In terms of manufacturing quality, the quality of the fuzes made by naturalized migrant workers is no worse than that made by veterans, and the difference in firing rate is so small that it can be ignored. It seems that Lin Shenhe's sophisticated approach to simplifying the fuze structure ensures that naturalized workers with low technical levels can
Migrant workers can produce qualified products.
As for safety, it has been tested that if it falls from a height of 12 meters and hits the ground without pulling out the safety pin, it can ensure that it will not accidentally fire.
However, the ordnance industry team is not simply satisfied with this - in addition to meeting functional requirements, any industrial product also needs to control material costs and organize large-scale production. As a consumable, fuzes must be as cheap and easy to produce as possible.
Although phosphor bronze springs can be produced by oneself, in Lingao's industrial system they are considered "advanced precision parts" and are classified as "secondary controlled materials" by the Planning Institute.
At present, phosphor bronze springs are mainly used in more sophisticated industrial equipment, such as the timers and instruments that Dr. Zhong has been developing with all his heart - its production cost is very high.
It would be best to use lower quality and easily available materials instead. Lin Shenhe thought twice and found Zhan Wuya and asked him if he could heat treat the wrought iron wire?
"Of course, but what do you do with the heat treatment of wrought iron wire?" Zhan Wuya was very surprised.
"Making springs - for use in artillery shell fuses."
Zhan Wuya glanced at him in disbelief: the spring used in the fuse of the artillery shell was a common stumbling block, and now Lin Shenhe actually came and told him to use heat-treated wrought iron wire!
The Industrial Energy Commission produces wrought iron wire of different numbers according to the standards of the old time and space, and the higher-end ones are also galvanized. Wrought iron wire is widely used in the industrial and agricultural production of the Senate. Lingao Telecom's telegraphs are also laid with wrought iron wire.
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Lin Shenhe took out the fuze structure model - it was a proportional cross-sectional model he commissioned someone from the machinery factory to make. He explained the specific working conditions and principles in detail. Zhan Wuya studied it for a long time and finally agreed to use iron wire.
Give it a try.
They chose No. 20 galvanized wrought iron wire. They used a special spring rolling machine to roll the wrought iron wire into a spring. Then they performed heat treatment.
Lin Shenhe then used testing equipment to conduct comparative tests on wrought iron wire springs and phosphor bronze springs. He himself knew that it was impossible for the two springs to be identical in performance. The results certainly did not surprise him.
"It seems irreplaceable." Zhan Wuya said.
"Let's put it on a cannon and try firing it." Lin Shenhe refused to give up.
Fuze shells equipped with wrought iron wire springs were successfully fired from mortars with strong charges. Both safety and fire rate were no worse than phosphor bronze springs. However, the firing results on 70mm cannons were not good, and this occurred many times.
Spring failure - high-pressure rifled guns such as cannons put the fuze to a much more severe test.
Lin Shenhe was satisfied with all the test results and decided to conduct a formal live ammunition firing test.
The black powder column that has been sent to dry has all dried naturally. The last step is to apply alcohol-based shellac paint with a concentration of *% to *% on the surface of the column. It can prevent moisture and cracking and deformation.
Shellac is imported from India and Vietnam and is the secretion of lac bugs. It is widely used in the industrial field. For industrial systems like Lingao that lack chemical products, the importance of shellac as a natural resin is even more significant.
Weapons enthusiasts in the mechanical department began to load artillery shells. The high-compression black powder column could no longer be simply exploded with a fuse. An ignition device—a detonator—had to be used.
Making detonators is a very dangerous thing. It is not technically difficult. The process is to roll kraft paper into a tube. Then use a press to fill the detonator into the tube, and finally seal it. In the past, in order to reduce the risk, the military industry department rarely made
Detonators. Explosive weapons based on black powder generally do not require detonators. Detonators are only produced in small quantities when Dynamate ** and ammonium nitrate ** are used.
There are a small amount of detonator shells and safety caps in the warehouse of the First Research Center of the Special Chemical Industry Complex. The detonator shells are made of kraft paper rolls. The inside and outside are coated with *% alcohol shellac paint to prevent moisture. Lin Shenhe personally
Twenty detonators were selected as experimental cannonballs.
Commonly used detonators are divided into single type and double type. The single type is only equipped with mercury fulminant, while the upper part of the double type is equipped with mercury fulminant and the lower part is equipped with a booster charge - usually TNT or RDX.
Because the chemical industry department cannot produce TNT, the detonators produced by the military industry department in the past were all single-type detonators. This time, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the explosion, Bai Yu suggested making double-type detonators, but Lin Shenhe objected - no matter how capable they are
It can't be changed into tnt.
"You can use the ammonium nitrate ** in stock. Also, don't we still have the ** that Lando brought?"
"This makes no sense - we don't have the ability to mass-produce any of them yet. We should still test it according to the conditions that can be put into mass production in industry."
Finally decided to continue manufacturing single-type detonators. In the detonator workshop, Lin Shenhe carefully loaded the mercury fulminate into the tube shell several times, and then lightly compacted it with a press - to ensure safety, he stood on a thick piece of
Those working behind thick steel plates were wearing explosion-proof helmets. Mercury fulminate is extremely sensitive and can easily cause an explosion during the suppression process.
After pressing the mercury fulminate powder, he picked up a safety helmet made of galvanized iron sheet with a thin piece of silk inside. He installed it on the tube shell and turned the handle of the press.
According to the technical requirements, the press pressed the safety cap into the tube shell with a force of *~* kilograms per square centimeter. Lin Shenhe checked whether the combination was complete, and then used a brush to brush off the powder scattered on the tube shell bit by bit.
, carefully collect the scattered mercury fulminate into the waste tank. Finally, dot alcohol shellac paint on the bottom of the tube shell, and a detonator is made.
Then, another detonator test was conducted at the test site. The new detonator used in the artillery shell was installed with a fuze, and the firing test was conducted in accordance with actual combat requirements to ensure that the firing pin of the fuze could effectively fire the detonator.
The first firing was not successful - the position of the firing pin was not accurate. Jiang Ye adjusted it on the spot, and the second time it was successful immediately. After several consecutive tests, the detonator was fired accurately every time.
Lin Shenhe nodded: "It can be assembled now." He signed the assembly task list and formally ordered the assembly of the grenade equipped with the new fuse.
It was finally time for the new fuze to be officially unveiled. The 70mm rifled gun borrowed last time was still on the shooting range. Lin Shenhe borrowed another 24-pound smoothbore howitzer - there was no mortar, and the mortar was not very useful.
Use this instead for now.
"Can cone-shaped shells also be fired from smoothbore cannons?" Zhan Wuya asked.
"Of course." Lin Shenhe said, "Mortars don't need to fire spherical shells."
Simple tracks have been laid at the shooting range, and rail cars were used to transport 40 newly produced grenades for two types of artillery: half each of a phosphor bronze spring and a No. 20 wrought iron wire spring.
"Load the 24-pound howitzer A shells one at a time!" Lin Shenhe commanded from inside the bunker with a large tin trumpet. An artillery crew from the army training team responsible for artillery firing quickly opened the rattan shell box, took out the shells, and installed the fuse.
.A gunner loads the silk powder package into the barrel from the muzzle, and the loader then loads the shells from the muzzle.
The gunner inserted the ignition tube into the tail ignition port and hung up the pulling rope. To ensure safety, the pulling rope was very long and extended to the bunker 20 meters away.
With a whistle blowing, all the gunners ran to the bunker and jumped in. Then, the warning siren for live fire reverberated in the sky.
"Launch!" Lin Shenhe roared, then quickly retracted himself into the bunker and put his eyes on the newly built binocular periscope in the optical workshop.
The gunner pulled the matchlock fiercely. The 24-pound howitzer let out a roar, and the heavy gun body fell back, spraying out thick white smoke. From the periscope, he saw the trajectory of the shells drawn in the air - smoothbore gun, maroon.
With the combination of medicine, the muzzle velocity is still a bit low.
The shell accurately landed in the predetermined impact area, and with a flash of fire, it exploded!
The power of the explosion, even with the naked eye, can be seen to be much stronger than the original spherical black powder grenade - the explosion after the shell hits the ground only creates a burst of black smoke. It also stirs up less soil.
"Let's go take a look." Lin Shenhe quickly climbed out of the bunker, climbed into the agricultural vehicle with Jiang Ye, Wang Ruixiang and several apprentices from the military industry department, and stumbled along the dirt road to the landing area.
The 24-pound grenade left a crater half a man deep in the impact area. Smoke was still rising, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of black powder. Lin Shenhe squatted down and fiddled with the soil beside the crater.
Several students who were interns at the First Research Institute also quickly dispersed, searching for shell fragments in the surrounding area and marking them on the map.
"You see, the charge is more powerful, and the shells are more shattered than before." He pointed to the shrapnel he picked up and said.
Not only do the fragments fly farther than in the past, but the degree of fragmentation is greater than that of spherical grenades. In the past, spherical grenades exploded into more than 20 large fragments, and some even only exploded into seven or eight fragments, unable to form dense fragments of damage.
Even the most loaded large-caliber mortar shells cannot explode more fragments.
Now, just a simple search found more than 70 shrapnel of various sizes within five meters of the crater. Lin Shenhe pointed out that if the projectile materials can be further improved and measures to prefabricate fragments can be taken, the shell will explode.
The subsequent fragmentation effect is much better.
Twenty rounds of firing A-fuzed shells assembled with phosphor bronze springs were successful on both guns. The test of firing B-fuzed shells on the 24-pound smoothbore gun was all successful. On the third firing of the 70mm rifled cannon,
, everyone in the shelter felt a flash of fire, a huge muffled sound came from the ground, and the ground shook slightly - the shell exploded in the barrel. (To be continued)