Alfa propellers - Made of titanium?

[gerwalk]

For what it's worth, props

For what it's worth, props are typically bronze, NiAlBrz to be specific. Stainless is also seen (as is aluminum for the pleasure boat crowd...). Interesting thing I found in an article in Men's Health on the Kursk a couple years ago, was a nice drydock shot of the Kursk showing props clearly. Matt T has it posted on his site. The props are clearly bronze, unpainted, and looking quite new. The vortex dissipators however, appear to be made of something different, possibly stainless.

Thanks,
I have only seen a B/W pic of the Kursk props. Could you please tell me the URL to Matt T's site?

[wayne frey]

The picture of the Akula

The picture of the Akula prop in last year's Report I took from a freeze frame from my DVD. The video is in color. The prop is a beautiful brass color. I see tendency's in one design to the next,like the escape modules from the Alfa forward in all the nuke boats. I bet they are brass. If I recall correctly, the vortex attentuator is brass also...
I will get us a 100% answer on the Alfa prop thing toward the end of the week. I am always bugging Sergey. Last week I was focused on deep ocean unusual contacts. They recorded things, brought them back to base.But it seems when they were not sure, it got classified "biological".

[wayne frey]

I said brass. Bronze is

I said brass. Bronze is probably it. Pretty anyway.

[gerwalk]

I didn't understand at first

[color=#000000]I didn't understand at first that Matt T site is Thordesigns site!! I've seen that color screen grab before. Good to know where it came from!!

Wayne, as always, thanks for sharing the info! I'm eagerly waiting for the answer of your friend.

BTW]

[anonymous]

The picture is actually a

The picture is actually a scan I took from the magazine. The original, which I'm looking at now, shows much more detail and some more clues behind their silencing technology.

Color differences say definitely a different alloy for the KURSK dissipators. If not stainless, then maybe a nickel-based one like monel. The Akula probably use bronze.

BTW... Tim Smalley's site has an interesting photo of an LA class...

[wayne frey]

I have posed the question

I have posed the question to the Alfa officer. We now wait his answer. Those DVD's I will sell,yes. But it will have to wait a little while. I have had some other problems that must be dealt with first, then I can get back into the swing of things.
Maybe in about 5-6 months. They are not disappointing at all.

[gerwalk]

The picture is actually a

The picture is actually a scan I took from the magazine. The original, which I'm looking at now, shows much more detail and some more clues behind their silencing technology.

Color differences say definitely a different alloy for the KURSK dissipators. If not stainless, then maybe a nickel-based one like monel. The Akula probably use bronze.

BTW... Tim Smalley's site has an interesting photo of an LA class...

[color=#000000]And it is also in Thordesigns site...looks a lot like a dissipator! That is an experimental thing or is an actual issue of LA class props?

Going back to our discussion]

[wayne frey]

Look at the Akula prop

Look at the Akula prop in the summer issue. It has anodes on it. Merrimen spotted em

[wayne frey]

Ok,
Final answer. I was

Ok,
Final answer. I was as wrong as I could be.
According to the man that drove one, the screw was made out of titanium.

[anonymous]

A titanium screw??? No wonder

A titanium screw??? No wonder it earned it's "golden" reputation. Must have cost a bloody fortune!

[gerwalk]

Wow!! Titanium screws... the model

[color=#000000]Wow!! Titanium screws... the model instructions was righ...
Thanks Wayne!! I was suspecting this when you said that the color was the same as the hull... bronze doesn't turn into such dark color.

Amazing... It is expensive but remember that Russia has the main titanium mines in the world.
In recent times when Frank O. Gehry designed the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao he asked that all the metal covering its walls should be]

[gerwalk]

I was so excited with

I was so excited with the news that I googled titanium and found this picture of turbine part made of titanium. It's color is dark (I have some titanium sheet in the lab but is nota that dark) I think that the "same color as the hull" comes from the dark shade of this metal (even more after being exposed to the sea)

[novagator]

Very cool, now were the

Very cool, now were the props titanium in color or were they painted?

[wayne frey]

I did ask that question.

I did ask that question. They were not painted. He said until the mid 80's, the props for submarines were hand made. And to use his words ' The scew on the project 705 was very dear"
I bet!!!!
From time to time, I don't mind asking questions to him for everyone. I do not want to abuse what has become a good friendship.But he enjoys our interest in the Russian submarines and what we are doing.

[gerwalk]

I did ask that question.

I did ask that question. They were not painted. He said until the mid 80's, the props for submarines were hand made.

Yes...until Toshiba Machine gave them the technology to do it by two axis machine tools circa 1985.

Wayne]http://www.subcommittee.com/forum/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]