African Nationhood

Chapter 219 Aluminum Alloys and Automotive Industry

April 1886, Stuttgart, Germany, Benz Automobile Factory.

The bright white aluminum strip is quickly pressed into a thin and light flat plate through a rolling machine.

These aluminum materials are not ordinary aluminum materials, but aluminum alloy materials with other metal materials added.

This new type of alloy material came from Boss Shi's guidance, and the Mercedes-Benz Automobile Factory was able to produce a large number of lightweight body materials.

Speaking of aluminum, I have to say that when we first started building Mercedes-Benz cars last year, Boss Shi proposed using aluminum as the main material for the car hood.

At that time, including Karl Benz and the Muller brothers, they all opposed Boss Shi's suggestion.

One is because pure aluminum is too expensive, and the other is that aluminum is too soft.

Boss Shi proposed adding other metal materials to aluminum to make aluminum alloy materials.

This proposal made several shareholders of the Mercedes-Benz Automobile Factory hesitant, but after trying it out in the materials laboratory, they immediately agreed to Boss Shi's suggestion.

Then the Mercedes-Benz car factory and the Benz engine factory jointly acquired an aluminum workshop in Stuttgart.

That's right, it's a workshop for making aluminum. Before the invention of the "electrolytic aluminum method", there were only about 200 tons of aluminum in the world.

Most of these pure aluminum are produced through "thermal reduction method".

Under high temperature conditions in the laboratory, metallic aluminum is obtained by reducing alumina with active metals such as potassium or magnesium, which is called the "magnesia thermal method".

Or use pure sodium to reduce the mixed molten salt of sodium and aluminum to obtain metallic aluminum, which is called the "sodium thermal method".

Therefore, at the Paris World's Fair in 1855, aluminum was exhibited together with jewelry. The explanation for aluminum at that time was: silver from clay.

A few years later (1889), Mendeleev would receive an award from the Royal Society for producing the periodic table of elements, and the prizes were an aluminum vase and teacup.

After acquiring the aluminum workshop, Boss Shi led the chemists in the aluminum workshop to tackle the problem for more than a month and finally perfected the "electrolytic aluminum" process using electrolytic cryolite-alumina molten salt solution.

The aluminum workshop was renamed "Stuttgart Henry Aluminum Works" and began to install electrolytic aluminum equipment.

Finally, large-scale production of pure aluminum was achieved at the end of the fourth quarter of 1885, and this method of making aluminum has been patented.

This move suddenly cut off the financial resources of two young people, the Frenchman Erou and the American Hall. These two young men would independently master the process of making electrolytic aluminum in 2.

It's a pity that the appearance of Boss Shi interrupted the historical process and took away their luck.

……

With the stable supply of aluminum, the Mercedes-Benz car factory can greatly reduce the weight and cost of the car body.

Therefore, at the beginning of this year, the Mercedes-Benz automobile factory took the lead in cutting the price of its Model T car by 100 pounds.

This suddenly made the car manufacturers around Stuttgart feel sad. They thought they could create a car that would become a blockbuster.

Who knew that being messed with by Mercedes-Benz would directly kill their car-making plan.

The most famous among them is Gottlief Daimler, the inventor of the Daimler automobile.

Naturally, Karl Benz didn't know about his unintentional move and directly defeated his lifelong enemy.

What troubles him most now is Boss Shi's idea of ​​using aluminum alloys as much as possible to make automobile parts.

Although aluminum alloy has many excellent properties, such as corrosion resistance and lightness, there are big problems with the strength of this material.

His first priority now is how to create an aluminum alloy with high enough strength, otherwise Boss Shi's idea will be a castle in the air.

…    The Mercedes-Benz automobile factory is on the right track, and there is also a research and development team in the factory rushing to produce new projects. The project names are "gearbox" and "clutch".

According to Mr. Shi, only with these two things can the Model T be called a real car.

The principle of these two components is not too difficult. Everyone can understand it once Boss Shi said it. The difficult problem is how to achieve seamless and smooth transmission of gears made of cast iron.

Engineers at the Mercedes-Benz Automobile Factory have been trying for more than half a year, but the experimental results have been unsatisfactory.

The Muller and Pentax brothers came to Karl Benz every two days to discuss motorcycle engine problems.

The brothers were bewitched by Boss Shi and favored aluminum engines.

They believe that aluminum engines are lightweight and transfer heat quickly.

It will be an epoch-making breakthrough when used on motorcycles or the aircraft described by Boss Shi.

Therefore, they were very focused on the research of aluminum alloys. After the two brothers got rich, they also established an aluminum alloy laboratory in the machinery factory.

At present, they have explored a hard alloy that is mixed with copper and manganese elements. This aluminum alloy is twice as hard as pure aluminum and has been successfully used in the doors and roofs of Mercedes-Benz cars.

But this intensity is not enough to build an engine, and the Muller brothers have to continue working hard.

In addition to presiding over research and development work, Karl Benz's current work also focuses on how to better improve the Model T.

According to Boss Shi's guidance, their research and development on new engines has not fallen behind. Today, the latest engine has increased the power to 20 horsepower.

The biggest contributor to the new engine is undoubtedly Boss Shi. Without Boss Shi's help, he would probably still be working on how to make his gasoline engine work properly.

But everything changed. He became a celebrity in Germany, and Mercedes-Benz became an instant hit.

From last year to now, the Mercedes-Benz automobile factory has sold more than 2000 Model T cars. Although the profit is not much, the reputation of Mercedes-Benz automobiles is getting better and better.

Boss Shi said that as long as the price of the Model T is reduced to 100 pounds, then all the streets in Germany will be filled with Mercedes-Benz cars.

When thinking about that day coming, Carl Benz's heart is full of motivation.

As for the Harley-Davidson motorcycles from Henry Traffic Machinery Factory, they are very popular. Although they were launched later than Mercedes-Benz, sales have reached more than 5000 units.

This new form of transportation with simple structure and fast speed directly set off a trend in Europe.

The brothers Muller and Seid have become idols in the hearts of young people in Europe. Their brothers' supporters have established a school in Germany called the "Muller School".

The purpose of this school of thought is to study new motorcycles and how to make motorcycles faster and more practical.

In addition, the tricycle launched by Henry Transportation Machinery Factory became more popular. People loved this kind of cargo-carrying vehicle with large cargo capacity and solid leather.

At present, there are two models of this kind of car, one is manually pedaled, and the other is equipped with an internal combustion engine.

Both models have their own markets and are very popular.

Take a walk outside and you can see the Henry Brothers bicycles, Harley motorcycles, or Mercedes-Benz cars they produce anytime and anywhere.

The boss behind these three eye-catching and extremely practical passenger and cargo transportation machines is Boss Shi, an Oriental.

He has quietly controlled all the transportation machinery in the world. He is really a dangerous man who people have to respect!

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  (End of this chapter)