[MengerSponge]

If you're curious about the design considerations and construction techniques for large aquaria, the standard reference is Stachiw's Handbook of Acrylics for Submersibles, Hyperbaric Chambers, and Aquaria: https://www.bestpub.com/books/product/cid-151.html

Plastics are weird, and examining the wreckage will give a lot of information about the failure mode.

[jacquesm]

A column of water that tall is nothing to mess around with. Even the smallest imperfection in the base materials can become a problem.

[MengerSponge]

170.65 kPa, or 24.75 psi. I imagine even Flex Tape can't hold that!

[boppo1]

Doesn't seem crazy, my tires hold 38 psi.

[bombcar]

PSI is a measurement that can be hard to translate between various items like tires and tanks and foundations: https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/building-foundations-load...

Massive tractor tires can be 50+ psi and when they pop it is devastating.

[jacquesm]

That can kill you. In fact even a personal car tire that goes can wound or kill you if you happen to be holding it.

[Doxin]

Go look up split rims exploding on youtube. It's violent and probably a good thing those fell out of fashion.

[KMag]

Side note: tractor tire inner tubes make great trampolines. My aunt and uncle run a small farm (one farm over from the farmhouse where my mom was born) and gave us a tractor tire inner tube when I was young, and we jumped on it enough to require several patches throughout the years.

[aliqot]

In contrast, my bicycle tires at are 130psi, and while loud, the explosion is minor. I think the amount of air/water/matter escaping is part of the equation, but someone more physics-inclined could probably ascertain to a better degree how this affects the outcome.

[sirsinsalot]

Even my compact saloon cars tires take 45psi

[jacquesm]

Road bike tires go up to 150 or so... but that doesn't really matter, what matters is that the surface here is massive and you need to withstand all of the force evenly or it will go. Even one crack would do it, it's not going to just seep out water but explode along the fracture, much like a popped balloon isn't going to gracefully deflate.

[jacquesm]

And they are steel reinforced to be able to do that.