Posted on 02/18/2018 11:28:50 PM PST by LibWhacker
Densified wood? I thought this was going to be about an aging AlGore.
If they could use polycarbonate, the strength might be incredible.
They were making certain planes with wood fuselages even during WWII, but I don’t think I’d like to fly in an airliner made of densified wood.
Get Ready for Skyscrapers Made of Wood. (Yes, Wood)
I think the big concern would be how flammable the dense wood is. If it is still very flammable, then a lot of uses where it could replace metals would be scratched off the list. It would be very useful for hurricane proofing homes, I would guess though.
“It’s Super Wood!”
This is gonna go downhill fast...
BFL
Laminated wood uses large quantities of glue to make beams and planks.
The compression and bonding by chemical reaction of this new process would replace glue yet give even higher performance end products.
This is great science and I hope it will be industrialized soon.
Henry Crun was known to comment that “you can’t get the wood”
I think the most famous was the British Mosquito, a twin engine fighter bomber. Known for its high performance. PT boats were also made from plywood. IIRC they both used Merlin V12 engines (beautiful sounding engine, also in P51 Mustangs and Spitfires) , although the PT boat had three of them.
basically just turning cellulose into a polymer type structure similar to fiberglass composite!
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“They were making certain planes with wood fuselages even during WWII, but I don’t think I’d like to fly in an airliner made of densified wood.”
Another benefit of making planes out of wood is that wood is a naturally radar absorbent material, a very low-tech approach to getting stealth technology.
PT boats used Packard V-12 4M-2500 engines. The design evolved from a 1925 aircraft engine.
I just had to look it up:
PACKARD V-12 MARINE ENGINE
The Packard 4M-2500 engine was utilized in all U.S. Navy World War II PT boats. This engine was based on the 1925 Liberty aircraft engine which was earlier converted for marine use in racing boats. During the war the Packard engine went through various performance updates and modifications. With early engines rated at 1100 h.p. and progressing to 1500 h.p. during the war. The Packard 4M-2500 engine was a supercharged, water cooled, gasoline powered V-12 engine, weighing approximately 2900 pounds.
The Packard 4M-2500 marine engine was not the Rolls-Royce Merlin, nor did U.S. Navy PT boats use the R.R. Merlin engines, which is sometimes misstated. However, Packard did built a version of Merlin Engine under contract by Britain for British aircraft use.
Several years ago, I was at the NOLA WW2 museum where a Higgins PT boat was being reconstructed. I asked about the hull planking, thinking that it was made from plywood as we know it today.
Actually, the hull was made from mahogany planks in two layers. Higgins owned considerable acreage in the Phillipines, from where came the wood. He had his own sawmills to make the lumber for the boat construction.
The boat has since been completed and now runs around Lake Pontchartrain.
Here’s a piece that details the construction.
https://www.militaryfactory.com/ships/detail.asp?ship_id=Higgins-PT-Boat
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