- Title
- Reconstructing the Detailed Proportions of Archaeological Iron Anchors
- Creator
- Melchers, Robert E.
- Relation
- ARC.DP140103388 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP140103388
- Relation
- Journal of Maritime Archaeology Vol. 16, Issue 4, p. 477-492
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11457-021-09313-0
- Publisher
- Springer
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2021
- Description
- Wrought iron anchors recovered from archaeological sites invariably show signs of considerable corrosion loss. This affects cross-sectional dimensions and in turn particularly the bending and shear strength of anchor arms and lower part of the shanks and also the original potential holding power of the anchor. To assist in estimating such loss of strength, herein the amount of corrosion loss for long-term exposures is used to obtain estimates of the critical original cross-sectional sizes for some 40 calcareous encrusted anchors recovered from archaeological sites. From these, the ratio of critical size to arm span of anchors is estimated. This ratio is then considered as an indicator of the historical development of anchors, from the early Roman period to the mid-1800s. The results are compared to the (narrow) range of the proportions of Old Plan Admiralty Long-Shank anchors as derived from the dimensions for 6 sheet anchors published in the literature. The results permit estimation of the original critical dimensions of iron anchors after they have corroded for a specific period of time under calcareous conditions and known average temperature.
- Subject
- anchors; iron; corrosion; proportions; strength
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1450639
- Identifier
- uon:43992
- Identifier
- ISSN:1557-2285
- Language
- eng
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