Hope this interests someone else, the size of the engineering seems impressive. I've had to cut down the title slightly to make it fit the HN character limit; hopefully it's still readable.
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A chain cuts through a capsized cargo ship filled with cars
101–110 of 136 posts
Re: A chain cuts through a capsized cargo ship filled with cars
#102Hope this interests someone else, the size of the engineering seems impressive. I've had to cut down the title slightly to make it fit the HN character limit; hopefully it's still readable.
This is great, thanks for sharing. It makes me think that as engineers eager to fix problems or building stuff we sometimes go for the solution we are most used to from past experiences (eg. use a huge saw to cut through) instead of thinking of the simplest & most cost-effective (eg. use a chain instead).
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Re: A chain cuts through a capsized cargo ship filled with cars
#103Re: A chain cuts through a capsized cargo ship filled with cars
#104Does nobody else have a problem with these "lazy loading" webpages?
Each image takes a few seconds to load, and if I scroll too far then the images no longer load. It seems that no image will load until the previous image has loaded, and only images currently at the scroll position will load, so I cannot just scroll to the bottom of the page and let it all load. This is on Firefox 83 / Ubuntu.
Re: A chain cuts through a capsized cargo ship filled with cars
#105Is it possible to have Adblock on mobile? That site is literally unreadable do you the unbelievable amount of ads.
Easiest way IMO is nextdns
.op and it works with every app not only the browser. On iOS without jailbreak too.
Re: A chain cuts through a capsized cargo ship filled with cars
#106This related to, but not the same as, the mechanism by which modern torpedoes kill warships. Historically torpedoes used to hit the sides of ships, punching big holes. The response by ship builders was to build empty “torpedo bulges” on the sides of ships to trigger the torpedo early, preventing structural damage. Modern torpedoes instead detonate under the ship. The explosion creates a massive bubble (most explosive…
>> huge amount of force in the middle of a ship to break it. But that isn't what they are doing. This isn't cracking the ship into halves. This is very slowly grinding a hole through the structure. Look to the edges of the cut line and you will see the failure mode of the metal is very different. No sharp/jagged fractures, more round peeling off of metal. It is the difference between using an axe and using a saw.
It’s almost as if I put a disclaimer at the top of my post about how these two concepts were related, but not the same....
Re: A chain cuts through a capsized cargo ship filled with cars
#107Does nobody else have a problem with these "lazy loading" webpages? Each image takes a few seconds to load, and if I scroll too far then the images no longer load. It seems that no image will load until the previous image has loaded, and only images currently at the scroll position will load, so I cannot just scroll to the bottom of the page and let it all load. This is on Firefox 83 / Ubuntu.
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Re: A chain cuts through a capsized cargo ship filled with cars
#108This related to, but not the same as, the mechanism by which modern torpedoes kill warships. Historically torpedoes used to hit the sides of ships, punching big holes. The response by ship builders was to build empty “torpedo bulges” on the sides of ships to trigger the torpedo early, preventing structural damage. Modern torpedoes instead detonate under the ship. The explosion creates a massive bubble (most explosive…
This is a great example of a generalization gone well beyond the end of its usefulness. This has no relation to a torpedo at all except that the localized mechanical force exceeds what the material can handle. But that's how every, cutting bending shearing, swaging, grinding, etc, etc operation works.
Well put.
I wish the article had more information about the chain itself. I've seen this done with diamond cutters on wire rope (like used for the Kursk) but not with chain. From the look of it, the chain has the outside of the links coated with abrasive?
Re: A chain cuts through a capsized cargo ship filled with cars
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a great example of a generalization gone well beyond the end of its usefulness. This has no relation to a torpedo at all except that the localized mechanical force exceeds what the material can handle. But that's how every, cutting bending shearing, swaging, grinding, etc, etc operation works.
I think it's more that "hey you might assume that ships are these big strong things that you can't just cut through but that's a misconception; they're actually weak enough they can't even support their own weight -- a fact that was exploited by torpedo designers."
It's also not true for some ships, depending on exactly what you're talking about.
It isn't just being forced to support its own weight by a bubble that sinks ships... it's the force applied in the direction it's applied by the explosion of the torpedo. Most hulls aren't designed to handle a sudden non uniform upward moving force in their middle accompanied by a shock wave.
Re: A chain cuts through a capsized cargo ship filled with cars
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
Various other stories refer to the chain as a "diamond-encrusted cutting chain" so perhaps there's more to the chain than what you can see in the pictures.
I'm guessing similar to the diamond blades and pads used to cut granite. The edges usually aren't sharp, the blades are usually pretty wide, 1/8" kerf, but they're encrusted with diamonds. The blades don't usually get dull, they just wear down until the diamonds are gone. The diamonds not the blade itself does the cutting. Once the diamonds are gone, the blade will actually start melting and stuff.
I'm thinking it's got abrasive material embedded in the outside of the chain links. I kind of doubt it's diamonds, because that wouldn't work too well for steel and other ferrous metals, but it might be CBN or similar.