Chapter 733 The aircraft carrier is closed in sections

 After wandering around Tianjiao Airlines for a long time, everyone left in the evening and took a car to the airport.

“Taozi, can that D-18T engine really be developed into a 40-megawatt gas turbine?” Wu Shengli couldn’t wait to discuss it with Qin Tao in the car.

"Yes." Qin Tao nodded: "Forty megawatts is the foundation, and it can be expanded to fifty megawatts or even higher in the future. After all, the foundation is there."

At an ambient temperature of 15 degrees Celsius and an altitude of sea level, the LM6000 gas turbine has a basic output of 42,385 kilowatts and a thermal efficiency of more than 40%. At the same time, if you want to further increase the output power, you can use water injection to increase the power. Increased to 492,000 kilowatts, the thermal efficiency is close to 50%.

Of course, the D-18T of the same era can also reach this level. If it is improved with current technology, the power can be greatly increased. If the development of the LM2500 gas turbine is followed, the final power can be doubled.

“If this kind of gas turbine can be successfully developed, our warship power system will usher in another breakthrough.” Wu Shengli is looking forward to it.

"Yes, a 20,000-ton destroyer and a 40,000-ton amphibious assault ship will all have power reserves." Qin Tao said: "So, even if this project will cost a huge amount of money, our Mingzhou Group will continue to carry out it firmly. .”

Wu Shengli opened his mouth wide. If it were in the past, he would never have had such a dream. Needless to say, a destroyer of 20,000 tons and 5,000 tons has been out of reach for a long time. As for What is the difference between a 40,000-ton amphibious assault ship and an aircraft carrier?

“Taozi, in recent years, you have been talking about amphibious assault ships. Will the combat missions of this thing and our aircraft carrier overlap?”

Qin Tao shook his head: "Of course not. The two combat methods are completely different. Look at the United States. In addition to aircraft carriers, there are also a large number of amphibious assault ships. The latest one is the Wasp class. Let's take the Wasp class. Let’s talk.”

The Wasp class was developed to replace the old Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship with the Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship. During the design, it had many new concepts. For example, it was to operate Sea Harrier fighter jets. As well as air-cushion landing craft, the area of ​​the garage deck and cargo deck in the hull has become smaller, just to load more Sea Harriers. In the later period, the Sea Harriers were replaced by F-35Bs, further improving the combat effectiveness.

The first Wasp-class amphibious assault ship was built in the 1980s. When the eighth ship was built, it was already in 2002. This last ship also made some improvements, especially the use of gas turbines to replace the previous boilers. , with its replacement, the U.S. Navy completely abandoned the boiler.

 Now, if the motherland’s navy wants to develop and grow, it must not only have advanced aircraft carriers, but also advanced amphibious assault ships. After all, the motherland’s army still has a sacred mission to fulfill.

"The emergence of the Wasp class has given the U.S. Marine Corps the ability to attack without approaching the beachhead. Through the Sea Harrier fighter jet, it can better control the beachhead position. Currently, we already have the J-31A, which is completely It can be deployed on an amphibious assault ship, and we also have electromagnetic catapults. Adding an electromagnetic catapult to the amphibious assault ship can allow the fighter jets to eject, take off, and then land vertically. In this way, the performance of the fighter jets will be even more powerful. Qin Tao said: "Even in some low-intensity conflicts, our amphibious assault ship can calm down the situation by driving over."

Wu Shengli nodded. Aircraft carriers are important, but they are too expensive and there will not be too many of them. In this way, when facing some low-level threats, dispatching an amphibious assault ship is enough.

 It seems that this thing is necessary.

“Brother Tao, we just received the news that the No. 1 and No. 2 cabins of the No. 002 aircraft carrier are about to be combined in the dock of our Mingzhou Group.” At this moment, Zhao Ling spoke.

"What? Are you about to start closing? This is an important moment, you have to go and take a look!" Qin Tao immediately became excited.

“What makes you excited is that the two cabins are docking. Are you so impatient?” Wu Shengli was a little curious.

“Dad, do you know how many compartments our 002 aircraft carrier was divided into during construction?”

Segmented construction is already a standard shipbuilding method. One segment is built on the slipway, and another segment is built next to it. After both segments are built, they are then brought together and docked. In this way, It can greatly speed up the construction progress.

 At that time, in order to improve the construction progress of the heavy-duty aircraft carrier cruiser, Makarov proposed this concept and specially purchased a crane from Western Europe for transportation.

 Now, of course, Mingzhou Group is also using this arrangement.

Depending on the ship, the segments can be large or small. The best one is the British. When they built the Queen-class aircraft carrier, they only used four segments, one for the bow, one for the stern, and one for the middle. The two sections were then started in different shipyards in England and Scotland. The advantage of this was of course that it greatly accelerated the construction progress. After the four sections were built, they were sent to a large shipyard in Scotland for consolidation. However, they dared to do this because they bought a super gantry crane from the East, and after buying it, they sold it because no other ships needed such a big thing.

 “How many sections?” Wu Shengli asked.

"Six sections. Even if we count another ship island, there are seven sections." Qin Tao replied: "The first section and the second section start to connect, which means that the third section will also need to be connected." Construction has begun, and it can be said that our aircraft carrier hull construction progress has reached one-third."

 “Six sections?” Wu Shengli was extremely surprised: “How big must each section be!”

“That’s indeed not small, but who knows how powerful our gantry crane is?” Qin Tao said with a smile.

 The Queen-class aircraft carrier can be built in four sections. Our side used six, which is still too much. However, you have to eat one bite at a time and do the work bit by bit, so you can't be too anxious.

After all, it’s not yet the 21st century. If word spread about the construction of six segmented aircraft carriers, I don’t know how many people would be envious.

 “I want to go and have a look too.” Wu Shengli said, he was very tempted.

 Generally, shipbuilding starts from the bow, and aircraft carriers are no exception.

 The first segment only has the bow deck, but the second segment begins to have an angled deck.

After arriving at the Mingzhou Shipyard, several people went straight to the dock. At this time, the two large sections were slowly docking.

Wu Shengli felt his breathing quicken. Even though there were only these two sections, he could still feel how huge the aircraft carrier was. The deck of the first section was straight and looked so spectacular. The deck has not been opened yet, so we cannot see the installation of the electromagnetic catapult, but we can imagine in our mind what a spectacular scene it will be.

 The motherland’s second aircraft carrier is comparable to the Kitty Hawk’s aircraft carrier!

 The sectioned joints reveal a dozen-layered structure. The upper one is very high and is the hangar. The middle one is shorter and is the warehouse for the crew's living, dining, office and food storage. Further down, it will be higher and irregular. These are fuel, fresh water, ammunition and other compartments.

“There will be no errors when these two segments are connected, right?” He became worried again.

What should I do if such a tall behemoth, in the event of an error, if there is an error, what should I do?

"Of course not." Makarov's voice sounded: "Leader Wu, twenty years ago, our warships built in sections could be perfectly connected, let alone now, every steel plate is made of three-dimensional CNC bending. The position of each weld seam made by the board machine is determined by laser. Even if there is an error, the accuracy will be maintained below 0.1 mm. I am confident in our construction quality."

Looking at the docking cabins, Makarov was also filled with excitement. The once huge red empire had disappeared, and he once thought he was going to die in depression, but when he came to the east, he was reborn!

“Lao Ma, our construction progress is a bit slow.” Qin Tao said: “It took so long to build two sections.”

"Mr. Qin, the progress is a bit slow. This is because the current section is the largest we have ever built. Therefore, we must ensure the quality of construction and sum up experience. The next construction will be faster. We are confident that each section will be built faster." The segmented construction time is controlled within six months, so that in another two years, our hull construction will be completely completed and it can be launched by then."

 It took two years to launch, another two years for outfitting, and another two years for sea trials! Of course, according to the original plan, the aircraft carrier would be launched in the new millennium. Calculated this way, it would still be slightly faster than the schedule. However, Qin Tao still felt dissatisfied.

"Slow, too slow. After launching, there is outfitting, and after outfitting, there are sea trials." Qin Tao shook his head: "However, this is the first time we have built an 80,000-ton aircraft carrier, so it is normal to be slow. With experience, the next build will be faster.”

"Mr. Qin, during the segmented construction process, we have completed part of the outfitting work. For example, we have installed various internal pipelines, so the outfitting time can be saved a lot."

What?

This made Qin Tao a little surprised: "Have all the pipelines been laid in the sections?"

“Yes, we have learned from the experience of submarine construction.” Makarov said.

Submarines are also built in sections, and during construction, they have to be outfitted. Once they are welded, various large parts cannot be stuffed in. Qin Tao did not expect that when his own side was building the aircraft carrier in sections, the outfitting work was also going on. part of it.

"We have installed all the big parts in order to avoid having to cut holes later. When it comes to the subsequent construction of several sections, the power system and the like must also be installed in advance." Makarov continued: "So , after it is launched into the water, the outfitting work should be completed within a year.”

“Okay, our construction workers have all worked hard! The technicians have also worked hard. When the water is launched, everyone will get a big red envelope!”

“The docking is completed, all interfaces are correct, let’s start welding now!” At this moment, Babbage shouted over there.

 The two segments have been connected!

Relying on various advanced technologies, the two segments were constructed very precisely, ensuring a successful docking without any modifications. Now, welding can begin!

The first thing to be welded was of course the outside. On both sides of the sides, the two mechanical arms that had been prepared for a long time started to rotate flexibly. From the deck down, arc sparks came out.

In order to improve the progress, Mingzhou Shipyard has begun to use a large number of welding robots. When welding the ship hull, the robots play a major role. If it were not for these robotic arms to perform welding and only rely on manual labor, that segment would be It would take easily one or two years to complete.

"Mingzhou Shipyard is indeed the most modern shipyard in our country." Wu Shengli sighed: "The outer welds can be welded by machines, but I don't know what the internal welds are used for?"

"Large sections of welds can be welded with welding robots. Only small sections, or those that are inconvenient for robotic arms, can be welded manually." Makarov said: "These machines are really good, and they are all made by our Mingzhou Group. Developed, I think back then, if we had such equipment, we would have built a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier long ago."

 When talking about the past, Makarov still has regrets.

“Don’t worry, Lao Ma, we will also use nuclear power for the next aircraft carrier. You have to take care of your health. You have to work for another twenty years.”

Makarov nodded: "Well, Mr. Qin, I will work hard and I will definitely survive until that day."

“I really want to go up there and have a look.” Wu Shengli was a little greedy. Seeing the two sections put together, one-third of the entire aircraft carrier came out. Wu Shengli really wanted to go up and have a look.

“Dad, you can’t go up now. Construction is going on everywhere and it’s very dangerous. It won’t be too late for you to go up and take a look when the next few sections are closed and the aircraft carrier is launched.”

Wu Shengli nodded: "Well, we still have to wait."

"Mr. Qin, it's great that you are here!" At this moment, a man came over in a hurry. After seeing Qin Tao, he was very excited: "We have an improvement idea here, but whether it is the aircraft carrier The design department, the construction department, and even the navy all rejected our idea, so you have to make the decision for us!"

"Mr. Ma, after the aircraft carrier construction started, the design drawings were frozen. If you modify them midway, it will waste a lot of time." Qin Tao said: "Your improvements can be put on the next aircraft carrier."

"Mr. Qin, our improvements are very important! If we improve according to our plan, the aircraft carrier can operate more efficiently." Ma Ming said.

Qin Tao was a little curious: "What exactly do you want to improve?"

  Electromagnetic catapult, electromagnetic interception, and ship-wide integrated power system, these high-end projects were all passed with the support of Qin Tao. He was curious, what other projects does Ma Ming have?

"Electromagnetic lift." Ma Ming said: "Through our research and development, the technology of electromagnetic lift has been conquered. We can completely use this kind of lift to replace the original lift, making the aircraft carrier's lift more concise, and allowing carrier-based aircraft to Scheduling is easier.”

Wu Shengli became interested: "Electromagnetic lift? What is the principle of this?"

On an aircraft carrier, elevators are necessary. After all, the number of fighters that can be accommodated on the deck is limited. There will be a hangar below the deck. All maintenance work must be done in the hangar. The aircraft are dispatched between the deck and the hangar. lift.

The principle of an elevator is similar to that of an elevator. It uses a motor to drive a steel cable to pull the car up or down. At the same time, for balance, a counterweight is hung on the other end of the steel cable. Many elevator exterior walls in shopping malls use It is made of glass and you can clearly see the principle of this elevator.

Ordinary lifts are very reliable, but the structure is too complicated, so Ma Ming thought of the electromagnetic lift.

Qin Tao did not propose this technology. After all, electromagnetic ejection and electromagnetic interception are necessary. Things like elevators did not exist in China before Qin Tao came to this world, so he did not propose it at all.

I just didn’t expect that Ma Ming actually thought of it and made it.

"The principle is similar to that of electromagnetic catapults and electromagnetic arresting systems." Ma Ming said: "Linear motors are arranged at both ends of the elevator, and the electromagnetic force provided by the linear motors can be used to rise or fall. It does not have the complicated components of ordinary elevators. , it is very simple, does not require maintenance, and can work stably for a long time.”

The most complex electromagnetic ejection and electromagnetic interception have been solved. This electromagnetic lift is actually just a transplant of these technologies, which is quite simple. One day, Ma Ming suddenly thought of this project and quickly completed it.

 However, when Ma Ming came to promote it, he was unanimously rejected.

The design has been frozen, but you still want to modify it? No, absolutely not! What if something goes wrong?

Ma Ming was in the stage of hitting a wall everywhere. When he saw Qin Tao coming, he was overjoyed and immediately ran to find Qin Tao, hoping that Qin Tao would give him support. Who would have thought that Qin Tao didn't support him either, and Leader Wu was tempted.

At this time, after hearing Ma Ming's words, Wu Shengli looked at Qin Tao again: "Mr. Qin, how do you feel?"

"This electromagnetic elevator does have technical reserves, but if it is used directly on our aircraft carrier, it would be a bit risky." Qin Tao said: "Ma Gong, why don't we wait until the next aircraft carrier? It just so happens that we can also be here. Test it out over a few years.”

"President Qin, you have said before that steam catapults are like steam trains and our electromagnetic catapults are like maglev trains. We are about to enter the 21st century and we must use the most advanced technology." Ma Ming Said: "Now, you are actually retreating again? After so many years, the technology of elevators should also improve. Our 002 aircraft carrier has already used a lot of advanced technologies, so why not add more? Moreover, there is no need to modify it. As long as a line is pulled through the design drawing, those hydraulic and motor-driven lifts should have been eliminated long ago!"

 Ma Ming is looking forward to using advanced technology to arm the 002 aircraft carrier. This is the most advanced aircraft carrier in China and the most advanced in the world. It must have advanced technology!

 Qin Tao's mind was also thinking rapidly.

Yes, domestic aircraft carriers have not used electromagnetic lifts, but the Yankees have. The Yankees’ new generation of Ford-class aircraft carriers use technology that is one generation ahead. Among them, electromagnetic ejection and electromagnetic interception frequently cause problems, but electromagnetic lifts I haven't heard much about malfunctions. This thing is the only mature one among the products developed by Americans.

Now, how about you agree?

 No, any new technology is risky. If you use it rashly, what if there is really a problem?

After all, electromagnetic ejection and electromagnetic interception have been tested in Wasteland Village for several years. Thousands of aircraft have taken off and landed without a single problem. This electromagnetic elevator must be tested tens of thousands of times.

 The elevators of carrier-based aircraft must not be equipped with electromagnetic elevators. They must be tested beforehand. However, there are not only carrier-based aircraft elevators on aircraft carriers!

Most people are attracted by the elevators of carrier-based aircraft. After all, they have appeared in many movies, especially American movies. The American soldiers standing on the elevators and rising together with the carrier-based aircraft are so eye-catching.

By comparison, another type of lift seems to have flown into obscurity: the ammunition lift.

The aircraft carrier formation has powerful offensive capabilities. These offensive capabilities are achieved through carrier-based aircraft. Carrier-based aircraft have to carry a large amount of ammunition. Where do these ammunition come from?

Fighters are only maintained in the hangar. When they need to hang bombs, they may hang them easily. But what about the planes on the deck? How do they hang bombs?

 Using the lift of a carrier-based aircraft can transport ammunition, but it is very wasteful. What if the carrier-based aircraft needs to be transported?

Therefore, there are also small ammunition elevators on the aircraft carrier, and there are more of them. Carrier-based aircraft generally have two or three elevators, but there are seven or eight ammunition elevators, and the ammunition is not transported at one time.

For safety reasons, the ammunition is on the lower level of the aircraft carrier. It needs to be transported from the lower level to the middle level, and then from the middle level to the deck. During these two transportations, the elevators are staggered by a certain distance. This is to avoid danger: in case of one What if the bomb fell from the sky and hit the ammunition elevator directly? If the ammunition elevator goes directly from the bottom ammunition magazine to the deck, doesn't it mean that the bomb can be dropped directly into the ammunition magazine?

"Gong Ma, I can understand your eagerness to build our 002 aircraft carrier into an advanced modern aircraft carrier. However, we cannot rush for success and have to take our time." After Qin Tao finished speaking, he looked at Ma Ming Yao retorted and continued: "However, your idea of ​​the electromagnetic elevator is good. I think we can replace one of the ammunition elevators on the aircraft carrier with an electromagnetic elevator. This way, we can test it first. If the navy uses it well, next time All aircraft carriers can be equipped with electromagnetic elevators, Leader Wu, what do you think?"

 (End of this chapter)