Deadly Rivets?

Interesting point about the introduction of armour plate welding in 1936.The Japanese naval architects who designed the monster battleship Yamato which was laid down from 1937 had a design priority capable of withstanding the maximum calibre of naval gun.(Unfortunately the initial commissioning did not include adequate ack ack air cover) They introduced a 26 inch armour plating belt..(stern and bow had numerous compartments which could be flooded to maintain stability) to take advantage of the new technique of fusion welding.

There is no doubt that welding resulted in large advances in mechanical engineering and fixing reliability.The technique replaced rivets having superior strength,reliability, production costs and enabled pressurised systems to operated at increasingly higher pressures.

For instance it enabled power plant steam cycles to be improved to withstand steam pressures of up to 3000 psi....a development which could not be effected without fusion welding.... boiler drums 6 feet in diameter,lengths up to 60 feet were constructed of circular plates about 6 feet wide and thickness of 5-6 inches were machine fusion welded.....drum stubs and fitting connections all welded.Additionally fusion welding is now commonplace throughout mechanical engineering with carbon and alloy steels together with plastic components.

I remember in the early 1950s, a riveted boiler drum,operating below 300 psi on a power plant commissioned prewar which failed and led to the deaths of 2 or 3 operators....the rivets or rivet cores may have been subject to corrosion,thus weakening the fixing.

Regarding tank manufacturing,was the T34 an all welded tank?

 

Why did he not use the saw which he made the slots with, saw the compete head off?

 

Speaking of rivets!

 

Probably quicker using a grinder to take the head off☺
Regards
Tom

 

Harry,
I believe that the T34 was all welded with castings used for the turret.
Regards
Tom

 

Thanks Tom.I will have to look further into the specification.I wonder what the turret casting steel specification was?

I do remember that I saw T 34s coming off the production line and that they appeared to be a welded production.....one point was made clear that the tanks came off the production line without a cosmetic finish,ie no paint finish in order to enhance production rates.

Without doubt an interesting model of tank warfare.

 

Harry,
Here is a link that you may find interesting.
T-34 Medium Tank
Regards
Tom

 

The rivet wouldn't be "punched through", the shearing force of one plate moving against another would "snap" the interior rivet off and torquing it clear of the hole. The outer one would be bent in the hole.

 

During an informal conversation with some ex-tankies we discussed this - the conclusion was: That those who had experienced concussive hits (even from mortars) found that anything stowed might bounce around and become an inconvenience, if not a danger. Hard hits could dislodge the fittings, including screws, nuts, bolts and rivets holding them on. Thus whilst the armour might hold, anything on the 'internal stowage diagram' might fly about. Experience of penetrating hits led to not hanging around to assess things!

Incidentally, the equivalent traditional opinion from the First World War is that the rivets held however the plates flexed resulting in 'bullet splash' inside. Hence the mail visors, etc.