NationStates Jolt Archive

This is directly tied in to my Modernized Navy Program (MNP) RP thread here...

http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=415527


I have been wondering what type of material would be useful in construction + development of naval warships? I'm at a loss in what materials to use, because there are so many materials to choose from. I have no idea which material would provide a solid defense without weighing too much, and materials that are easy to manufacture and repair.

I'd like two lists of possible materials and armor schemes.

1. RL list
2. NS list

RL list means just that, what kind of materials would RL nations use in 2005 - 2020? RL materials take into account trade, mining, resource deposits, manufacturing processes, etc.

NS list means any good MT material. One huge difference that sets NS list apart from RL list is that in NS, there is apparently a near-infinite amount of material, such as uranium, titanium, platinum, gold, etc. as compared to RL.


Please give me feedback and ideas on what good material / armor schemes to use in naval warship hulls for both RL and NS "Earth's" to keep it as realistic as possible (I don't want to end up having 5 meter thick depleted uranium arrmor for example).

Thanks!

Bump!

Bump again!

Try asking Guffingford, he's good with these kind of things..

Bump!

I need to know what would be good building material for my navy hulls.

Steel?
Wood?
Iron?
Bronze?
Aluminum?
Titanium?
Lead?


Or what? I need to know so I can continue my resrach+development RP.

I'm not sure if Guffingford would have the time to help me out, though.

Steel is always usefula dn reasonably cheap but it really depends on what youa re biudling, for light patrol vessels, aluminium and fiberglass and perfectly good(you coudl always weave in soem spectra shield or ceramic armour paltes to defeat small arms).

Ona full size warship scale, steel iss till the predomiant material with light layers of composite or titanium being used now and then for additional armouring.
In NS terms the general schemes seems to be pretty inspired by modern multi material tank armour, foten with an outer layer of titanium, inner layers of ceramics and composites interleayered with steel and titanium and gnerally speaking a steel back plate.

Its not really a precise armour, but you could perhaps look up any of Dontpissusoff's vessels or any of the freethinker designs (inc the doujin).

Wood, bronze, iron, lead are things to stay away from. Aluminum is iffy.

Aluminum was used for years but when missiles became a prevalent weapon it was discovered that the ignition temperature of the boost phase of a shipboard missile and the ignition temperature of aluminum were very closely related. Mostly now I think ships are largely Steel and titanium, but its moving towards composites