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- Oct 31, 2023
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Sounds like a lecture from "Strength of Materials "class. A class requirement that architecture student friends of mine at the U. of Miami in the '60s often had to repeat. Fortunately, as a studio art student I was faced with no such demanding courses.Woldings provide compression force to the mast, which reduces the tendency for the wood of the mast to split along the grain after many cycles of flexing and bending under the force of the wind on the sails. Example: Grab a handful of straws, then try to bend the bundle. Some of the straws want to slide against each other on the inside of the bend you are making, and the cross section of the bundle wants to go from a circle to a flatter oval. Also the individual straws compress into oval, and then flat cross sections as the bundle is bent to extreme. This sliding motion and the change in cross section of the bundle demonstrates the shear force along the grain of wood within a mast when it is bent.
The mast is stiffened against these internal forces by the bands of compression offered by the woldings. and the mast will retain its cross section shape because of this support. If it were not so, splits would begin to occur along the grain within the mast, and the mast weaken faster over time. Masts are routinely replaced in ships every couple of decades or so, the frequency of which depends on the funding available and availability of the proper timber. Mast replacement is one of the many things required for the expensive maintenance of ships. Extending the life of masts is essential in reducing the enormous costs of maintaining a ship.
To give you an idea of just how expensive these ships are, the entire British government can no longer afford to repair HMS Victory in order to restore her to seaworthy condition from the damage sustained from improper support of the hull in drydock. Hence, the ship will never sail again. A huge money drive funded by all the citizens of the country would be necessary to restore her. The USS Constitution was funded by a few of these drives and was able to stay seaworthy as a result. Saving vessels such as these is accomplished largely through national will.
What do you expect from an engineer ? I'm not Mr. Rogers...Sounds like a lecture from "Strength of Materials "class. A class requirement that architecture student friends of mine at the U. of Miami in the '60s often had to repeat. Fortunately, as a studio art student I was faced with no such demanding courses.
Pete
Interesting and informative. Thank you.Woldings provide compression force to the mast, which reduces the tendency for the wood of the mast to split along the grain after many cycles of flexing and bending under the force of the wind on the sails. Example: Grab a handful of straws, then try to bend the bundle. Some of the straws want to slide against each other on the inside of the bend you are making, and the cross section of the bundle wants to go from a circle to a flatter oval. Also the individual straws compress into oval, and then flat cross sections as the bundle is bent to extreme. This sliding motion and the change in cross section of the bundle demonstrates the shear force along the grain of wood within a mast when it is bent.
The mast is stiffened against these internal forces by the bands of compression offered by the woldings. and the mast will retain its cross section shape because of this support. If it were not so, splits would begin to occur along the grain within the mast, and the mast weaken faster over time. Masts are routinely replaced in ships every couple of decades or so, the frequency of which depends on the funding available and availability of the proper timber. Mast replacement is one of the many things required for the expensive maintenance of ships. Extending the life of masts is essential in reducing the enormous costs of maintaining a ship.
To give you an idea of just how expensive these ships are, the entire British government can no longer afford to repair HMS Victory in order to restore her to seaworthy condition from the damage sustained from improper support of the hull in drydock. Hence, the ship will never sail again. A huge money drive funded by all the citizens of the country would be necessary to restore her. The USS Constitution was funded by a few of these drives and was able to stay seaworthy as a result. Saving vessels such as these is accomplished largely through national will.