Chapter 589 Strategic Grade Materials (asking for double monthly tickets)
The "Indomitable" was slowly towed to the dock, and everyone was silent.
Joseph took Borda, Sane and others on board the ship for inspection, and saw that the steam engine had twisted its curved rod due to overload, lying there like a deformed monster.
The stern cabin was full of flying pieces of wood, which should be the main shaft that collapsed due to severe vibrations.
He made detailed measurements and records, left the ship and was about to return to the design room, when he saw Murdoch running over excitedly, out of breath and said: "Your Majesty, your Majesty, 5 hours ”
“What 5 hours?”
Murdock turned and pointed to the hull laboratory in the distance: “The new propeller has been running continuously for 5 hours, and nothing happened. Malfunction!”
Joseph was immediately overjoyed and hurriedly got on the carriage and rushed to check it out.
In a laboratory the size of a basketball court, there is a glass "big fish tank" that is as tall as a person and filled with water.
The LJ52 steam engine on the side is roaring, driving a cylindrical wooden shaft through a set of gears into the "fish tank". The propeller at the end of the bearing stirred up a lot of bubbles, but it only trembled slightly, like a beast being held down by a hunter.
Murdoch signaled to his partner Sandel, who was adding coal to the steam engine.
The latter glanced at the clock and said: "It's 5 hours and 36 minutes. Everything is normal."
A burst of cheers suddenly erupted from the surroundings, and the designers and technicians high-fived each other: "Thank God! It was finally successful!"
"I knew that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's design would definitely come true."
"This thing can give our battleships a lead of at least ten years!"< br>
Joseph's face was also full of surprise. He turned around and asked Murdoch: "Did Mr. Garman use any new technology?"
Yes, after the propeller continued to vibrate, He invited his father's master, Mr. Garman, the top watchmaker in France.
Let Garman use the process of processing clock bearings to make propellers. This is the highest processing precision that can be achieved in this era.
Murdoch nodded: "Yes, Your Highness, Mr. Garman said that he improved the polishing method and changed the wood used for the spindle."
"Oh?" Joseph was a little surprised, Garman actually knows materials science, "What kind of wood did he change?"
"I didn't ask him about this."
Joseph said to Eman: "Please go and invite Mr. Garman."
Half an hour later.
The master watchmaker looked at the propeller that had been running safely for more than 6 hours, and excitedly crossed himself on his chest: "Thank God! You must have guided Miss Berenice to come to me!"
Joseph blinked: "Miss Berenice?"
Porda hurriedly said: "Your Highness, that seems to be the maid assigned to Mr. Garman by the shipyard."
Joseph looked at Garman: "Mr. Garman, did the maid help you with your work?"
"Yes, Your Highness." The latter nodded vigorously, "You mentioned before, The spindle must be made of wood with uniform wood and as hard as possible
“I subconsciously muttered this while eating last week, and after hearing it, Miss Berenice told me about an extremely hard wood. The wood - Guaiac wood. "
"Guaiac wood? "Joseph felt like he had heard this name somewhere." She said it was the hardest wood she had ever seen. The natives of Jamaica used it to make oar bushings. And she happened to have one at home. ”
Gaman said and looked towards the still spinning propeller: "That's it. I didn't pay attention to it at first, but when I saw this wood, I immediately realized that it is definitely the best spindle material. !
“Not only is it hard and not easily deformed, but it also oozes oil on its own. Use it to make spindles that don't even require additional lubrication.
“I processed it into a spindle, but I didn’t expect it to be really useful!”
Joseph’s heart suddenly moved. It can ooze oil on its own and is very hard. This seems to be what was mentioned in the news in later generations. "Destroyer Lifeline".
He remembered that the news was that the destroyer imported by a certain country's navy at that time had a design defect that caused the large shaft to wear easily, but imported parts could not be purchased. In the end, the old craftsman solved the problem by replacing the spindle with a wood that could leak oil on its own.
He forgot the name of the wood, but it was probably this guaiac wood.
If this thing can be used as the main shaft of a three- to four-thousand-ton warship in later generations, it will definitely be more than enough to handle the less than four-hundred-ton frigate of this era.
Joseph thought: "It seems that the previous tremor problem was not only due to insufficient processing accuracy of the propeller, but also probably to the slight deformation of the main shaft under rotation, resulting in asymmetrical forces on both sides."
Chief designer Sane continued: "It is not ruled out that the hardness and deformation resistance of the spindle are too strong, and the self-lubricating properties make up for the problem of propeller machining accuracy."
Joseph immediately realized that this guaiac wood would become a strategic grade raw material.
He hurriedly asked Eman to call Miss Berenice and asked: "Where did you get the guaiac wood?"
The maid looked very nervous. After she stumbled for a long time, Joseph finally understood that her father had been a sailor in the Caribbean. Because he saved a Jamaican businessman, the latter gave him a large piece of spice, which was the guaiac wood. .
After her father returned to China, he learned that this thing was very valuable, so he kept it as a display at home until Gaman bought it.
Joseph immediately gave her a bonus of one thousand francs and ordered people from the Intelligence Bureau to tell her and her family about the confidentiality regulations.
Subsequently, Joseph found a botanist and asked about the origin of guaiac wood.
"Your Highness, as far as I know, this thing should be produced in Jamaica." The latter said, "Occasionally, spices or medicinal herbs dealers bring it to Europe for sale."
"Jamaica? "Joseph frowned immediately.
That was a British colony. It seems that we need to stock up a batch as soon as possible before the British understand its use.
A week later, the shipyard bought several more guaiac wood roots from the medicinal materials market. Garman machined it into a full-size spindle and installed it on the Indomitable.
The midday sun shines on the calm sea of Brest Bay, and the "Indomitable" appears in front of everyone with a brand new power system.
This time it only took 25 minutes to cleanly surpass the galley used for comparison testing, and sailed continuously for 4 hours before finally stopping due to a steam engine failure.
At this time, the galley had already been thrown away by it for more than 20 kilometers.
This time Joseph looked at Murdoch and smiled: "Then, the next step is up to you. At least make sure it works stably for a day without failure."
He did not blame Murdoch. After all, the high-pressure steam engine technology had only been developed for more than a year. This was still an ultra-high-pressure version, and it was already very rare to have the current stability.
The latter looked at Sandel and said with some uncertainty: "Your Highness, this may take about two years. After all, such a high-pressure model is rarely used in other places."
(End of this chapter)