Zimmerit: on the purpose of corrugated armor on German tanks

In 1943, the active use of the so-called zimmerite began in German armored units. It is often referred to as corrugated armor. For what purposes exactly was this kind of armor used by the Germans?

Zimmerite is a special coating, which was originally created on the basis of barium sulfate and movilite 20 (movilite 20 is a substance with polyvinyl acetate). It was intended to protect Tanks and other armored vehicles, including self-propelled artillery pieces, from magnetic mines.

Despite the fact that mainly magnetic mines were used against ships, and in the ground forces, their use during the Second World War was carried out quite actively, including by the Germans themselves. To prevent the installation of a magnetic mine on the tank, which could destroy it, the German developers created the very corrugated armor based on barium sulfate.

Zimmerite could be applied both at the factory after the production of the tank, and in repair shops and workshops. He represented a paste, which was applied in two layers at a certain time interval to the armor of tanks and self-propelled guns. To make the zimmerite harden faster, blowtorches were used.

How such mine protection worked, where it was used and how effective it was, is described in the story on the Pravda Zhizni channel:

Comments

[svp67]

And thank God that the "gloomy genius" of the Germans was not up to par here ... money and efforts wasted on this "putty" could have gone to the construction of weapons ...

[WHAT IS]

Why, with the main purpose of the zimmerite, coped well, the British and Americans themselves were concerned about the issue of protection from magnetic mines-turtles on the Pacific TVD, where the Japanese threw themselves at tanks with mines, sticks, cans. There they came to wooden screens on the tanks. By the way, the Germans also had something to fear: the British developed a magnetic sea mine, which the British saboteurs strove to attach to the bottom of the ship they did not like. They also developed a land anti-tank version, but it did not really take root in the troops just because the Germans were in a hurry with zimmerite in time And also zimmerite turned out to be an excellent camouflage. When the technique with the applied zimmerite coating came to ours and the British, then everyone at first thought that it was such a cunning disguise.
Field Marshal Montgomery said:

“We need a satisfactory camouflage that will eliminate all reflections and reflections from the armor. We have to produce 'plaster' like German zimmerite and apply it to all tanks in the future. "

In 1944, the British even carried out a series of experiments, gluing (!) Ribbed rubber-like material on their tanks. And when they got the German reserves of zimmerite, they turned around in full force and smeared it on everything - "churchillies", "cromwelles", self-propelled guns and even cannon shields.

[svp67]

Quote: WHAT IS

They also developed a ground anti-tank version, but it did not really take root in the troops just because the Germans fussed in time with the zimmerite in time.

Best defense against an infantryman with a magnetic mine - an infantry squad interacting with a tank

Quote: WHAT IS

We need a satisfactory camouflage that will eliminate all reflections and reflections from the armor.

And only the Russians thought of adding sand to the paint

[tihonmarine]

Quote: svp67

And only the Russians thought of adding sand to the paint

And they created "Kuzbass lacquer" - a mixture of drying oil and coal dust.

[Lech from Android.]

The Germans themselves actively used magnetic anti-tank weapons. Our soldiers mainly used anti-tank grenades and ingenuity.

[knn54]

Lech, to the point.
Not we, not the allies, did not show interest in anti-tank cumulative mines, Therefore, a year later, the Germans abandoned the zimmerite coating.
Besides:
- the composition turned out to be quite expensive,
- application / update took a lot of time .;
- Zimmerite could have contributed to the ignition of the machine.

[TAMBU]

Despite the fact that mainly magnetic mines were used against ships, and in the ground forces, their use during the Second World War was carried out quite actively, including by the Germans themselves.

As far as I heard ... neither the British nor the Soviet ground forces had such mines in marketable quantities ... the latter from the word at all ... tell me where you can see the documents on this matter ...

[Dkuznecov]

Will not protect against sticky mines.

[Vladimir_2U]

Quote: DKuznecov

Will not protect against sticky mines.

English and not particularly sticky and was frankly weak, it was a pound of explosives against "Cardin-Lloyd" of some kind.

[Captain45]

Quote: DKuznecov

Will not protect against sticky mines.

You mean a sock with explosives smeared with grease, as shown in some Hollywood "victorious" action movie? They blew up all the tanks in the film with such socks, although I have a strong suspicion that the tankers simply could not stand the stench of unwashed socks

[Cat]

Hmm ... What versions have not been invented about zimmerite - and disguise, and thermal insulation, and anti-corrosion coating, and even anti-cumulative protection

[Vladimir_2U]

Quote: Gato

What versions have not been invented about zimmerite - and camouflage, and thermal insulation, and anti-corrosion coating, and even anti-cumulative protection

And finally, it's just beautiful!

[Cat]

And finally, it's just beautiful!

All jokes, but on the angular German tanks it looked brutal. But, as in my aesthetic preferences, the same IS-2 (not to mention the IS-3) and without zimmerite looked meeh ... more impressive. Especially close and on the move with a huge cannon sticking out chauvinistically forward .

[bubalik]

The Germans themselves invented the disease, and they themselves "cured" it

[your1970]

The dough cut existed always and everywhere ...

[Kars]

Appointment)) torment for modelers)

[Insurgent]

Quote: Kars

Appointment)) torment for modelers)

Isn't the process of creativity in "torment"?

[Kars]

Not really, at least someone might like it.

[Undecim]

Zimmerite is a special coating, which was originally created on the basis of barium sulfate and movilite 20
40% barium sulfate - BaSO 4
25% polyvinyl acetate - PVA (analogue of wood glue)
15% pigment (ocher)
10% zinc sulfide - ZnS
10% sawdust

[Insurgent]

Quote: Undecim

25% polyvinyl acetate - PVA (analogue of wood glue)

Even in terms of properties and characteristics, it is far from analogous. And even more so in terms of composition.

Carpentry glue ("animal glue (glutin glue)") is a protein glue made from skins, bones, tendons and ligaments of animals, sturgeon chord.

"PVA " - PVA glue (polyvinyl acetate) - dispersion of polyvinyl acetate in water (emulsion). The vinyl acetate compound was patented by German chemists in 1912 and immediately found widespread use. A little later, the entrepreneur Farben set up the production of polyvinyl acetate on a small industrial scale.
For the first time, a large-scale production of PVA was later organized in 1937. It happened in Monsanto (USA).

[garri-lin]

I think you are wrong. Joiner's glue is a common name for a wide variety of adhesives. Such as: casein, Mezdrovy, Bone, PVA, and a few more. Plus the animal based glue can be mixed. Thus, PVA is one of the Joiner's Adhesives.

[Insurgent]

Quote: garri-lin

Thus, PVA is one of the Joiner's Adhesives.

In the same way, he is one of the "Stationery Glues", and what, shall we consider it an analogue of "Office", silicate glue?

[garri-lin]

I'm talking about the meaning of terms.

[Insurgent]

Quote: garri-lin

I'm talking about the meaning of terms.

So term just, and there is a key point.

You never know where PVA is used? For example, in construction, for the preparation of building mixtures ... Along with "liquid glass", all the same "office glue".
Both are used as modifiers of these mixtures, but both "adhesives" (single term), can we say that they analogues , in view of the completely different properties of the solutions obtained with their use?

[garri-lin]

Generally speaking, no. But knowing what specific substance we are talking about, it is quite acceptable to call it "Joiner's glue". I think it was implied that the substance used to make zimerite was similar to that used in carpentry.

[Undecim]

I think that the implication was that the substance used to make zimerite was similar to that used in carpentry.
Check out my comment below. It was the same substance.

[Undecim]

Quote: Insurgent

Even in terms of properties and characteristics, it is far from analogous. And even more so in terms of composition.

An analogue of a technical solution is a means of the same purpose, close to it up to a set of essential features.
Signs are considered significant if they affect the possibility of obtaining a technical result,

[Profiler]

Quote: Undecim

An analogue of a technical solution is a means of the same purpose, close to it up to a set of essential features.
Signs are considered significant if they affect the possibility of obtaining a technical result,

No matter how much I am not a chemist or a technologist, I know that wood glue and PVA are not the same thing.
And to call them analogs is the height of absurdity, so much their characteristics and physical properties, not to mention the adhesive, are different.
Instead of continuing to bend your line, knowingly losing, you would be more honest to admit that you were wrong.

Learn to admit your own mistakes in life, this trait will save you from many problems.

This is the advice of a psychologist.

[Undecim]

This is the advice of a psychologist.
As a psychologist, ask colleagues to diagnose you for cognitive impairments. This will save you from awkward situations with inferences in matters that you, to put it mildly, do not understand.

In the recipe, the second line - White carpenter's glue - is white carpenter's glue. In English, this is the name for PVA glue, developed in 1912 by the German chemist Fritz Klatt.
"Polyvinyl acetate (PVA, PVAc, poly (ethenyl ethanoate)), commonly known as wood glue, white glue, carpenter's glue, school glue, or Elmer's glue in the US, is a widely available adhesive used for porous materials like wood, paper, and cloth. "
This is from Murray, GT, Handbook of materials selection for engineering applications.
And the glue you are talking about is called animal glue in English.
I hope that you will find the meaning of the word "analogue" in relation to inventions yourself, which will broaden your erudition.
Do you have any questions, mister psychologist?

[Undecim]

Judging by the lack of questions and disadvantages, the psychologist has no questions. It is gratifying, we will consider the topic closed.

[Silinvv]

This did not save them in the Second World War, as no innovations are grazing now.

[EEE226]

I wonder if there are statistics on how many of our tanks were damaged by these "Hafthohlladung-3"? Maybe you shouldn't have fenced in a garden? Something I can't believe somehow in German kamikaze! After all, it would be necessary to get out of the shelter, catch up with the tank, attach a mine in the right place, and even when our own and others are shooting. Wouldn't it be easier to let the tank pass over you and throw a grenade or Molotov cocktail on the engine compartment?

[your1970]

Quote: EEE226

Molotov cocktail in the engine compartment?

AND? There, even before the war, everything had already been done to avoid a fire in this situation. With the same result, it was possible to smash it on the ground in front of the tank ...

[EEE226]

Something was done, but not done: "In total, during the Great Patriotic War, with the help of bottles with incendiary liquid, according to official data, 2429 tanks, self-propelled guns and armored personnel carriers, 1189 pillboxes, 2547 other fortified structures, 739 vehicles and 65 warehouses ".

[zazagax]

The presence of a barium compound is interesting here, its effectiveness for radiation protection is known. Perhaps they were preparing for a nuclear war. It looks like nonsense, but still interesting.