Treatment of the Gun Carriage is continuing at the ARC-NUCLEART facility in Grenoble, France, using a process devised specifically to dry and consolidate waterlogged wood. The treatment is in two stages, described below.
• Stage One : Impregnation. The water in the wood is replaced by a solvent in a succession of baths. Once this procedure is complete the same process is carried out to replace the solvent with the resin that is actually used to preserve the wood.
• Stage Two : Resin Hardening. Once the wood is fully saturated, the resin is hardened by exposing it to Gamma Radiation.
Acetone
H2O
STAGE TWO
Stage two is the encouragement of polymerisation, turning the Styrene-Polyester with which the wood has been saturated into polystyrene.
With the carriage impregnated with styrene-polyester resin, it is then placed into a shielded cell and exposed to a Cobalt 60 radiation source. This acts as a catalyst allowing the Styrene to bond with the reactive parts of the Polyester, forming a strong 3-Dimensional structure that is both rigid and waterproof.
With the water in the wood replaced by polystyrene in this way the carriage will be protected and preserved, however there will be minor physical alterations as a side effect.
Firstly the carriage will suffer a small amount of shrinkage (approximately 7%); and secondly
- A - B - A - B - A - B - A -
A representation of the Polyester Molecule.
Reactive parts of the molecule are marked “B”.
Reactive parts of the molecule are marked “B”.
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S S S
- A - B - A - B - A - B - A -
Polyester chains cross-linked by Styrene molecules.
The Styrene molecules are marked “S”.
The Styrene molecules are marked “S”.
Project Seahorse :
The Stirling Castle
Demi-Cannon
The Stirling Castle
Demi-
