Struggle in Russia

Shipbuilding with steel seems to be a matter of course and a breeze in future generations. But in the early 19th century, this was a great initiative, with countless difficulties to be overcome.

For example, the navigation problem mentioned earlier, such as the rust problem that Li Xiao just said. The former can be overcome by the efforts of George Airy and others (not completely resolved, and must be constantly revised during navigation). The latter had no solution at all in 1847.

The reasons come from two aspects. There was no antirust paint at that time, and there were great defects in the raw materials of shipbuilding.

First talk about the problem of anti-rust paint. Don't think it's simple, it seems to be a bit of paint. But this actually involves all aspects of chemistry, and there is no enough foundation for the chemical industry to make it impossible. At least not in Russia.

For example, in the later generations of antirust paints for ships that Li Xiao knows, there are quite a lot of chemical components in this era that are not available in this era. It is too big to invest from scratch and it is not realistic to build a complete industrial chain.

骁 Li Xiao can make some of the earlier anti-rust products, the performance is not so ideal, the price may be touching, and ...

"And this kind of paint is very toxic, not only for people in direct contact, but also for marine life ..."

Li Xiao is not the Virgin of the Environment, but he also does not want poison to pervade the world, and he does not want those workers and soldiers who have come into contact with this kind of anti-rust paint to struggle in pain for the rest of their lives. Must be reminded.

However, he seems to be a little worried, because neither Lazarev nor Bellings advanced at all. Not that the two veterans were cold-blooded and ruthless, but that there was no such consciousness at that time, and they would not pay special attention to the environment and human nature. People are concerned about the effects and benefits.

It is worth paying more attention to extending the vitality of a ship costing tens of thousands of pounds than to lose a thousand pounds in a lifetime.

In a sense, human life in this era is really worthless. Although Li Xiao didn't like this concept, he couldn't immediately make changes in this era.

The material basis determines the superstructure, just like the poor people of the third world in the later generations do n’t care what kind of bad influence their own homeland would have on the development of highly polluting industries or recycling of toxic waste from developed countries. When food is insatiable, people are more concerned about eating, which is so simple and realistic.

骁 Li Xiao is not particularly concerned, he just makes his conscience better and makes himself look less cold-hearted. Because he knows that in this era of cannibalism, there is a price to pay for living better. Just like the industrial revolution in Britain will make sheep eat people, Russia, which is more backward, wants to develop, and there must be various cannibalism. The movement, the original accumulation of capital was always extremely **** and violent.

So Li Xiao quickly skipped the topic and continued to talk about technology: "For better rust prevention, the change of shipbuilding materials is also an important aspect. As far as I know, today's iron-built ships are more Applying wrought iron? "

Lazarev asked in confusion: "Is there anything wrong?"

Of course, there is a problem. Everyone knows about wrought iron. Iron that has a carbon content of less than 0.05% can also be called pure iron. The texture is soft, ductile and plastic. However, this stuff is too soft, it is not a good material for shipbuilding.

For example, most of the earliest irons manufactured by humans were wrought iron. For example, the iron swords of ancient Rome were generally wrought iron swords. To be honest, that stuff is not very useful as a weapon. Because it is too soft, a few knives may be deformed. You can see in ancient books that after ancient Roman soldiers fought with a cooked iron sword, they had to step on the blade to straighten it.

Similarly, when applied to shipbuilding, wrought iron as a structural component also has a problem of insufficient strength, and is easily deformed under the action of gravity and ocean waves. Of course, the main thing is that it is easy to rust.

According to the records of the Royal Navy, ships with wrought iron hulls will have a very moving average life if they are not properly maintained, often becoming a pile of leaking waste iron in less than ten years. Therefore, around 1847, criticism of iron-built ships was actually the mainstream in Britain. Even the British once stopped building ships with wrought iron because there were too many problems.

骁 Li Xiao's meaning is very simple, that is to go beyond this stage and use steel to build ships. Steel and iron are essentially only different in carbon content, but the physical properties are vastly different. Steel is tougher and more suitable for shipbuilding.

Of course, steel, especially ordinary carbon steel, also has serious corrosion problems. Especially in the high salt and high humidity marine environment, corrosion is almost inevitable. Even in the 21st century, the problem of rust still exists and cannot be eradicated.

骁 The reason why Li Xiao recommends steel is simple, not only because it is the future mainstream, but also because the Russian steel industry is desolate. Whether it is the first or the second industrial revolution, steel has always been fundamental.

Without enough steel, nothing can be achieved, and no skyscraper can be built without building a railway skyscraper. Therefore, it is necessary to indirectly promote the development of the Russian steel industry by utilizing the corrosion problem of iron-built ships.

"Steelmaking is imperative. Steel has too many advantages over wrought iron. All future ships will have to be built with steel. This will make our warships more defensive, lighter and more buoyant!"

Both Lazarev and Bellings Gao Jin listened to it ~ www.ltnovel.com ~ because in their traditional thinking, isn't steel heavier than wood? How can a ship made of steel be lighter than wood? Shouldn't it be the opposite?

Li Xiao explained patiently: "The density of steel is indeed greater than that of wood, and it is indeed heavier in the same volume. However, steel is tougher than wood. Ships with the same displacement use steel as a structural material because steel is strong enough to be used Fewer materials achieve the same structural strength of wood. "

Li Xiao did not lie about this. In fact, wooden ships generally have a problem of insufficient structural strength. The problem becomes more obvious with larger wooden ships. Because of the nature of the material, wood must pay a heavier structural price.

For example, the British Royal Navy has found that the keel deformation and the displacement of the ship's plate are common in wooden ships. Especially in the event of a storm or a long service period, the entire ship will undergo severe deformation, and it will almost make you want to hit a wall when repaired.

But iron-hulled ships rarely have this problem. According to research by the Royal Navy, iron-hulled ships can weigh 15% lighter than wooden ships and have about 10% greater buoyancy. And the hull will hardly undergo structural deformation due to its own weight, which is much better than a wooden boat ...