships have been raised off the oceans floor at various
depths, and under the right conditions the lumber has been preserved, but
not in an original state.
  For sure the wood would not pancake, as it would under a 3000psi press.
  I think I have only raised more questions, as opposed to to giving an
answer.
Have a nice day. 
>
>The Titanic is at 13,500 feet and it was stated water pressure at this
depth is something like 3,000 pounds per inch. (Not exactly sure about the
3,000 figure.) So here is the question. What would happen to the soft wood
of the keys at this depth? Imagine putting a piano key in a hydraulic press
at 3,000 pounds. It would probably be crushed. What would happen if the
pressure was applied on all sides? Would the soft wood be reduced to a
smaller size? So what would happen to other various wood componets of the
piano in the Titanic? The rim, frame, pin block and some cabinets parts
could probably remain intact. Maybe a 5/16 inch thick soundboard might
compress to maybe 1/8 inch. The water pressure would be 3,000 psi on both
sides.
>
>If the key sticks crushed, then the ivories would probably come off. The
ivory could probably take the pressure. Consider the felt hammers. Under
this immense pressure the hammers diminsions would probably less than one
half their size. It's hard to comprehend just how the pressure would effect
the wood and felt. Maybe some of you physics buffs can enlighten us.
>

Roger Jolly
Balwin Yamaha Piano Centres.
Saskatoon/Regina.
Canada.