What are the characteristics of the hull structure design of Zheng He's treasure ship?

To build a giant seagoing ship, we must successfully solve the problems of anti-sinking and stability. According to the traditional experience of predecessors, the designer of Zheng He's treasure ship increased the hull width to 56 meters, thus avoiding the danger of fracture because the hull was too narrow to withstand the impact of Indian Ocean waves.

This kind of hull structure design is quite reasonable. In order to ensure the transverse strength up to 56 meters wide, enhance the sinking resistance and stability of the ship, and enhance the pressure bearing capacity of pitching, watertight bulkheads are adopted in the cabin, which are well connected and closely combined with the ship's ribs, thus solving the connection problem between plates and longitudinal structures.

According to the scale of treasure ships and the study of hull strength theory, some modern scholars have calculated that the thickness of the bottom plate and deck of the ship is about 340 mm and 380 mm respectively in order to bear the total longitudinal bending moment. This is an amazing conclusion! However, this is a living historical fact. It tells people that only by building a huge ship with a length of 138 meters and a width of 56 meters with such thick plates can the hull strength be guaranteed.

Shipbuilding technology in Ming Dynasty made great progress on the basis of Song and Yuan Dynasties. The Song ship unearthed in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, was strengthened by tenon joint, nail and glue filling in the cracks of the ship plate to ensure the firmness and watertightness of the ship. This advanced shipbuilding technology in Song Dynasty is bound to be inherited by the shipbuilders during Zheng He's voyage to the West and developed to a certain extent.