The development speed of Ming Dynasty's large-scale electroslag resmelting furnace exceeded Zhu Jingyuan's expectations.
It should be because it was already the 1960s when the electroslag remelting technology of Zhu Jingyuan's previous life began to be applied.
At that time, battleships had been eliminated, and there was no immediate need for large-tonnage production of large-caliber naval guns.
One or two tons of electroslag furnaces are sufficient for Army artillery.
In today's Ming Dynasty, the direct purpose of the emergence of electroslag remelting technology is to solve the problem of substandard performance of large-caliber naval guns on battleships. It has been going straight to large tonnage from the beginning.
The key is that Zhu Jingyuan has provided mature experience, skipping a lot of exploration and trial and error.
From the beginning of the experiment to now, in a total of more than three years, a fifty-ton electroslag furnace has been completed.
The 100-ton electroslag furnace currently under development is expected to be completed in just two to three years.
Zhu Jingyuan had already received the news when the furnace and artillery experiments were successful.
When I finally saw the actual artillery today, I was quite emotional.
This new artillery has a caliber of 420 meters, and the barrel length is fifty times the caliber, which is 21 meters.
Ten adults can be stuffed directly into the barrel.
A gun barrel weighs one hundred and twenty tons. The gun barrel uses a three-layer nested structure inside and outside, which means it takes three furnaces of steel to build a gun.
The rifled inner layer is the most worn during use and can be removed and replaced separately.
But it also has to be done in the factory.
The outer tube is heated to expand, the inner tube is pulled out, replaced with a new inner tube, and then tightened again after cooling.
Therefore, naval guns still need to have spare barrels.
Using electroslag remelted steel that Zhu Jingyuan had not used on all battleships in his previous life, the performance of this gun far exceeds that of artillery of the same level in history.
With the same weight as the 406 mm Iowa-class naval gun, it achieved the performance of the 460 mm Yamato gun.
Historically, Yamato's 460mm main gun had an armor-piercing projectile that only weighed 1,460 kilograms.
This 420 mm caliber artillery can fire 1,500 kilograms of armor-piercing projectiles, and the speed of the projectiles flying out is higher than the armor-piercing projectiles of the Yamato cannon.
Just keeping it in this state will speed up the wear of the gun barrel rifling, reducing the life of the gun's inner tube to the level of the Italian Veneto-class battleship's drug cannon.
The lifespan of a normal battleship gun is usually two hundred to three hundred rounds, while the Veneto has less than one hundred and fifty rounds.
If the same bomb-to-weight ratio of the Iowa class is used, and 1,360 kilogram shells are used, the barrel life will obviously exceed the design specifications, at least more than 300 rounds, and probably more than 400 rounds.
After Zhu Jingyuan listened to Li Rui's explanation, he subconsciously asked:
"What about a compromise? What kind of effect can be achieved by slightly reducing the weight of the cannonball?"
Li Rui hesitated for a moment:
"My subordinates have actually estimated similar data based on existing experimental data. If the weight of the artillery shell is reduced to less than 1,450 kilograms, the lifespan of the gun barrel should be more than 200 rounds."
Zhu Jingyuan nodded subconsciously after hearing this:
"Isn't this great? Why not test it as the main verification target?
"And I see that Li Gong is still hesitant. Is there any problem?
"We have been working together for such a long time, what are you still taboo about with me?"
Li Rui is an official with a craftsman background. He has a relatively straightforward personality. When he first met Zhu Jingyuan, he still directly introduced himself to Zhu Jingyuan when faced with a slightly sensitive issue.
Now Li Rui didn't hesitate much and directly talked about a small problem in his department:
“Some craftsmen questioned my decision-making, and I should not have used the compromise of 120 tons as the target tonnage.
“If we choose a target tonnage of 110 tons, it may be just right for an armor-piercing projectile of 1,360 kilograms.
“If we continue to scale up a bit and choose 130 tons, it may be just right for 1,500 kilograms of artillery shells.
"So some craftsmen requested to modify the specifications of the artillery and re-manufacture this batch of artillery."
Even if a large-caliber battleship gun is manufactured with mature technical specifications, the pure manufacturing time will be calculated on a monthly basis.
If we re-modify the indicators and restart trial production, it won't be a problem for a year and a half.
The cost of additional waste can be a very high figure.
More importantly, the design of Ming's 60,000-ton battleship has been completed, and the shipyard has begun construction of the hull.
The most important part of the battleship is the gun.
The size and weight of naval guns are the most important indicators on a battleship.
At this time, the design specifications of the naval gun should be modified, and the specifications of the turret should also be modified and tested again.
In the end, it is not only a waste of cost, but more importantly, it may affect the ship installation schedule.
It even comes with requirements to modify the warship design, thereby slowing down the warship construction period.
This is posing a problem for Li Rui.
Zhu Jingyuan looked around and deliberately asked directly:
"Because you, Gong Li, have been promoted to the sixth level in seven years, and have been directly promoted from chief to assistant, so is anyone jealous?"
Li Rui didn't answer, which was almost acquiescence.
There is no way to answer this kind of question. No matter the pros or cons, there is no concrete evidence.
So Zhu Jingyuan looked around, firmly supported Li Rui, and continued to say quite loudly:
“The weight of a 1,500-kilogram artillery shell was just a direction I mentioned casually.
"Actually, I didn't expect it to be possible at the time. It would really be possible to use 1,500 kilograms of artillery shells.
“Based on the idea that those who strive for the best will get the best, I have given everyone a direction for their efforts.
"I think the gun body weight of 120 tons is quite appropriate, and I am very satisfied with the performance so far.
“Next, we will slightly reduce the weight of the shell and continue to conduct shooting accuracy and rifling wear tests.
"I'll give you an accurate figure this time. The armor-piercing bullet weighs 1,460 kilograms.
"At the same time, reduce the muzzle velocity, just between 760 meters per second and 780 meters per second.
“At this tonnage, reducing muzzle velocity may not significantly reduce power.
“Moreover, the ballistic curvature of the artillery shell will be greater, and the horizontal penetration at long distances should increase.
"We have 420mm naval guns, and the combat range of this kind of battleship may start from 30 kilometers.
"At this distance, the shells will become very ineffective when hitting the vertical main armor on the side of the enemy ship from the side.
"On the contrary, it would be more effective to hit the deck from the ceiling."
No one around him said a word, everyone knew that Zhu Jingyuan was supporting Li Rui.
Li Rui himself fully understood it, so he was obviously a little excited:
"Your Highness, if the muzzle velocity is reduced and the weight of the shell itself is reduced in this way, then according to the existing inner tube rifling life standards, the lifespan of more than 250 rounds will definitely be achieved.
"And your theory is completely correct. Reducing the muzzle velocity of the gun and launching it from a long distance can indeed increase the penetration ability of the enemy ship's horizontal armor under the influence of gravity acceleration."
Zhu Jingyuan was not entirely trying to support Li Rui. This was a natural decision-making idea.
The parameters have been adjusted and the 120-ton naval gun that has been trial-produced must be replaced with a 110-ton or 130-ton naval gun that is almost the same, and the parameters and trial production must be reset. That's really a fool's errand.
Anyone who wants to rework for this indicator will be held accountable.
The key is that the power of this level of naval gun is actually completely sufficient and has exceeded the world by ten to twenty years.
The two indicators given by Zhu Jingyuan are basically based on the historical Yamato 460mm gun.
Yamato's Type 94 46cm naval gun was the most powerful naval gun actually in service in Zhu Jingyuan's previous life.
Now that the cannon of the Ming Dynasty is built, it directly matches the extreme data of the previous life.
Moreover, the Yamato cannon weighs one hundred and sixty-five tons, while Zhu Jingyuan's current cannon weighs only one hundred and twenty tons.
If a ship is equipped with nine guns, the weight of the gun barrel itself will be directly different by 400 tons.
In addition, the barrel is much lighter, so the weight of the turret will also be reduced a lot.
With approximately the same power, the weight of the artillery group can be directly saved by one thousand to two thousand tons.
Zhu Jingyuan visited the artillery testing site with his grandfather and watched the actual target shooting test session.
The maximum range of artillery of this level is more than 40 kilometers, and the actual combat range is also more than 20 kilometers.
In fact, the target is not visible to the naked eye, and it is difficult to observe it with a telescope.
Zhu Jingyuan and Zhu Zhongliang came to inspect to encourage the workers and craftsmen.
During the actual test, Zhu Jingyuan was mainly discussing with Li Rui to understand the various indicators they had actually measured.
According to Zhu Jingyuan's understanding, the accuracy of this artillery also exceeds that of the battleships of World War II.
The fundamental reason is the improvement of the craftsmanship level. It enjoys technology that no battleship in history has enjoyed.
After the test, Zhu Jingyuan and Zhu Zhongliang, together with Ordnance Department officials and craftsmen headed by Li Rui and Wang Lai, took a group photo in front of the displayed artillery barrel.
The next day, Zhu Jingyuan and his grandfather followed Li Rui and Wang Lai to the equally important boiler and turbine factory.
The situation here made Zhu Jingyuan also a little surprised and emotional.
The role of electroslag remelted steel is widespread in the entire high-end industrial system, and it also plays a role in boilers and turbines.
The latest, fully enclosed supercharged small water tube split boiler, the power of a single boiler reaches 25,000 horsepower.
In this way, eight boilers can achieve a power of 200,000 shaft horsepower.
At the same time, comprehensive weight reduction has been achieved in all aspects of the power system such as pipelines, valves, gears, bearings, and spindles.
The total weight of the 200,000-horsepower power system ultimately expected to be used on a 60,000-ton battleship is only 4,000 tons.
The specific power reaches fifty horsepower per ton.
The key is that there is no downgrade to cruiser-level indicators.
The reliability indicators of various designs still exceed the standards of the 5,000-ton battleship power unit before the technology upgrade.
Zhu Jingyuan looked at those behemoth machines and listened to Li Rui's introduction of the data. He once again recalled the data he had seen in his previous life.
Yamato's power system is 5,300 tons, with a total power of 150,000 horsepower.
The Iowa's power system is 4,400 tons and has a total power of 210,000 horsepower.
Now the technical indicators of Ming Dynasty's boilers and turbines have directly matched those of the United States in the late World War II.
In fact, the design level and experience should not be reached, but the production technology has surpassed it.
In the next ten years or so, Ming's industrial level will develop by leaps and bounds, and it should be able to quickly rise to the Cold War era.
On the third day, Zhu Jingyuan and Zhu Zhongliang went to the armored steel factory again.
The steel mill is making final acceptance of the application of electroslag welding technology in the installation of armor steel.
Electroslag remelting steel and electroslag welding technology can be regarded as twins.
Since we are engaged in electroslag remelting of steel, it is natural to highlight the electroslag welding technology.
Electroslag welding technology was only industrialized after World War II.
Although war can promote the development of technology, it often promotes the upgrading of mature technologies and also limits the verification and application of new technologies.
Electroslag welding can achieve large thickness armor steel welding.
Compared with traditional riveting and screwing, welding can significantly reduce the structural weight.
At the same time, the new warships from now on will also complete another new vision of Zhu Jingyuan.
"Fully armored steel manufacturing".
It’s the battleship itself, not just where there should be armor, but armor steel is used for installation and coverage.
The structural frame of the entire battleship is also built using homogeneous armor steel.
At the same time, not only battleships, but also cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and submarines are all built using this standard.
The cost of armor steel is of course higher than that of structural steel, but the effect of doing so is also obvious.
The structural strength of the battleship itself is of course higher.
At the same time, this actually unifies structural steel and armor steel, merging two engineering materials into one.
Unified production and larger-scale production can certainly reduce unit costs.
Perhaps as structural steel alone, the cost has certainly increased, but in the end the cost of warship construction will not increase significantly.
Most craftsmen and engineers in related industries actually understand this idea.
But not many people can make the actual decisions.
The key is that if we really do this, the only country that can actually receive benefits is probably the Ming Dynasty.
The key is that the scale and quantity must reach a certain order of magnitude.
In the history of Zhu Jingyuan's previous life, only Americans did this during World War II.
American destroyers are not designed with armor, but the entire structure is made of armored steel.
The Japanese do not have enough normal armor steel, and it is impossible to use armor steel to produce battleship frame structures.
Zhu Jingyuan also had the experience of being an American in his previous life, so he very firmly asked his father to make this decision.
Now it seems that the effect of technical verification is also very good.
Li Rui took a piece of information and reported his confirmed situation to Zhu Jingyuan very enthusiastically:
“The butt-jointed welding interface is very strong and can basically equal the level of the base metal...
“In other words, the strength of steel that is spliced together by welding and that of steel that is completely produced in one piece is basically the same.
“The large-scale application of welding technology can significantly reduce the weight of the ship structure.
“It can also significantly speed up the construction of warships.
“Actually, we have known these two advantages before, but welding has never been used on a large scale in warship construction.
“The key is that the technology was not mature at the time and there was no way to achieve comprehensive welding assembly.
“Now with electroslag welding technology, it is possible to apply these technologies on warships.
"The warship we have now completed the design and started construction can actually be said to have achieved a performance that was not necessarily possible with 70,000 tons of displacement with a full load displacement of 60,000 tons."
(End of chapter)
