MARCH
8, 1940
-
221
THE ENGINEER
-
A Seven-Day Journal
Machine Tool Trades Association
ON Thursdny, February 29th, the Machine Tool
TradE's Association h<.>ld a luncheon at G rosvenor
H ouse, L ondon. This function took the place of the
dinner that th<' Association usually holds at this time
of •year. Mr. H arold Butler, President of the Association, took the chair. After the loyal toasts of " The
King" and " The Pr·<'sident of tho French Republic"
had been honourE-d , Mr. But.l<'r proposed the t.oa.st of
" H is Maj('sty's <:ovE:>rnm<•nt and the success of t.h<'
AlliC's." A f<'w of his r<•marks werC' made in Fr·cnch
in acknowl<'dgm<'nt of tlw pr<>sc<>nee of n number· of
French gu<>sts. H e m<•ntionod that t he Association
had. during t h<> pr<•vious w<•ck. dis<·uss<>d with thE'
Prench matters <tfl'<>cting tlw ]JI'Ocluc·t ion of machinE'
tools in both countr·ics, and that the French were
experien cing the sam e conditions as it was. One of
the troubles was the " labour bottleneck." H e
a s ured Mr. Burgin, Minister of upply, ·wh o was the
principal guest of the Association, that the members
were determined to tackle their problems resolutely.
In reply, l\Ir. Burgin said that the war was one of
machines and material. There were 2000 different
types of machine tools and 35,000 persons employed
in the machine tool trade. Would that the number
could be multiplied ! T o that object their efforts
must be directed. H e had received a letter from his
opposite number in France, M. Dautry, expressing
appreciation of the visit of the president of the Association and his colleagues. After r eferring to the extent
of modernisation that was necessary to economise
labour, and to the dcvolopment of machine tools
simpler to operate, he thanked the industry for its
efforts in that direction. Many countries made
machine tools. In terms of cost those from the
United States wore between 1! and 2! times as
expensive as British machines.
H e assured the
Association that the expansion of the industry would
make its hold on the home market more secure.
ir
Alfred H erbert then prop osed the toast of " The
President," remarking that, at a meeting held before
the lunch, he had consented to retain that position for
an unspecified p eriod, probably the duration of the
war. H e also pointed out that productivity could
be greatly increased by working night shifts. It
was a sad fact that one half of our m achining capacity
was lying idle at the present time. Mr. Butler
replied in suitable terms.
The
Lar~est
Am erican Liners
particulars a re now available concerniug
the two liners for the Pacific service between San
Francisco and the Orient, for which the United States
Maritime Commission has recently invited t end ers,
which are to be opened on Tuesday, May 17th. The
ships, whi<'h will be the largest ever built in the United
States, it is Wlderstood. are to be constructed in s uch
a way that, in an emergen cy they can be quickly
converted into aircraft-carriers. The principal hull
dimensions and m achinery particulars a re as follows :
length 759ft., beam on water-line 98·2ft., with a
d esigned displacement of 35,500 tons, and speed of 24
knots. The s hips are to be d esigned for about 1000
passengers, with a p ersonnel of about 500. The
space available for cargo is to be about 535,000
bale cubic feet. The hulls a re to have a curved
raked stem , a cruiEer stern, and a long bridge h ouse.
There will be five complete steel d ecks in addition
to the promenade, boat, and s tm-decks. The sub division of the hull will include fourteen main watertight t ransverse bulkheads with additional nil and
watertight bulkhE-ad s. The pa senger quarters
arranged on the boat, promE-nadE', main, a nd '' A " to
" D " d ecks, will be in ac·cor·dance with thE' latest
practice, and will include ai r· conditioning for t.he
cabin and tour·ist ttccommodation and the diningrooms. An Pfficien t fire d etection ::;ystem
is to be
•
provided. The pr·opelling machinPry will comprisE>
a twin-screw ~:u·r·angem<'nt of t,riple-E'xpansion tm·bines
with double - rc>duction gear·ing, taking stc>am fr·om
modern water·tube boilers. The machinery is to be
arranged in two separate compartments, in such a
way that damage to ono compartment will not
necessari ly involve the flooding of the other.
FuRTR.ER
The Women 's
En~ineerin~
Society
THE twenty-first armiversary of the foundation of
the \Vomen's Engineering , ociety was celebrated on
Monday, March 4th, by a luncheon at the Park Lane
H otel, London, with Mi.J s Caroline H aslett, President
of the society, in the chair. In prop osin g the toast to
the society, the Right Hon. Ernest Brown, Minister
of Labour and National ervice, spoke of the place
that women could fill in industry to a.c;sist in achieving
the coWltry's maximum effort. In t h e last twenty
years, he said, there has b een a growing acceptance
of women's place in industry, and the demand for their
services in various directions was bound to continue.
A matter of importance at present was the expansion
of the engineering industry to meet war demands and
to maintain and increase our export trade, and
conversations were proceeding on both sides of the
industry on matters of labour and national service.
I t wa..:; not possible at the present stage t o anticipate
the outcome of those conversations, but the Minis ter
expressed his gratitude for the manner in which both
sides of the engineering ind ustry were showing their
readiness to tackle the problems of expansion. The
Oovcmmont's progr·amme was a v ery big one, and
it was eonfidently ox pccted that men a.nd women
suit.able and avai la ble for employment would bP.
r<'quir<•d in numbc>r's far in excess of those of th ~
present unPmpl oycd. Jn responding to the toast.
Miss H a!-!lett r·<'viPwed t.l1<' g r·owth o f the sociE-t y, a nd
s poke of its <'rHlPavours to nssist the <>ngineering
indlLStric>s. Other spNtkers WfWO thr- Dowager Lady
, 'wayth ling, president of th<' E lectrical A<> ociation
for womc>n, Miss Paulin<' <:ower, and Miss Monica
Mauricc.
Railway
Workin~
in War Time
IN the course of his address at the annual general
m eeting of the Great W estern Railway Company,
held on February 28th, the Right Hon. Viscount
H orne, chairman of the company, who presided, reviewed the activities of the Great W estern system
under war time conditions. H e suggested that in
playing their part in the m echanism of war the stockholders already deserved well of the nation. If the
stockholders had insisted upon dividend s rather than
a high standard of maintenance and ren ewals, the
Gover·nment would now have been faced with the
necessity of large expenditure- for without efficient
railways, the war could not be fought. Happily, it
s tands, he said , to the credit of the British railways
that they compare in efficiency with any other
railways in the world, for they had been maintained
in a condition which render them adequate to the
needs of the nation in war. Referring to the effects
of war conditions on the s taff, he said that he could
not speak too highly of the magnificent efforts made
by all grades. , ince the war began over 3500 special
t rains had been run over the system for the conveyance of troops and munitions and in addition
t here had been large increases in goods traffic. The
lighting restrictions seriously reduced the working
efficiency at s tations, goods s heds, and marshalling
yards, in some cases by as much a 30 per cent. Mter
overcoming those initial difficulties consid erable
improvement in passenger· services had been made.
H e went on to say that in this time of anxiety and
uncertainty it would be imprudent to predict anything with regard to the future. But it was p ossible
to mention one factor which- unless the world was
entirely changed after the war-would gi~ hope for
increased activity on the Great W estern Railway.
During the last three years there had been 239 n ew
industria l and commercial undertakings establish ed
on the system , embraci ng a large variety of businesses.
But nothing would ever be s uccessful or prosperous
in this country unless we seized victory from the
grim struggle upon which we had entered.
Institution of Structural
En~ineers
four hundred m embers and guests were
present at the annual dinner of the Institution of
tructural Engineers which was held in L ondon at
the Dorchester Hotel on Friday, March 1s t. The
toast of the Institution and its president, Mr. Percy J.
Black, was pr·oposed by the Parliamentary ecretary
to the Minis tr·y of , upply, Colonel J. J. Llewellin,
who dc>alt mainly with the work of his d epartment
as concemed with structural engineering. H e
pointed out tha t the two principal sid es of the
Ministry's wor·k were to erect and equip ordnance
factori es, and to see t.hat the raw materials of indus try
were adequately provided. In his remarks r·egarding
the second of thesE'. C.:olonel Llewellin said that an
econ omy committee> had been set up to inves tigate
the possibility of any savings which might be made
on the various d epartmental specifications particuarly
with regard to timber and steel. Factories for the
Ministry which h ad hitherto been built through the
Office of Works were now being constructed by private
contractors, and the speaker said that the cooperation which existed between the ar chitects and
constructional cngineerR in this work was particularly
encouraging. He> concluded b y saying that, although
the present trend of events was more towards
destruction than con truction, h e hoped that the
great constructive effort of the Institution would
steadily progress. In replying to the toast, l\fr. Black
said that the dinner, held at s uch a time, was symbolic
of the optimism of the structural engineer, and
although the Institution was comparatively young
it was very virile. He reminded his listeners that
b efore the war building was one of the most beneficial
industries to this cowttry, and it had reached a high
level of efficiency owing to the co-operation of all
branches. lt was on e of the few industries which
had had but little State subsidy or assistance. In his
N EARLY
opinion it wM in the public interest that the Governm ent s hould make an effort to set to work the
number of branches at present halted owing to their
work not being of immediate national importance ,
because if the co-operative s pirit that had been built
up was allowed to break down it would be to the
d etriment of the country when p eace was declared.
The health of the gues ts was proposed by Mr. M. B.
Buxton, vicP- prN;ident of the Ins titution , and
respondod to by Sir· Clement D. M. Hindley, thf>
pr·c>siclc>nt of t.lw f nstit,ution of Civil Engineers.
The Unemployment Returns
•
'l'tH~
tot,ttl uumlwr of unemployed on the registers
on Ft>bnra ry 12th, 1940, was 1,504, 100, made up of
1,1 41 ,5:38 wholly unemployed, 315,072 temporarily
stopped, and 4 7,670 normally in casual employment.
There was a drop, relative to the previous month, of
80, 145 in the number wholly Wlemployed and
normally in casual employment. But this decrease
was largely offset by an increase of 65,349 in the
number of those temporarily s topped, being a n et
reduction of only 14,796. As compared with the
previous month there were increases in the number
of unemployed in agriculture, coal-mining, building,
iron and steel, public works contracting, tinplate
manufacture, s hipbuilding and repairing. Among
the engineering trades, only motor-v ehicles, cycles,
and aircraft r ecorded a d ecrease. When the comparison is made with February 1939, however, it is found
t hat heavy decreases in unemployment are recorded
in practically a ll trades, with the notable exception of
building. The increases in the numbers unemployed
relative to the previous month can be traced, it is con sidered almost wholly to the weather conditions at the
time when tho count was taken. The effect of long
continued fros t and s now had, of course, a marked
effect on outdoor employment and employment in
other trades was influenced by the partial dislocation
of t ransport and the consequent difficulty of ensur·ing
d eliveries of essential materials. During the fortnight following the date of the count, the continuance
of better weather enabled much of the dislocation to
be remedied. There was certainly a large drop in
the number of lmemployed, and the reduction is
<'Sti matcd to amount to about 200,000.
The Financial Basis of
Shippin~
ON Thu1-sday, F ebruary 29th, Sir Philip Halclin,
in his presidential address to the annual meeting of
the Chamber of Shipping of the United K ingdom,
emphasised the n eed to put British shipping on a
sound financial basis now, so that it can accumulate
adequate reserves t o r eplace losses and to p repare
for intensified competition after the war. H e
pointed out that a day lost in waiting or in loading
or dischal'ge of cargo was a clay given to the enemy.
The s uccess of the requ isition policy, he said, would
d ep end in great measure upon the Government
relying on the incentive of the shipowners and
on their experience. Satisfactory charter conditions
had b een secured in the prolonged negotiations with
the Government, and he hoped that the industry
would secure rates of hire which would be adequate
for expenses, a fair return on capital, and something
towards re erves. If at the end of the war the
industry was left with depleted resources to meet
increased foreign competition, there would be no
alternative to subsidising it on a scale far in excess
of the a.<>sistance recently offered. Otherwise our
mercantile ma1·inC' would sink to the level of a thirdrate powe1·. The Government'::; proposed scheme
to provide ins urance for vessels lost by war casualty
was being t'Onsidered by the industry. The replacement problem , however, was not confined to war
losses, which might prove to be the s m allest part of it.
Tht> essence of the problem was to find means of
building MW ships for· old, of replacing ships lost by
mar·ino accident, and of obtaining fresh capital.
1n s upport, Lord E ssendon stated that the Britis h
~hipping Assistan ce Bill never became law b ecause
of the war. The proposal for grants was suspended,
but h e felt s ure that the Government ·would implement
their p romise, because it was an undoubted fact that
had it not been for those proposals about 1,000,000
gross tons of orders placed last spring would never
have been contracted for. That tonnage was now
rapidly approaching completion, and would b e of the
greatest possible value to the country. The cost of
building had already increased by 50 p er cent. in
the last few months, and at the higher cost of replacement the existing d epreciation reserves would be
hopelessly inadeq uate. The meeting took place for
the first time in the new h ome of the Chamber, at
Bury Court, ,'t. Mary Axe, L ondon, E.C.3. Amongst
the r<'solutions passed was one placing on record the
appreciation and thanks of the Chamber to ir
Vern.on Thomson for tho service he had rendered
to the indus try in ins tigating and bringing to a
s uccessful completion the building of the Chamber's
n<'w homo.
E
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222
THE ENG£NEER
Heavy Passenger Engines, South
African RailW"ay s
By K C. POULTNgY, M. Inst. Loco. E.
ro
pla te. At the fire-box end they a re set in thin
copper sleeves, and t hen expanded a nd prossQrcd,
a nd fina lly beaded over and electrically welded.
The ratio of tubo bore to leng th is 1 to 119. The
net gas area through the boiler measured a t the
fu ll internal diameters of both tubes a nd flu es is
General DimeMio1111, 1feight~. attd Proportiorts of th e S. A .R .
8- 2 'l'ype Lowmotive, ClaiJB " 23."
.. ...
No. I
meet a demand for locomotives of g reat er
pow<w, required especially t o work t he im portant through passenger services over the
main line between Uapo 'T'own a.nd J ohannesburg,
l:lome largo 4- 8- 2 t y pe cngi nos have recently been
placed in traffic, built to the designs of Mr.
W . A . J . Day, Chief Mecha ni cal Engineer of the
outh African R ailways Administration . Thoug h
officially designated as heavy pa enger locomotives, they a re intended to be <' qually suitable
for handling both passenger and freight trains,
a nd in many respects con::;t itute a n outst anding
design, both as regards size a nd pot ential power
output, especially so when tho rail gauge of 3ft. 6in.
is t aken into consideration.
The object of t his arti cle* i ~; t o d escribe t hese
remarkable locomotives. B efore doing so, however,
a brief reference will be mad e t o others of tho same
general type, introduced during the last few years
as part of a programme having fo r its purpose the
provision of powerful locomotives of modern design
required t o handle the traffic economically, and t o
t ake t he place of older and smaller engines. F or
some few years past the ' .A. R ailway Administration has been g iving considerable attention to
the improvement of the main lines, a nd to this end
realignment of t he track t o reduce curvature a nd
a lso a certain amount of gradient elimina tion has
been undertaken, while a t the same time a departmenta lly designed 96 lb . rail has been adopted a s
::;tandard in place of t he B .•'X 80 lb . rails formerly
employed. This cha nge in conjunction with st eel
:;leepers a nd adequate a nd well -ma intained ballast
has g reatly improved the road . With these improvements, heavier a nd more powerfu l locomotives have been made po:;siblo, resu lting in the
construction in 1935 of sorne la rge 4-8- 2 and
4-6- 2 ma in line engines, the former by R. 'tephenson and Co., Ltd., Da rling ton (now Stephenson
a nd H awthorns, L td.), and H enschel und , 'ohn,
Cassel, Germa ny. Both types represented a con:;iderable advance in size a nd power over those in
genera l service at that time, and in severa l features
wrre alike. The cylinders, 24in. by 28in., were
common t o both, and generally the boilers were the
same, except that in the case of the " P acifi c "
type the length of the barrel section was somewhat shorter . F or th o eig ht -coupled design t he
driving wheels had a diameter of 5ft., while for
t he 4-6- 2 engines the coupled wheel:; had a diameter of 6ft., the largest ever used on the 'outh
African R ailways. Those locomotive:; are classified
" 15 E " and " 16 E ," a nd twenty of t he former
were built a nd six of t he la tter. No more of
tho " P acifi es " were ordered , but a further Jot
of the class " 15 E " were construct ed by
Henschels, a nd a ls:> by t he Berliner Maschinenbau
A.G. Vormals L . Schwartzkopft, B erlin. Both of
t hese firm s between t hem recently furnished
a further twenty-one locomotives of the same
design a nd t y pe, in certain respects slightly
modi fied , principally by having Wa lschaorts
motion in place of poppet valve gear. They
are known as class " J5 Ji'." I n addition , fortyfour of these engines were built by t he North
Britil;h L ocomotive Company, Ltd., during 1938
and 1939. Except for slight differences in det ail ,
the boiler a dopted for th e 4-8- 2 ty pe engines is of
a standard pattern , and is, in fact, applicable t o a ll
t he new 4-8- 2 locomotives, including the latest
desig n, class " 23," formin g the main subject of
t his a rticle. Furt her, in the sta nda rdi ation of
other parts, including the cylinder castings, as
well as other of the principa l d etails of construction, the newest locomotive:; follow closely those
previously mentioned.
These new engines were dc::;igned in 1936, a nd
subsequently orders wore placed with H enschel
und 'ohn and the Berliner Maschinenbau A.G. fo r
t hirt een and seven respecti vely, both these contracts being la ter extended by a total of one hundred
und sixteen engines, eighty-five t o be built by Hen:;choh; and thirty-one by the Berliner l\1a schinenbau
A.G. All are a like, though slig ht d eta il cha nges
have been made, a nd the following description
applies more particularly to those built by the
•1)ro11ont.ed by permissio n o f Mr. T . 11. Wate rmoyer, <.:enon\1
Mn.nagor , and Mr. W . A. J . Day, AKMis tant. General ~lantlgor,
T .,chnical, South Afri can Railways and H arbours.
Berliner Maschinenba u, being those with which
the writer is moHt intimately conversant. While,
as a lready menti oned, th e new locomoti ve:; follow
in genera l desig u the prov iow; 4-8- 2 classes, and
more parti cula rly the " I !) F " series, th ey aro
distinguished from t.lw form er by having larger
coupled wheels of 5ft. 3in. dia meter t o fit t hem for
higher s peeds, a nd t o c·ombin(' as far aR possible
the running characteristic·:; of t he six-coupled a nd
<·ight-eoupled ty pes, a nd thus provide a locomotive which would be equally :;uita ble for all scctionl-.1
of t he main line. Furth <'r, to render the design
generally more suitable, both from an opera ting
standpoint and the d evelopment of a higher susta.incd power output, large-capacity t enders have
boon ad opted a nd mecha nical stokers provided.
The class " 2:1 " is th o la rgest non-articula ted ty pe
of locomotive •vet bui lt for the 'outh African R ai lways, the weight in working order of the engine only
bei ng no less than 111 t ons, whilst t he t ender is
the largest so far placed in service ; the water
capacity is 9500 gallons, and there is s p~tce for
18 t ons of coal. When loaded, the waight is 107 tons,
giving a t otal locomotive weight of 218 long t ons.
Tho use of these high-capacity t enders will in
certain circumstances ena ble stopping for water t o
be avoided , a nd , furth er, provide the required fu el
and water supplies necessary when working at the
high rates of power output mad e possible by the
mecha nical st oker. The cylinders a re of the same
size as t hose previously employed , namely, 24in.
by 2 in., a nd in order t o maintain the same
maxi mu m rat ed tracti ve effort with the la rger
wheelH the boiler working pressure has been
in creased t o 225 lb. per :;qu<tre inch , as agai nst th e
210 lb. previously used. It may here be mentioned th at 24in. cylinders a rc t he largest permissible with the exil:lting load gauge. However,
it is con:;idered that t he provision of the mecha.ni cn.l st oker will ena ble higher powers t o be obtained
while maintaining the standa rd boiler and the
24-in. by 2 in. cylindet·s.
A photograph and drawings reproduced in the
accompanying engravings illustrate the new locomotives, and their p rincipa l dimensions a re given
in the table below.
'l'HE B OILE R
Coming now t :> a more det a iled d escription of
t hese engines, t he boi ler first claims attention. It
i:; of t he rou nd-top radia lly st ayed ty pe, and t he
barrel section, whi ch is of t he usual t elescopic
de:;cl'iption, is made up of three courses, t he front
end hav ing an outside diameter of 6ft. 3~in .,
ta pered to 6ft. 4!in. a t the first circumferential
joint. The plates a re Vn. t hick, a nd inner and
outer butt st raps ,\in. a nd i in. thick are used for
t he longitudina l joints, which a re a lso welded for
a dista nce of a bout l 4in. from each end to ensure
tightness at the junction with t he circumferential
joints. The fire-box wrapper is in one -&in . pla t e,
a nd the back a nd throat plates a re -&in. a nd {~ i n .
t hick. The smoke- box tube pla te of 26; 30-ton
carbon :;teel is ~ in . t hick, and a fter being dished
iH tu rned outside round t he circumference, and
single-rivet ed into the front barrel course. The
circumferential la p joints are double riveted, and
for t he longitudinal butt joints the inner cover
straps are quadruple ri veted , a nd the outer straps
double rivet ed. The out:;ide fire-box wrapper
plat e is double riveted to the t hroat and back
plat el-.1. No longitudina l stay~ are used , but th e
l:lmoke- box tube pla te a nd the fire- box back plate
a rc well supported by g usset type staying. l 'fhe
boiler shell plates a nd the inner a nd outer b utt
straps a re of Thyssen 0 · 2 to 0 · 5 per cont . nickel
steel, having a tensile strength of from 29 t o 36
tons per squa re inch . A st eam dome is not provided, but a manhole is fitted on the rear barrel
course. Between t he tube pla t es the length is
22ft. 6in. There a re 136 tubes, st eel, solid
drawn , of outside diameter 2!.. in . and t hickne:;s
11 '. W.G. , and thirty-six flue t ubes, 5lin . outside
by f 6 in. thick . The tubes are swelled to 23in.
at the smoke-box end, and reduced to 2~in. where
t hey fit the fire- box t u be plate, and the flu es are
increased to 5-}tin . a t the front tube pla t e and
redu ced to 4 ijin. a t the fire-box end . The tubofi
and Hues are expanded into the smoke-box tube
8, 1940
MARCH
...
...
.•.
.. .
'l'ypo of locomotivo .. .
Rai l guuge... .. . .. .
Mini mum curvl:' radiu11
R oad class . .
. ..
Date built .
... ...
Ser vice
. .
...
...
•.
...
.. .
...
l:hul de rs
•
•
•
•
..•
0
.. .
South Africa n R oil.
ways
H enschol und Sohn
an d Berline r
Maschinonbau ,
German y
4 !! 2
.. .
...
•
.. .
:lft. 6111.
276ft.
.. 23 ..
1938- 1939
F ast. passenger and
fre ight
Hated tra ctlve <•fforl ('ngmes, 75 per
4 3,200 lb.
t't'OI.
Ih
r
111 1111iomt.
J l eigh t lo lop ol' chimney
H eight to cent re of boiler
Width overa ll .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .
Cylinder cent res
... ... ... .. .
T otal length over ongin o und t ender
buffo1· bottms .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .
;,~
ll'c.iglttiJ
•
4 .!
84
•
ll'orking Order.
Ou coupled wheels
On loading bogie
.. .
O n trailing bissel
Total eng ine
'render
. . . . . . . ..
•
Ft. Ill .
12 l i t
g 0
9 11
6 11
...
...
•
•
0
T. cwt.
.. .
.. .
•
72 I 2
21 0
17 16
111 8
107 6
ll'lleel BastJ/.
... .. .
Coupled wheels ... ... ...
T otal engine
T ender bogie .. . ... ..
T end er. total ...
Bng ine and tend er·, Lotal
. .. .
... ... .. . .. .
... ...
Wheel , Diameter
Cou pled wh eels .. .
Leading bogie .. .
Trailing bissel .. .
Tender bogie
.. .
.. .
• ••
•••
Oil
Tread.
F t. in .
5 3
...
•••
Ft. in.
16 6
37 0!
8 8
30 8
78 2t
• ••
2 10
2 10
2 10
Engi1te.
Cylinde rs, number , d iamott•r a nd
s t•·oke . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Vttlve gear, type
.. . ... .. .
VttlveR, piston typl', tlmrnottw.. .
Maximum t.mvol
.. . .. . ... .. .
l:lteam lap .. . . ..
Exhuust lap
Lea(l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Two, 24in. by 28w.
\\'alsc haorL
I 2in.
7!iu .
B oiler.
~loam pressure . . .
. . . . . . . . . . ..
l:lmallest inside diumet <>r ... .. .
La rgest outside diame te r ... .. .
F ire. box length at foundation ring ...
F ire· box width at foundati on ring ...
He ight, foundation ring to crown :
Bo.cl<
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
225
6ft.
6ft.
7ft.
8ft.
0 •
}""'r ont
. ..
.. .
. ..
•
. ..
•
••
.. .
. ..
Arch tubes, numbor u.n<l di a motor ...
Boiler tubos, number untl dium et.er·
sug:~:~~~~. ~u~. ~~~b.~~· ~~.~·.mb.~~ u.r~.~
D istance between t.ubo plutc11
lt"uel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stoker ... ...
.. . ...
Grate type
G rut o a ro11 ...
... ... ...
. ..
...
1 ~in .
Ni l
13/ o•in .
lb. per sq. inch
2tm .
7lin.
9 ft in.
5ft. ll kin.
7ft. l tin.
Five, 3in.
I :!6, 2A in.
36, 5!in .
22ft. 6in.
Coal
H T.! t y po. Stnntlnrd
Stoker Co.
Pinhole
62 · 5 sq. foot
lltal ill(l Surjac:e11.
Sq. foot .
...
Firo. box
... ...
Arch tubes
.. . .. . .. . .. .
Boi lo•· tubes
.. . .. . .. . .. .
S uperheater flue tubo11 ... .. .
l>uporh oa.t or olornont11
.. .
Combin ed evu.p . and su porht•at.
209 · 3
26·2
20 14
11 65
66 1
...
'l'endu.
\\'utor capacity
... . . ...
Fuel capacity .. . ... ... .. .
ll ogics
. . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Length over tendur buffer beum11 ...
\\' rdth of tender tank
... ... ...
4075 ·5
9500 gallOIII!
18 t ons
• ix.who<'l
:!1:1ft. 1:1,6, i 11 .
9ft. l l in.
11"tight ProportiolliJ.
\Vorght on coupled wheels weight.
ertgine
. ..
.. .
.. .
...
. ..
. ..
65 · 0 per ce nt.
\"{eight on co upled whools · 1rnct.ive
Ofl·ort
:l · 76 p er con t..
\-Voigh t. of eng ine .,. twn.po r·uLi,•o heat..
ing s urface ... . .. . .. . ..
7:1· 2 lb . per s q . ft.
Weight of C~ngine t·mu lmwd lwut iui{
Hlarforu . . . . . .
0.
• • •
• • •
• ••
Ill · 2 lb. per i!(J. ft.
•
•
•
•• 0
0 •
•
•
•
0
•
0 0
0 •
•
o
J:Joilu ProportiiJIUJ.
F1re. box and a rch tul)tl hc11ti ng surface . combined heat1n!( su rface ...
Flue an d tube ht:allng surllwo com.
bined heati ng twrftlt'~' . . .. . .. .
Superheater ~lom<•nt lwnting I!UI'fuco+comblnod hoM mg 11urface ...
Fire. box h eating sur·fuco 7 grato uron
Flue tubes h eati ng surface . grato
areo.
...
. ..
. ..
. ..
.. .
. ..
5 · 78 pe r c(lnl.
71! per Cl'fll.
I 6· 2 por con t .
3 · 35 per cont.
60 · 86 por cont.
10· 576 p or cont.
Superheat su rface ~ p;rMo urea
E vupo rative heati ng surface : grate
areu.
.. . .. . ... .
54 · 63 per cont..
Tractive effort grato...:.. a rea ... ... 691 · 21b. por HCJ. ft.
Tractive effort. 7 ovnporat•vo lwati ng
Rl!rfaco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 12 · 65 1b. p ers11. ft .
Tractive efTo r·t - combrnl'tl <'vnporn·
tivo and superheat surfuco .. . .. . 10·6lb. pl• rsq. ft.
0 •
•
•
•
•
••
1039 squa re inches, of which 4 · 19 square in ches,
or 47 per cent ., is through the flue tubes. The ratio
of t ota l gas area to grate a rea is 11 · 6 per cont.
The superheat er oornpri~o::~ thirty-six sets of
elements, l !in. outside diameter and 10 S.W .G.
•
MARCH
223
TH E EN G INEER
8, 1940
thick. They a re of the short loop type, having
integr ally forged return bendAand 11pherical 1Seatings
forged integra lly with t he pipes to make the jointH
with the header casting. The heating sur face of
the superheat er is 661 square feet, or 16 · 4 p er cE'nt.
ofthecombinedheatingMurfaceof4075Rquarefeet.
The inside fire- box is of steel supplied by Lukens
1 't eel Compa ny, Coat svil1e, P a., U.1 '.A.
A single
plate 3in . thi ck com prises the ''Ta pper , which is
single-rivet ed t o t he inner back and throat pl ate~;,
It may be here Rtatcd t hat for t he first forty ongines
the rocking grates were collectively shaken by
steam power, whereas the grat es for t he rema ining
ninety-six engines a rc Heparatcly operated in
six sections by hand. The a r ch iH carried on fi ve
a rch tubes of stC'cl, :~ i n. outside d ia meter. As in
the case of the boiler t ubes they a rc set in h oles
lined with copper s lcevNL T hey arc t hen expanded
a nd beaded over a t both r ndH.
'uitablc t aprred
p lugs a rc fitted in t hr t hr·oat a nd back plate~;
1
SOU TH
which a rc la-in . a nd 3in . thick resp ectively. Th e
ma t eria l complies with the A .S.'J'.M. s pecification .
There a re three fu sibl e plugs in the fire-box roof,
one at the front a nd two a t the back . The firehole in the oute r door pla te is flanged inwa rds
and in th e inner door pl a t e it is fla ngcd outwards,
thus bring ing the two plates togeth er and forming
a butt joint tha t can bo unitC'd by welding. The
foundation ring i ~; a ~;tcel forg ing m ~tchin ed a ll
ove r, exc-C'pt on the Hurface nex t to th (' water f- l pac·C'.
AFRI CAN
R A ILWAYS'
C LASS
2l
PA SSE N GER
It is not att ached t o the founda tion ring. Air inlet
i ~; provided for in th e hopper portion a nd round the
top next t ho founda tion ring. As the a shpa n is
necessarily s hallow whore it p asses over the framing
a nd under the fire- box dren ching pipes are fitted ,
one a long each !iido; th ey arc of iron and a rc
~; u ppJi ed with wa t er from the inj ector delivery
connC'ctions. T hey cma ble all ash a ccumula tions
to be cffcctivC'ly washed off the s ha llow p art of
the a!-ihpa n , a nd into tho hopper, which is fitted
L O CO MOTIVE
opposite each t ube for fitting a nd cleaning purpose~;.
Tir o inner a nd oute r fire- boxes a rc stayed
together by Hl 2 rigid a nd 586 fl exible ~;tays, a nd
t he cro wn of the inne r b ox is supported by 254
rigid roof stay~; a nd twenty-four sli ng ~;tayl'>,
whi ch comprise th o first t wo ro ws at the tube pl a t e
end . The rig id st ay:-; in the wat c·r space a r<} ~ in .
diameter·, and th e flex ible HtayH h<LVC' a, dia me ter
of ~ in . st"rcwccl 4in . dia m<'k r in t lw inner fire- box
plates. T he roof st <tys have a di<~ uw te r of I ?1, in .
with <~ s liding bottom operated f rom the footplate. T he boiler a nd fire-box a re complet ely
cloth ccl with R oberts' Blue Asb est os Ma ttras,
covered with pla niHhed st eel pla te, which is
supported on a crinoline a nd bound by stainless
st eel bands.
The smok e-box i ~; bolted to t he half saddles
ca~; t with each of the cylinde rs, a nd th e boi le r·
ba rrC' I .is supported a t four p oints by diaphragm
phttt'H Hccured t o fra me H trc tcher~; a nd t o t ee
IYurlun9 Prc.,surc 22.5 lb per square tncl>
--Water Capacitv 9500 gallons
PRI N C I PA L
The ~;ectio n if> 4in. by 4in . At the foundation
r ing the length of the fire-box inside the throat
a nd back plates i~; 8ft. 6ll / 64 in . a nd th e widt h over
the wr a pper pla t e is 8ft . 9i in. 'J'h e g rate ha~; a n
inclina tion of 1 in 8 · 5 a nd a n a rea of 62 · 5 ~;quare
feet . I t iR of th e round -hole t a ble pattern, a nd
iH a rra nged with Hha king gr a r , ha nd oper a ted .
There is a lso a, clrop sec:tion to facilitate c·loaning.
t
J~
r.l •
'Of •;) .•
t
8"5'
- 'z.
4-
DIMENSI ON S
OF
L OCOMOTI VE
scre wed Ijin . in t he fire-box crown , a nd 1 ,'t in.
in the nut. All have eleven t hreadH pe r inch .
Al l thr Htay~ a rc of Brown Baylry's" Longst ra nd "
or 1 'teel 1 'ymbol 1 't . C. J0 · 6 J, s u ppli cd by 1 'ta h !werke Bruningha us A .G . The same mate rial~;
a rc used for the eight een palm stays. 'T'he ash pan
is of steel plate, <'l ectrically welded , and is of th e
hoppe r t y pe, a ncl iH c:arriod on t he mn,in fntmos.
-
i
81
1
I
.!:!
•<::>
•<o
<o•
1. '
\
-
0/a
SECTION ON A· 8
llw••• 'k
T HC [ H QIH(. t ~··
A RRANGEM ENT
OF
BOI LER
AND
STEAM
COLLECTOR,
sections ri veted to the underside of t h e barr el,
which is reinforced by liner pla t es on the inside
where the t ees a re fitted . At the fr ont corners
the fire- box is carried by slides formed to fit
footings machined in t ho founda tion r ing. They
a r e 9Fn. wide a nd Sin. long, and bear on liner
p la tes of s teel fixed in cast steel brackets bolt ed to
th o main frameH. The s lides a rc each fitted with
two g rease nipples for lu bri cation . At tho hind
e nd the fir<'- box is furthC'r carried h •y <t vertical
plato bolted t o th o hind drag box <·asting a nd t o
<L projection machined in tho founda tion ri ng.
Boile r feed is s upplied by two GrrHham anrl
( 'r<tvrn No. I :3 se lf-acting, non -lift ing injectors
<U' r<tnged unde r th o footpla t r. t They a.rC' s pecified
t o h<we a capacity of about :31{,000 I b. of wat(:'r
per hour a t full boilPr p ressure, and d elivery is
mad e throug h t wo t op-feed check val ves mounted
on the front end of t he ba rrel, the wa t er being
fed through nozzles into t rays carried in the
top of th e ba rrel, a nd d esigned to a llow a ny air
t o escape a nd thus minimise corrosion .
Firing i!> by m eans of a mech a nical st oker
su pplied by the 1 'tanda rd 1 'toker Uompa ny,
Eric, Pa., U .~ '.A . It consist s of t wo scre w con voyorH, ono a rranged in the bottom of the coal
bunkC'r on t he t ender c·cntre line, and a nothe r
a rti cula t<.-d from it, a nd Rloping upward a t a n
t F orty
t·n~i tWH
h1wc. l> tWII'H und ~INN1l ft• t• xh tttiHt 11tram
injN·tortt on t lw lt·lt-hn nd Hld CI tlncl 11 Gr«'flh um a ncl ('r!Wt'n
Xo. l :l Hf"lf.u.c·tmg mjN·Ior on lht• r1~h t hnnd tndr·.
224
a ngle to the fire door. The conveyor is driven
through gearing by a two-cylinder, t ota lly enclosed ,
reversible engine mounted on the tender in a space
on the left-ha nd front corner . The coal is carried
by the screw through a crusher, and from t hence
is elevated to the fire door, where it falls on a
tray inside the fire-box, from which it is blown
off by jet s of steam , the intensity of which can be
controlled by the fireman. In this manner it is
possible to distri bute the fuel as required on the
grate surface. Steam to the stoker engine is
t aken from one of the turrets t hrough a control
valve, a nd by a ball-ann .socket universal connection between the engine and tender, and the
exhaust is taken by a metallic flexible pipe back
to the engine, and is discharged into the base of
the chimney in the smoke-box. The stoker is
capable of delivering 15,000 lb. of coal per hour,
equal to about 240 lb. per square foot of grat e
per hour. On test at the makers' works the
capacity was 10,500 lb. per hour at an engine speed
of 550 r .p.m.
The boiler fittings consist of two t urrets of cast
steel mounted on the fire-box. They are fitted with
all the valves required for the various auxiliary
purposes, and take steam t hrough internal pipes
of 3in. diameter , connecting with the main steam
collector in the boiler . All the turret valves are
fitted with extension spindles passing t hrough the
....
..
~
<>
0
.
----
11 Thds. per inch
Steam Tight
11 Thds. per inch
Thread Taper
'lt in T2
Square Head to
be Cut-off after
Screwing in
,'~~~;t"--.1...
SWAIN
FIRE - BOX
ROOF
AND
FLEXIBLE
Se.
STAYS
front of the cab with hand wheels within reach of
the engine men. There are two blow-off valves,
one on each front corner of the throat plate. They
are of the Gestra make, and may be steam-operated
from the cab. They arc fitted with silencers. This
type of blow-down valve is fitted to 121 engines,
and the remaining fifteen, comprising part of the
first twenty, have H opkinson valves operated by
connections to the cab. A Diamond soot blower is
a lso fitted . The water gauges are of Dewrance
make . Two Ross pop safety valves are fitted on
the rear ba rrel course. The smoke-box, which is
8ft. 4!in. long and 6ft. S!in. diameter outside, is
fitted with a spark arrestor, the arrangement being
genera lly similar to that found in American practice. The blast pipe has a gun-metal cap, comprising the nozzle fitted with Goodfellow proj ecting
pieces, and having a diameter of 6fi-in., combined
with t he blower ring a nd an additional outer ring
which connects with the eject or exh aust. The
chimney extends into the smoke-box t o a point
5!in. from the boiler centre, a nd has a diameter
at t he choke of lft. 8!in. and at the top lft. lOfi-in.
Behind the chimney a detache..blc cover gives access
to the regulator valves.
STEAM SUPPLY TO THE CYUNDERS
•
MARcH 8, 1940
THE ENGINEER
The. main steam supply t o the cylinders is by
m eans of t wo internal steam collectors, made up of
lengths of 5in. bore steel piping running parallel
inside the top of the boiler. At about half way in
their length they join a cast iron junction casting
having five flanges, two on each side, to take the
front and rear collector pipes, and at the front
facing the smoke-box an additional connection
which receives the main steam pipe, passing forward
along the boiler centre a nd between the t wo front
lengths of the collector pipes to the superheater
header. The main steam pipe, also of steel, has a
bore of 7in. The collecting pipes are fitted with a
number of small diameter pipes with trumpetshaped ends, which proj ect upwards in the steam
space t o points close to the inside of the barrel
plating. In this manner the steam is taken from
the highest point possible from the surface of the
water. The regulator is of the multiple valve type
supplied by the Superheater Company, and incorporated in the superheater header casting. The
valves are, however , on the saturated stea m side,
and not on the superheater steam side, between the
header and the steam chests. From the superheater to the cylinders the steam is conveyed by
two seamless st eel branch pipes, of 6in. bore. An
expansion joint on the steam chests ta kes the form
of a gland fitted with packing rings, the ends of the
branch pipes being machined so that they may slide
in the rings. The pipes pass t o the steam chests
through a suitable asbestos-packed gland in the
steel castings fixed to the smoke-box.
(To be continued)
Son1e 0 bservations on Metallic
Arc Fluxes
By W . ANDREWS, B.Met.
H E progress of fabrication by metallic arc
welding has now become so familiar that it is
rather surprising that some degree of standardisation of the t ypes of flu x coating used has not
yet begun to develop. Manufacturers of electrodes
offer the welding industry a very large variety of
products and the range appears to be expanding,
rather than contracting, into a number of recognised
t ypes. The reasons for this lie partly with the
inspection authorities, partly with the users of
electrodes, and partly also with the manufacturers
t hemselves. The inspection authorities are content
to specify certain physical properties which the
electrodes intended for use on work under their
supervision must attain. Provided that their
requirements, which , of course, are the subject of
continuous research and development, are satisfied,
they have not attempted as yet to formulate any
rules as to the constitution of the flux. The
consumer of electrodes, in addition to the foregoing
requirements, has problems of his own connected
with operative difficulties and the economic aspect
of fabri cation, which do a great deal to influence
the production of a variety of types. Finally , the
manufacturer has developed his product as a
resul t of difficult and complicated experimental
work which lacks, so far, t he solid backing of a
volume of academic work bearing on the particular
problems encountered. These conditions naturally
make for a wide range of products and secrecy as
to their composition and methods of manufacture.
In order to simplify the approach to the subject,
it is proposed to confine this article to the arc
welding of mild steel only, to endeavour to classify
broadly the types of electrode available and to
examine t he c har~cteristics of t he t ypes of elect rode which have been developed to fill engineering
requirements. In the first place, the term mild
steel should be defined as including t he b ulk of the
low carbon steel used for general engineering
purposes and largely covered by L loyds specifications for steel for shipbuilding, similar Admiralty
and other government department requirements,
and the various British Standard Specifications
for structural steel, boiler plate, &c. All this
material is of a maximum of 0·25 per cent. carbon
content, and in consequence is practically immune
to any serious modification in its properties as a
result of the t hermal disturbance inevita.bly introduced by a fu sion welding process. This has been
an important factor in t he rapid development of
the metallic arc process since it has concentrated
attention on a low carbon weld metal, capable of
developing adequate strength together with high
ductility and toughness.
The flux coating on a metallic arc electrode
fulfils a variet y of functions, among which the most
important are its effect (1) in controlling the
electrical characteristics of t he arc ; (2) in modifying
t he mechanism of metal fusion and consequently
transmission across t he arc; (3) on the metallurgical reactions occurring in the molten weld metal
during its passage th rough the arc, and (4) on the
shape and surface finish of the resultant welding
bead. Other subsidiary effects could also be
defined, but it is obvious that the combination of
physical, electrical, and metallurgical conditions
gives a wide choice of possible fluxes. In addition
to the technical reasons, the operative a nd economic
factors are also extremely important. The former
often necessitate different electrodes for reasons
of ease of handling and application. The latter
T
controls such items as speed, cost, and efficiency.
This diversity is further increased by the inevitable time lag due to conservat ism, and for this
reason many out -dated types of electrode often
remain in use and continue to be manufactured.
The classification of fluxes is complicated by
the necessity for considering methods of manufacture. T he majority of modern flu xes consist of
a mixture of minerals, chemicals, and alloys
homogeneously bonded with an alkaline silicate
solution. Subsequent drying gives a hard cement
of reasonable permanence, though all fluxes sufft'r
deterioration if stored for any length of time under
excessively damp conditions, especially where the
atmosphere contains in addition a high proportion
of carbon dioxide.
The earliest fluxes, of course, were much simpler
in composition than t hose in general use to-day,
and often consisted of simple iron oxide-silicate
mixtures. The fact t hat iron oxide silicate compounds are found occurring naturally as a grade of
blue asbestos led to the extensive use of this
mater ia l, as a flux in itself, and the ease with which
it could be applied as a close cord winding gave it
considerable popularity. Such wrapped electrodes
continue to be made, though the advance in the
metallurgy of weld metal has compelled the
abandonment of the earlier contentions of
superiority attributed to the use of a natural
compound as compared with synthetic materials.
From the nature of alkaline silicate solutions
and the general a nalogy to the manufacture of
refractory materials, it is obvious that in t he
manufacture of a paste flux there are several
methods of handling the problem of coating a wire
satisfactorily. For instance, the dry flux mixture
may be suspended as a slurry in a dilute solution
and the wire coated by dipping, as in the manufacture of candles, or a stiffer mixture may be
applied by pressing, rolling, or extrusion through a
die. I n modern practice the majority of electrodes
are made by extrusion of the flux as a paste through
a suitable die, though the dipping process survives
for certain special types of work. The extrusion
process makes use both of the original patented
continuous winding of cotton, asbestos, or other
suitable material to ensure absolute concentricity
of flu x and core wire, and of plain extrusion without
winding, the latter process giving a homogeneous
cylinder of flux round t he electrode. Representat ive electrodes of each type are easily recognised
by their appearance.
The silicate solutions used as the binding agent
are either. sodium or potassium silicates, used
separately or mixed in various proportions, varying
in composition and specific gravity according
to the ratio of all(ali to silica, which has t he
properties of final strength, permanence and
fusibility most congeni~l to the flux powder
employed. I n the case of plain extruded electrodes, where the nature of the flux may not be
such as to form a smooth-flowing paste, it is
sometimes desirable to incorporate with t he
silicate solution some organic compound, which
vapourises easily without appreciable effect on
the quality of the weld metal, in order to assist in
the flow of paste through the extrusion die, and
in the production of a smooth even coating on t he
final electrode. Other non-organic materials may
also be used for this purpose.
The actual compositions of the flux powders
remain, in the vast majority of cases, manu-
..
MA.Rcn 8, 1940
facturers' secrets and little information has been
published on the subject. The general principles
of electrode flux compositions, however, are fairly
well known, and in most commercial mild steel
electrodes they usually consist of mixtures of
mineral silicates, ferro-alloys, metallic oxides,
fluorides, and carbonates, together with organic
compounds, apart from those used to assist extrusion . Economic conditions demand that the
materials should be plentiful and reasonably cheap
so that natural minerals, rather than prepared
chemicals, are more frequently used.
Apart from the chemical and physical properties
determining the value of a flux ingredient, one
essential is that it should be inert t o the silicate
used as a binder. If it has any tendency to
cementing action, or t o combination with silicate
to for~ a more complex compound, premature
set ting is experienced and the paste loses plasticity
and becomes unworkable. Similarly, compounds
of a strong acid and a weak base are liable to · be
attacked by the excess alkalinit y of the silicate
with the precipitation of gelatinous silica and
again complete loss of plasticity. This practical
requirement l imits the adoption, without special
t reat ment, of many materials which would otherwise be useful as flux ingredients. An example of
t he tendency to double silicate formation is calcium
hydroxide which will, in a short time, cause a silicate
bound paste to set to a hard cement. Similarly,
some chlorides, e.g. aluminium chloride, are acid
in reaction and cause instantaneous separation of
gelatinous silica from the silicate. Even milder
acid radicles, e.g. boric acid in combination with
weak bases, may have this effect though special
protective t reatments can in some cases be developed. Except in certain cases, however, the
flux material need not be completely water
insoluble, so long as the product of solution has a
neu t ral reaction.
The most frequently used of t he various mat erials
are as follows : -Of the silicates kaolin, the soda
and pot ash felspars, less frequen tly the lime bearing
variet ies which have higher melting points, the
pyroxenes such as enstatite [(MgFe) O.Si0 2 ] and
diopside (CaO MgO 2Si02 ), t he amphiboles,
particularly the various grades of asbestos represented in this class, potash, and more rarely
magnesian mica (the sodium mica, paragonite, is
not commercially available), minerals of the talcserpentine group which also includes t he Canadian
asbestos, chrysotile, and occasionally less plentiful
materials such as some grades of garnet. Of t he
met allic oxides, t he various different grades of iron
oxide are widely l..lSed, including hematite of
varying silica content, magnetite and those grades
known as micaceous iron oxide owing to their
mode of occurrence. Other frequently used
met allic oxides are the various oxides of manganese,
t it anium oxide, either as r utile, which is usually
of at least 95 per cent. purity or as the various
grades of ilmenite which are available, and
occasionally zirconium oxide. As explained previously , calcium oxide, or rather t he hydroxide,
cannot readily be used in conjunction with silicate
solutions but , owing to its much greater insolubility, caustic magnesia obtained by calcining
magnesite reacts very much more slowly and is
consequently a practicable material.
Most of t he better known ferro-alloys are regular
constituen ts of flux coatings as a means of introducing alloying elements. The most familiar
and importan t of these are t he ferro-manganese
alloys, bot h low carbon electric furnace quality,
or t he low grade form containing up to 6 per cent. of
combined carbon. The main use of manganese as
distinct from an alloying material, is as a deoxidant,
just as in steel making, and most high grade
electrodes contain a sufficient proportion to
compensate for that oxidised out of the weld metal
during exposure to the high temperature of the arc.
Ferro-silicon is also used for a similar purpose,
but here trouble is often encountered oWing to its
suscept ibility to chemical attack by the alkaline
silicate solutions, unless special precautions are
taken. Ferro-titanium andferro-vanadium, though
expensive, may also be used for deoxidation in
combinat ion wit h some of these alloys. Other
ferro-alloys, or pure metals, are used where an
alloy steel deposit is being made up synthetically,
or where the loss during welding has to be compensated for.
The carbonates used include all the forms of
calcium carbonate commercially available, such as
limest one of high purity, calcite, crushed marble
powder , and precipitated forms of carbonate.
Dolomite and magnesite are extensively used
and the latter may also be used in the calcined
form since its insolubility and low reactivity as
THE
225
ENGINEER
compared with calcium oxide render it practicable.
Calcined or dead burnt dolomite has to be specially
t reated owing to its high calcium oxide content and
consequent reactivity with silicate solutions.
Manganese carbonate, as rhodochrosite is frequently employed as a flux constituent and there
is a wide usage of the various mineral oxides of
manganese, notably braunite (Mn2 0 3 ) hausmannite (Mn3 0 4) and pyrolusite (Mn0 2). The
former two are often calcined to eliminate organic
matter and ensure reasonable constancy of composition. Chalybite natural iron carbonate is rarely
used since it is practically always found associated
with phosphate impurities. Similarly, the natural
barium carbonate, witherite, is often associated
with lead and sulphur, and on this account may be
unsafe to use. Lead impurit ies are undesirable
because of their generally low boiling points and
the danger of poison associated with them, and
sulphur, of course, because of its known deleterious
action on steel. Another carbonate which has
been proposed and used to some exten t is strontium
carbonate, found as the mineral strontianite, but
as the latter is not particularly abundant the
chemically produced material must be used and
price considerations interfere. I n addition the
alkaline carbonate of sodium and potassium are
extensively employed.
Besides the oxides of manganese and iron, other
metallic oxides are also employed. By far t he
most important of these is the di-oxide of titanium,
found as the mineral rutile (the other crystalline
varieties, brookite and anatase, are comparatively
rare). Zirconia, a similar higher melting point
material has been proposed and used to a small
extent and aluminium oxide has also a certain value,
but neither of these materials approaches rutile
in propert ies or popularity as a flux constituent.
The compounds of titanium in nature are scarce,
compared wit h t he silicates, and only t he various
grades of ilmenite, compounds of iron and tit anium
oxides, form an alternative supply of any
abundance. Sphene or t itanite, calcium silicotitanate (CaO Si0 2 T i0 2 ) is a possible alternative
but is little used on account of irregularity of
supply and composition. It is also liable to
be contaminated with p hosphates. Perovskite,
the pure calcium titanate, would probably be
useful but does not appear to occur in commercial
quantities.
I n addition to t he mineral constituents and
binding agents used in fl uxes t here are, in many
cases, organic materials incorpora ted for various
reasons. B riefly, these can be divided into two
types ; first, t hose added for their effect on the
mechanical behaviour of t he flux either in improving smoothness in extrusion , final flexibility of
the coating after drying, or for other reasons
connect ed with t he manufacturing process.
Secondly, the large class of cellulosic and similar
compounds used in so-called gas shielded electrodes. The theory behind t he use of these
latter materials, which are all based on t he presence
in the electrode flux of a material based on the
(C6 H 10 0 5 )x type of molecule, is t hat under the
condit ions obtaining in t he metallic arc, primary
decomposit ion occurs into a mixture of carbon
monoxide and hydrogen which surrounds the
molten metal and slag wit h an intensely reducing
atmosphere, serving to exclude contaminat ion by
oxygen and nitrogen . Owing to the large p roportion of hydrogen present in this arc atmosphere
it is also claimed t hat the electrical resistance t o
the passage of an arc is increased, resulting in a
higher arc volt age, more overall consumption of
energy in t he arc and consequently q uicker welding.
There has been, and con tinues to be, some cont roversy as to the j ustification of some of these claims
for the effect of these compounds. It has been
repeatedly p roved that plain slag fluxes, wit hout
any additions of this type of organic matter , can
produce weld metal equally low in nitrogen content .
Observation also suggests t hat there is little to
choose between high qualit y electrodes, with or
without gas shielding additions, from t he point
of view of iron oxide and other non-metallic
inclusions. Further, the highest physical properties in t he weld metal are obtainable from
each type. What is definite, however, is that the
nature of t he welding arc obtained from so-called
gas shielding additions is often very different from
that observed in plain slag electrodes. I t is
possible, in cases where the proportion of such
material is high, to obtain a very harsh direct arc
suitable for making welds on unprepared edges in
steel of substantial thickness or, in short, to use a
t rade term, having high " penetration "-an
obviously valuable feature for some classes of work.
Finally, having given a general outline of the
range of materials used in arc welding fluxes for
steel, the question of classification arises. It
would appear at first sight t hat it would be a simple
matter to classify bases as acid, basic, and neutral,
according to a preponderance of acid oxides, such
as silica, basic oxides, such as lime, or neut ral
materials. This method, however, has its
objectiop.s, one of them being that reactions in
the arc take place at much higher t emperatures
than in steel making pract ice and it is by no means
certain t hat the reactions occurring are truly
parallel. I t appears preferable, therefore, t o
adopt some system of classification dependent on
t he nature of t he const ituents used in the flux
coating and t he character of t he resultant slag.
The following system is tentat ive only and does not
presume to include every t ype of electrode which
has been proposed or used for mild steel, nor does
it claim to deal with other t han British practice.
It does, however, cover t he majority of electrodes
in general use in this count ry and it is felt that it
may be of some assist ance t o users in assisting in
recognising t he various t ypes encountered . In
the first place t wo main divisions of electrode
coat ings must be recognised .
1. Arc Stabilisers only.
2. True Fluxes.
Applied as an ultra. thin wash only.
In which the coating may be light
or heavy, but fulfils the true function
of a. flux in modifying the action of
the atmosphere on the molten metal
to a greater or lesser extent.
Arc stabiliser coatings represent coatings applied ·
purely for electrical reasons, and have long been
substantially displaced from all bu t the most unimportant work. Owing, however, to the difficulties encountered in t he combination of an adequate flux with a continuous automatic welding
process a fair amount of welding is st ill carried
out using materials of this character to improve the
behaviour of the arc.
True fluxes in addition t o exercising their
effect on the electrical characterist ics of the arc
are employed for t heir metallurgical and mechanical
effect on t he deposit. According to whether t hey
contain cellulosic matter and are of t he so-called
gas shielded type, or rely on t he fl.uxing properties
of t he chemicals or minerals t hey cont ain, they
may be divided into:
1. Slag Shielded types.
2. Gas Shielded types.
Further, fluxes may be sub-divided by method of
manufacture, i.e. dipped, wrapped, wound, extruded
or plain extruded. It is probably best , therefore,
to keep met hod of manufacture and composition
of coating separate. The following is the final
proposed method.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Cl<usijication by Method of Manufacture.
Main head
Sub.head
Remarks
Dipped Process.
(a) Wash coating Singleverylightdip
nearly a lways too
small in quantity to
act as a true flux.
Usually an arc sta.
biliser only, e.g.
CaC08 and other
carbonates.
(/1) H eavy coating Several dips to give
a. coating thickness
of the same average
as extruded electrodes.
\\'rapped Process.
{a) Single
1\!e.teria.ls such as
coating.
blue asbestos which
lend
themselves
readily to ap plication to t he electrode
as e. yarn winding.
(b) Double
Two different coatcoating.
ings may be employed, the outer
one being similar to
(a), and the inner a
paste or other type.
Wound Extruded.
Cotton,
various
types of asbestos,
pa:per or other celluloslC material, all of
which may be re.
inforced with wire,
or wire itself may
be employed. The
winding agent forms
an open spiral round
the rod and the dux
is extruded into t he
spaces by passage
through a die under
pressure.
Plain Extruded.
A paste is extruded
directly on to the
rod, forming an un.
interrupted sleeve
of dux. Very stiff
pastes and high
pressures are usually employed and
a smooth intense
arc obtained. R ods
of this type are
difficult to bend
without breaking off
the coating.
T YPES OF F LUX COATING E MPLOYED
The constituent sub-heading gives t ype constituents only, e.g. where titanium oxide-silica
F
•
alloy is quoted it is intended to convey that a
metal oxide of the titanium type is used in conjunction with some silicate bearing mineral or
minerals in combination and the possible variations
in composition are almost infinite.
Type
I. Arc Stnbilis('lrs.
2.
log • hielded.
3. Gaa Shielded.
MARcH 8, 1940
THE ENGINEER
226
Constituent
Description
Car bona~ Ti01 See manufacture.
and similar
materials.
Iron OxideMixtures of various iron
Silica.
oxides and silica or silico.tes are used in various proportions. Blue
asbestos wrapped electrodes also come into
t.his olassincation, though
in this case a compound
instead of separate const.ituent.s is used. Tho
coating is oxidising and
in consequence the weld
metal contains little or
no manga.nese and low
carbon. It thus approximates in composition
to pure iron, though
porosity and slag inclusions may be frequent.
Electrodes of this class
are usually sold because
of the running properties
and finish obtainable on
the weld metal.
I ron OxideBasically similar to group
Silica Alloy.
(o) but of wider scope,
less oxidising in nature
and often modified by
carbonates and other
oxides. Electrodes of this
class contain de-oxidising
ferro-alloys, usually ferromanganese, and as a
result the weld metal
composition approaches
that of ordinary mild
steel. The slag of t his
type of weld metal is
usually inflated and very
easily removed.
Titanium Oxide- Titanium oxide, usually
Alloy.
in the form of rutile,
forms a large proportion
of the flux, together with
ferro -manganese
and
other alloys and 6uxing
constituents, such as
silicates. The high rutile
conten t results in fiat surface deposit of excellent
appearance and a solid
but easily removed slag.
T itanium Oxide- D iffers from the previous
ilica Alloy.
class of rod in tbat on
the average much less
titanium oxide and more
silicates are used. The
result is a slag of greater
adap tability for " three
position" welding.
Fluorides and
Fluorides are typical of
other chemicals. neutral mat.erials which
may be used to make an
effective flu.x.
Nal ural
calcium
fluoride or fluor.
sp ar •s a common example.
They are little
used in the case of mild
steel though useful in
non-ferrous metals and
special alloy steels.
As haa been explained,
this term applies to
electrodes in which in
addition to a mineral slog
an organic material of tho
cellulose class is incorporated. This organic
material is claimed to
decompose into carbon
monoxide and hydrogen
surrounding the arc with
a reducing atmosphere
and thus excluding oxide
and nitride contamination.
In consequence
the oxidising non-alloy
types are not represented
in this class, nor do
fluoride fhu:es find any
appreciable favour in
conjunction with such
material. Gas shielded
electrodes,
therefore,
usually fall into the t hree
middle classes of the slag
shielded type.
(a) Iron
Oxide-SilicaAlloy.
(b) Titanium Oxide-Alloy.
(c) Titanium
OxideSilica-Alloy.
The above classification is naturally somewhat
general in its scope and cannot, of course, be
claimed to include all the commercial electrodes on
the market. It will be found, however, that most
of the better known types can be placed in one or
the other of the e classifications and a little experience with the operation of an electrode and the
ob ervation of the type of slag produced from
known types soon enables the experienced engineer
to recognise the class of flux used. It is, for
instance, comparatively easy to distinguish an
all-silicate fiux from one containing high proportions
of titanium oxide, or to recognise the presence of
high proportions of fluorides. It is to be hoped
t hat as development of the use of welding occurs
this question of classification of types of fluxes will
be considered by the appropriate authorities and
some standard proposed wh ich will reduce the very
wide variety at presen t available.
Subn1erged Barriers for Shore
Protection
By E.
E.
R.
ITH its frontage of approximately 35 miles
along the west side of Lake Michigan, the
city of Chicago, U.S.A., has a serious problem in
protecting its shore line fr om devastation and
erosion by the waves and currents of heavy storms,
more especially those from the north-east, which
have a sweep of 100 miles or so across the open
lake. Nearly 30 miles of this lake fr ontage consists
of public parks, extending north and south of the
mouth of the Ch icago River. This river mouth is
closed and controlled by a navigation lock, and
the regulated flow is from the lake and through
or " up " the river. A large water area adjacent
to the mouth of the river is a ship and yacht
harbour, protected by a concrete breakwater. In
this area is a masonry pier nearly a mile long,
having ships' berths, two-storey transit sheds, and
large recreation spaces for public use. Private
property, steel works, industrial plants, and railway
lines occupy some relatively short portions of the
lake frontage. There are occasional sand beaches
W
TRAT.MAN
storms, interlocking concrete sheet piles were
driven along the toe of the paved beach. But
here again the waves would break or displace the
piles, forming gaps through which the water would
drive in with force and blow up the paving in
great blocks. A small portion of t he frontage
has a concrete sea wall of limited height, generally
with loose r ock filling in front, along t he lake
bottom. None of these protective works provided
facilities for bathing, but with the growth of the
city and the development of its lake-front parks,
it became very desirable to increase the extent of
sand beaches.
Some twelve years ago an experiment was tried
by building off-shore protective works out in
deep water, instead of along the shore line, the
structure consisting of a submerged barrier or
breakwater. The theory was-and it seems to
have been proved by experience-that t he sweep
of the waves would be broken up by the obstruction,
so that their destructive force would be dissipated
New Pier
•
605 fl . Rad. -
-.
Former
Jetty No. 1
,,
\ ,, aocH
\~
,,
•
''THl EHOINICA"
FIG. I - SHORE
\\
-----
,,
Sea
\\..
Former
... ~ ...- ---~,___,.,., .,....,
---
PR O TECTI O N
W O RKS
for bathing and recreation, but they are liable to
severe erosion by storms, although the ravages
are in some cases remedied by pumping in great
quantities of sand from large hydraulic or suction
hopper dredges. Jetties have been used in some
places for protection, but generally without much
effect.
A large proportion of this lake-front park area
consists of made land, filled in gradually from time
to time. Usually a bulkhead or sea wall was built
in the water along an adopted shore line and filling
by tipping was carried on until it reached the
bulkhead, which then became the line of shore
protection . One of the earliest forms of construction for the construction of bulkheads, and
also for water front protection of existing land,
consisted of two parallel rows of timber piles,
connected by longitudinal waling timbers and
transverse wooden struts and iron tie-rods, with
rough rock filling for the space between the rows
and a capping of massive quarry blocks laid at
random to give an irregular surface approximately
5ft. above the water level. In time, however,
some of the piles would be loosened or broken by
wave action and ice pressure, and the bottom
eroded by waves or undertow, so that the rock
filling would settle, perhaps breaking or displacing
more piles, so that breaches would be formed.
Repair of such construction was not an easy
matter, and in many cases it was neglected.
Another p lan was to build a flatly sloping paved
beach, consisting of concrete poured in place in
large slabs, or of deep stone block paving on a
concrete base. The slope was about 1 in 12, and
the toe-a little above normal water-level-was
protected by a line of timber piles and sheet piling.
I n some places, mainly for reconstruction after
ON
THE
..
... .....,........ • .. -
L I N C OLN
__Wall
,._,.....,.-- ... -·--'- _ _,. e.
PARK
FRONTAGE
or expended in the semi-enclosed stretch of water
between the barrier and the shore. Furthermore,
the retreating water would oppose the incoming
waves. In addition, the undertow flowing back
along the bottom would strike the inner side of t he
submerged barrier and thus be compelled to rise
vertic&lly, t his upward flow assisting to break up
the s'veep of water shoreward over the barrier.
In this experimenta l case, the construction
consisted of a double row of tim her piles with rock
filling, similar to the shore line wall or bulkhead
a.Jready described, but differing from it in that the
top or crest was about 3ft. below the normal
water-level. Sand was pumped in to form a
beach sloping from the shore line to the toe of the
submerged barrier. This particular beach has
been maintained satisfactorily, the winds and
waves giving it a slope of about 1 in 32.
A series of severe winter storms a few years ago
practically wrecked a part of the Lincoln Park
frontage, in the north part of the city, where a
long stretch of paved sloping beach had been built.
It was necessary to take some prompt action to
protect the damaged section from further attacks.
The plan adopted was to build several jettie'
about 500ft. long and 600ft. apart, pointing
approximately north-ea t, or at an angle of
about 70 degrees with the bore line. Some of
these jetties are shown by dotted lines in Fig. l.
They are of the pile and rock type already mentioned as used for shore walls or bulkheads. Besides acting to break up the sweep and destructive
power of the waves, it was expected that swirling
currents or eddies in the spaces between the jetties
would cause a deposition of sand to form a protective foreshore. To facilitate such action, each
jetty had on its lee side, and near its outer end, n.
l\I ARCH
,
1940
TH E
short pur to check the eddies. H owever , while
t he jetties did serve as protective works, there was
practically no deposition of sand, as t here is but
slight littoral current at this place. On t he other
ha nd, the jetties were unsightly features of the
park a nd th e lake front, especially as after successive storms they became more or less damaged .
In p lanning for some perma nent protection it
was decided to t ry the submerged barrier system,
a lready in use further down the shore. It was
t hought preferable to estab lish such works out in
some 15ft. of water, rather t ha n to rely upon any
227
ENG I N EER
-of that shown on the pla n, the tendency is to
form a separate concave shore line in each com partment, instead of a continuous line t hrough all
the compartments.
Deta.ils of t he design of t his steel protective
work a re shown in F ig. 2. In the first section,
built in 1938, the crest of the line of sheet piling
is 4ft. below normal water-level, which is the datum
line for t he city of Chicago. F or t he next extension,
which will be to t he left, or nor th, of jetty No. 4
in Fig. 1, it is intended to make t his distance 3ft .
I n bot h cases, t he ta ll marker piles, 28ft. apart,
one interlocking groove burned off for a dept h of
2in. from the top, and t he corresponding part of
t he other groove is bent inward for the same depth.
In this way, each pile is driven until t he bent
" thumb " strikes t he top of the groove of t he
adjacent pile, and so cannot be driven lower tban
the lat ter .
The built-up hollow steel " buttress" piles which
extend above the water are of interest in their
construction, which is shown in F ig. 3. Two side
piles, A and B, are interlocked wit h two end piles,
C a nd D , while closure is completed by two ha lf2200/t. Rad
.,
PLAN OF CONNECTION
TO PIER.
CONNECTION TO
TIMBER JETTY.
r r
PLAN OF TYPICAL PA NEL.
'''ts"
3'- 4 N
27'£1 4 .a ;___~),~
( --
El. + 4·0
.+
V
8' Long
8' Long
~
8' Long.,.
V B' Long
Chicago Ci ty Datum Lme )
-
{.Approx Water Line
Bed of Lake
/ Loch Notch -.....,
<
I
A .
'
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-'· Long
'
35'
~[ Lonqj
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, 27 ~b
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A.
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3 - 20' Lg.
35' Long
I~O ' La: \
I
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3 · 20' Lg.
,
,
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J.h •LgJ
. t20 ' Lg \
·:-.;.
[IJ'- 24 ' Lg.
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.
'
39' Lg.
I
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27 Lg. V
ELEYA TION OF TYPICAL PANEL.
I
I
3 - 32' Lg.
•
I•
ELEVATION OF CONNECTION TO PIER.
FIG. ~ARRANGEMENT OF STEEL PROTECT IVE WOR K
form of sea wall along t he shore line.· Furthermore, t his p lan would provide for filling a sand
beach behind t he protect ive line, a nd thus extend
t he bathing a nd recreat ion facilities on a large
scale. A length of nearly 2000ft. of beach was
thus built in 1938, a nd 4000ft. more in 1939. The
lake bed normally consists of 2-5ft. of sa nd,
underlaid by varying st rata of clay and gravel on
rock at dept hs of 60-80ft .
With t he same principle as in the earlier submerged work, t he t ype of construction for t he new
submerged structure is entirely different. It
consists essentially of a single line of steel sheet
piling, reinforced at intervals by hollow pilesbuilt of t he interlocking steel sheet piles-filled
with concrete. This barrier or breakwater is
some 500ft. from shore a nd connects the outer
ends of t he jetties, so as t o form semi-enclosed
spaces approximately 500ft. by 600ft. At intervals
extend 4ft. above t he datum line. I t is of interest
to note that records covering a long term of years
show that the actual level of the lake has a range
of 8ft., from 4ft. above to 4ft. below t he t heoretical
dat um line, so t hat references to the water-line are
indefinite. This dat um line is 579·48ft. above
mean sea level in the harbour at New York.
Taking the nearly 2000ft. of the present work
as built in 1938, and as shown in F ig. 2, it will be
seen that the submerged barrier is composed of
panels approximately 28ft . long, defined by t he
t all or so-called buttress p iles extending 4ft . above
piles, E and F , which are interlocked with A a nd B
and riveted to C and D . But C, D , E , and F
are 24ft. long, while A and ·B are 32ft. long and
extend 8ft . above the others. The closure to
full height is completed by two 8ft. piles, G a.nd H ,
which are bent to the shape shown and are interlocked with the tall p iles A and B . The other
hollow piles, which do not extend above water,
are of similar design, except t hat the six piles,
A to F , are all 24ft. long, a nd t he additiona l short
piles are omitted.
At the right of t he drawing, Fig. 2, is shown t he
Jetty
Dolphin
4' -B"Oia.
"
•
K
•
"' ••
" ,
40 ' Long
*
~Riuet
28' Long I
401 Long=w
~~>~<=;~~
~
Chica:;;=:g~o+---+
A
I<
40' Long
>I<
28' Long
.E:
40 ' Long
~
Datum
- +--t-
Bent to Shape
1-
B' Lono
•
.. T H( EHOIH(t llt' '
Bed of Lahe
FIG. l-BUILT- UP BUTT RE SS PILE
•
of about 28ft. there are piles extending high
enough above t he water to mark the line of the
barrier and a lso t o assist in breaking up t he waves.
Sand was pumped in from large suction hopper
dredgers to form a beach, leaving the winds, waves,
and currents to adjust the slope wit hin t he several
spaces between the jetties.
At t he south end, or t he beginning of the
barrier, the first of the old jet ties was replaced
by a solid pier, curved in plan and extending nearly
2000ft. from shore. Its outer end was formed
wit h a hook to check and retain any drifting sand.
From the side of t his pier t he submerged barrier
extends on a long curve of 2200ft . radius until it
meets t he end of the next jetty, and t hen continues
parallel with t he shore line. In the plan, Fig. 1,
are shown the original shore line- which was
defined by a sea-wall or bulkhead ; the old jetties ;
t he new pier ; a nd the submerged breakwater .
It shows also t he tentative shore line of the new
sand beach . But a s a mat ter of fact , in the
spaces or "compartments" formed by the jetties
a nd breakwater in the stretch north-or to the left
,,._
-
-
-
A
A
CI I I
I I I I
[ J
•
I
I
,
-
I'
~
-
=-
Ill
I
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THe EHGIHttlll"
FIG. 4-ARRANGEMENT OF S HORT SPURS
datum level. Each of these hollow piles is cornp osed of sheet piles interlocked a nd having halfpiles riveted on to form t he lock for adjacent piles,
while a n 8ft. length is a dded t o extend above
water, a s described. The panel between t he ta ll
piles contains fifteen piles 20ft. long, except t ha t
at t wo points t here are hollow concrete-filled p iles
24ft. long, very similar to t he buttress piles, but
not extending above t he wa ter . It will be n oted
t hat no waling is used on the steel sheeting. To
ensure an even horizontal line for t he t op of the
submerged barrier, each pi le has t he outer rib of
connection of the barrier with the pier . H ere
there is a 19ft. panel of 32ft. interlocking piles
a nd two 35ft. concrete-filled piles, a ll extending
4ft . above wa ter. The first interlocking pile is
locked with the stem of a T -shaped pile for ming
part of the steel side of t he pier . And at t he left
of t he same drawing is shown the connection of t,he
barrier with t he timber jet ty No. 4 (in F ig. 1).
H ere the steel sheeting is through-bolted to the
wood piles in t he end of t he jet ty.
· R eferring again to F ig. 1, it will be seen t hat
a long t he outer face of the submerged barrier t here
228
is a series of short spurs or jetties about 75ft. long
and at an angle of 45 deg. with the face of the
barrier. They were designed to prevent erosion
along the toe of the sheeting and also to aid in
breaking up the force of the waves. Each spur,
as shown in Fig. 4, consists of a single line of the
steel sheeting, arranged in sets of three 28ft. piles,
having their tops 4ft. below water, alternating
/
'
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,
/
Line of Jetty
1+-£..-1
3/B•x 6•x 28'
'
CONNECTION OF JETTY
TO BARRIER.
Bent Platis
5'- 8'
1-----
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Steel Sheet
Piling
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-
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DETAIL AT END OF JETTIES.
*'THt EHCIHC(ft"
FIG. 5-CONNECTION
BETWEEN
SPUR AND BARRIER
with hollow concrete-filled piles 40ft. long, with
their tops 4ft. above water. A special built-up
T-shaped pile, Fig. 5, ·provides the connection
between the spur and the barrier. At the end of
each spur is a hollow pier or dolphin, 4ft. Sin. in
diameter, also shown in Fig. 5, composed of 12in.
steel piles 40ft. long and rising 4ft. above water.
Alternate piles are bent in t he web so as to form
,-
13'- 8"
•
1
t"Dia. Bolt
of the adjustment of the beach by wave action,
this depth was changed to 8ft. below datum. The
adjusted slope of the beach is approximately
1 in 32.
The long and curved pier from which the submerged barrier starts is composed of two lines of
40ft. steel sheet piles of troughed section, 14ft.
apart, as shown by the typical section in Fig. 6.
At the top of each row is an outside longitudinal
wale coMisting of a 4in. by 6in. angle, with the
shorter leg outstanding. About 5ft. below, or at
water-level, each row has an inside wale consisting
of two Sin. rolled steel channels, with webs
horizontal and back to back, but far enough apart
to admit the ends of transverse 1tin. tie-rods
which are bolted through the sheeting. These tierods are placed at intervals of 6ft. 6in. Similar
rods connect the top lines of waling. Alternating
with the rods are short bolts securing the sheeting
to the wales.
Gravel filling is deposited between the two rows
of sheeting, and after it has been consolidated
or compacted it is capped by a 24in. slab of reinforced concrete forming the deck of the pier. The
concrete encases the heads of the piles and its
edges are seated on the outside wale angles. A
3in. duct in the concrete provides for electric
wiring .
To brace and strengthen the relatively slender
lines of sheet piling they are connected at intervals
by diaphragms of similar piling, as shown by the
drawing. These diaphragms have on each side
wales of Sin. steel channels, but with webs vertical
and bolted together through the sheeting. In this
way the gravel filling is divided into compartments.
The end of the pier is closed by a line of sheeting
having inside wales only. These wales are similar
to those on the side sheeting of the pier and between
their webs pass the ends of 1tin. anchor rods.
The rods in the top wale are embedded in the
concrete deck slab ; those of the lower wale are
bolted through 30ft. wooden anchor piles about
12ft. back from the end of the pier. Special sheet
piles, curved in the web, are used to form the end
corners of the pier.
T he Ch emist a nd the Ship*
By J. E. HOLMSTROM, B.Sc., Ph.D., Assoc. M. Inst. C.E.
INTRODUCTION
B' xB*Ls
I
2.
a•cs
Tie Rods 6'- 6lt1' c. to c.
I
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•
I.K"'" c.L.
I Piling
-
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C.L . -
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Mtng
30' Wood Piles
\
{
13'- 7 1
----
~~----
DETAIL OF END DIAPHRAGM.
13' -7'
----
B" x B"Ls
•r - - _
-
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0
DETAIL OF INTERMEDIATE
DIAPHRAGM.
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I
MARcH 8, 1940
THE ENGINEER
.. . . . ,. . . . ( . . ... . .; :. -· . -~t=
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Approx. Bed of Lake
•
"THE ENOINttA"
FIG. 6-TYPICAL SECTION
OF NEW PIER
a series of vertical corrugatioM in the face of the
dolphin. In the new exteMion northward, however, these spur jetties are to be omitted, erosion
along the toe of the barrier being prevented at
much less expeMe by depositing rip-rap or large
loose rock along the toe.
In placing the sand for the new beach inside the
barrier, it was at first filled to 5ft. below datum
along the toe of the steel sheeting. But in view
IN so far as problems in shipbuilding and marine
engineering are problems of m aterials they are
also problems in applied chemistry. The business
of the chemical industry-not alone, but working
in close collaboration with the other industries
that surround it on all sides-is the development,
production, and continual improvement of materials
whatever their origins and whatever their ultimate
applications. The scope and interests of chemistry
are far from being limited to what are commonly
called " chemicals " ; they extend directly, or still
more often indirectly, to materials of every kindnatural or synthetic, mineral or vegetable, r are or
plentiful. Nearly all other industries depend, in
fact, on the chemical industry for some of the preconditions or their work and progress.
This being so, the object of the present paper
is to bring together a series of pictures each drawn
by a chemist able to speak with authority on his
own branch, outlining on the one hand certain directions in which the chemical industry has brought
forth notable fruits in recent years and, on the
other hand, the directions in which these are of
interest to shipbuilders and marine engineers. B y
reason of its authorship the pictW'e is necessarily
less complete on the latter side than on the former,
but if its publication evokes discussion whereby the
balance may be corrected so that the chemist can
take the marine engineer 's and shipbuilder's special
needs into account when fixing his objective for
further research, its purpose will have been served.
The paper will be divided, accordingly, into the
following sections : ( 1) Applications of rubber and rubber products.
(2) Applications of chlorine compounds.
(3) Applications of plas tics.
(4) Paints and finishes.
(5) D efence against fire.
(6) P est control.
(7) MetallW'gical processes.
(8) R efrigeration and storage of perishables.
Two other branches of the chemical industry
of interest to members of the Institute, namely,
boiler feed water treatments and non-ferrous metals,
have been deemed sufficiently important to be made
the subject of separate papers alr eady published.
In concluding this introductory note the titular
author wishes to make clear that his own part in
producing the paper has been almost entirely editorial, and that whatever value it may possess is
• The Institute of Marine Engineers.
due to the work of his specialist colleagues in their
resp ective fields.
APPLICATIONS OF R UBBE R .AND RELATED
PRODUCTSt
The rapid strides made by the rubber induStry
during the last few decades undoubtedly are intimately bound up with the rise of the automobile
industry. At first rubber was used almost exclusively in tyres, but recently the automobile engineer
has become " rubber-conscious" and in some cases
as much rubber is used in the actual chassis and
body construction of the motor car as in the tyres
themselves.
It is felt that if naval architects and marine
engineers were as " rubber-conscious" as their
counterparts in the motor industry, they might find
rubber and related products even more useful. For
this r eason it is proposed to discuss the properties
of rubber and its related products and suggest ways
in which the peculiar properties of such compounds
might be usefully applied in ships.
The general p roperties of rubber are well known,
in that it is a. resilient, extensible, and retractible
material having a high t ensile strength. The shortcomings of rubber a re not so widely appreciated,
and it is p robably due to errors in application that
rubber has not made more headway as a.n engineering
material. A new material suitable for many purposes
may be prejudiced by an initial mistake in its use.
The most serious of the shortcomings of rubber are
due to the deleterious effect of heat, light, and oil.
Rubber , when it encounters such conditions in severe
degree, is likely to give unsatisfactory service, and
it is unfortunate that in many, if not most, engineering
applications one or more of these influences are present
to some considerable extent.
At one time the poor heat resistance of vulcanised
rubber was a great drawback, but the discovery of
powerful anti-oxidants by the chemist and the
development of low sulphur compounding by the
technologist have gone a long way to overcome this
difficulty. E ven so, certain synthetic rubbers show
definite adva.ntages in resistance to beat, and in this
connection it is interesting to note that synthetic
products such as neoprene never revert like rubber,
i .e. do not soften to an almost liquid condition but
tend g radually to harden.
When we come to consider the effects of light,
oxidation and oil, it has to be admitted that rubber,
even when compounded according to the most
modem developments, leaves much to be desired.
It is under such conditions that the modern synthetic rubbers and their related products come into
their own, and it will be convenient a.t this point to
review the materials which are now available.
Synthetic Rubbers.-Synthetic rubbers may conveniently be divided into two classes :(a) Those closely related to na.tW'al rubber in
chemical structW'e, e.g. poly-chlorobuta<liene or
neoprene, and poly-butadiene or Buna.
(b) Those having no chemical relationship with
natural rubber , consisting mainly of· a class
of products known as " thioplasts," of which
Vulca.plas, Thiokol, and P erdW'en are important
examples.
The members of class (a) have mechanical properties equal or superior to those of natural rubber
together with far greater resistance to light, heat,
and oil, while those of class (b) are usually less
resilient, a.nd of lower t ensile strength than natW'a.l
rubber, but usually swell even less than materials
of clas s (a) in oils a nd solvents. It is to be noted
that a slight swelling in oil may in some circumstances be a.n advantage, since provided the mechanical properties of the rubber are not adversely affected
by such slight swelling a. tighter joint is obtained
dW'ing ser vice. This applies particularly to jointing
rings, gaskets, oil-sealing tapes, &c.
Below is given a. comparative table of properties
of a. typical vulcanised rubber and a comparable
vulcanised synthetic rubber (neoprene).
TABLE
Hardness (Shore) . .. ... ...
Tensile strength (Kgs.fcm. 2 )
Elongation per cent. at break ...
Resilience per cent.
.. . .. . ...
Abrasion loss ... ... ... ...
Fatigue flexing
. . . . .. . . . . ..
Per ~ent. swelling a t 70 deg. Cent.
m-
Diesel oil ... ...
Transformer oil ...
Mobiloil BB
...
...
...
...
I.
Rubber
Neoprene
60
216
625
63-65
0·110
268
60
22-1602
63-65
0·110
over 1000
480
275
104
58
15
4
The figW'es given above deal with two comparable
mixings. I t must be appreciated that both neoprene
and rubber can be compounded by the rubber
manufactW'er to give products of widely varying
hardness, tensile strength, and resilience.
The ageing of rubber is usually assessed by determining the drop in tensile properties after varying
p eriods of time in the oxygen bomb under 300 lb.
per square inch pressw·e a t 70 deg. Cent. or in the
Geer oven in air at 70 d eg. Cent. The following tables
t Contributed by B. J . Habgood, B .Sc., A.T.C., A.I.R.I.(Sc.).
•
MARcH 8, 1940
THE ENGINEER
give an indication of the comparati,,e ageing figures
of n eoprene and natural rubber.
The resis~co of neoprene to weatherin~, sunlight,
and ozone JS very grC'aL ns comparPd w1th natural
r ubber.
TABLt:
Day " speedboat, the unofficial world record holder
400 Kg. class, piloted by E. Spurr in September,
1938, was equipped with a neoprene-coated hull
as a. protection against erosion and corrosion. It
has further boon reported that propellers which
H.-U.ry[JCit Bomb Auciltfl ot 10 dcg. Cmt . ol 300 lb. per •quare
Rubber
Unaged
6 days.
12 days.
18 days.
•
.
•
•
•
•
.
.
•
Elongation
per cent.
Hardness
216
86
34
perished
625
366
132
p erished
60
64
83
100
Ton.eilo
Kgs.jcm. 2
224
167
167
132
u nsged. . •
3 weeks . .
6 weeks • .
12 weeks • .
'
246
265
206
41
Oxyucn Pru1ure.
Elongation
per cent.
Hardness
602
448
378
313
68
72
74
77
Ill.-Geer Oven Aueing in Air at 10 deg. Oent.
Rubber
Tensile
Kgs.fcm. 2
i1u:h
Neoprene
Ton.eilo
Kgs.jcm. 2
TABLE
229
Elongation
per cent.
625
506
401
135
Neoprene
Tensile
Kgs.fom. 1
Hardness
60
224
249
241
200
-
67
70
B onding to M etal.- ln engineering applications the
bonding of rubber and related compounds to various
surfaces, and to metals in particular, is of great
importance, and several methods are available, many
of which depend upon the d eposition of brass on to
the metal to be bonded. The technique of b onding
is dealt with in detail in a paper by B. J . H a.bgood in
Tran8. l n8t. Rubber I nduatrtJ, XITI , 2, 136, 1937,
which also contains an extensive bibliography.
Neoprene can be b onded directly to brass and to
a variety of m et.als including iron and steel, nickel,
chromium, lead, zinc, and aluminium and its alloys, by
the use of a chlorinated rubber interlayer (U.K. P at.
493,139). Excellen t adhesion is obtained equal to the
strength of t h e n eoprene itself.
Rubber is a lready b eing used as a protective
covering for shafting, where its resilience and flexi·
bility allows the covering to adjust itself to deformation \vithout fracture. The p rotection of pipe
lines carrying salt water, which is highly corrosive
to n early all metals, is a relatively new applica.·
tion and is proving highly successful, since not only
is rubber very resistant to electrolytes-a fact
adequately demonstrated by its successful utilisation
in the chemical industry- but being an insulator
it preven ts the developm ent of electric currents
t hrough galvanic action, the cause of much trouble
in th e past.
Shock and Vibration Abaorption.-ln the motor-car
industry the use of rubber as a shock-resisting and
vibration ·damping susp ension has come to stay.
There would appear no reason why the same principle
sh ould n ot b e applied with advantage aboard ships,
not only to heavy reciprocating machinery but to
electrical gen erators and other auxiliary gear tending
to transmit n oise and vibration through the hull. In
submarines t he efficient damping of noise would
appear to be of paramount importance in lessening
the risk of detection.
The superior oil resistance of neoprene enables
resilien t mountings to b e employed under conditions
where n atural rubber would rapidly fail, and trials
are in progress using n eoprene suspensions for large
marine D iesel engines and high-speed pumps.
It is suggested that simi lar methods could be used
for the prevention of hull vibration and metal
fatigue in high·Rpeed craft and for the a lleviation
of <'ompressional strain d eveloped in various circumstances. Under conditions where shock a.bsorp·
tion, as distinct. from vibration damping, becomes
important, t he higher hysteresis of neoprene makes
it superior to rubber in applications such as gunmountings and recoil mechanisms. The effective
bonding of n eoprene to metals renders possible the
manufactured of laminated neoprene-metal sh eets ;
these would be expected to show high shockresisting properties and might find special applications in ship construction.
Neoprene P aint.- B efore finally leaving the uses of
bonded n eoprene, reference must be made to a recent
development which appears to be of great promise,
namely, t he application of neoprene solutions as
protective coatings. Neoprene in its unvulcanised
condition is considerably more soluble in organic
solven ts t han is rubber; that is to say mobile solutions containing up to 30 per cent. of neoprene can be
readily obtained which arc capable of being brushed
or sprayed on to various surfaces. Ono of the
latest d evelopments, which has been reported as
being successful, is the lining of vortex chambers
with neopren e paint. The heat encountered under
service conditions vulcanises the material in situ
with the result that corrosion troubles are stated to
have been entirely overcome through the use of
such coatings. Self-vulcanising solutions can be
used if n ecessary, thus enabling the treatment of
large areas which could not be vulcanised or stoved.
~e investigation of neoprene paint as an anti·
foulmg composition would be of interest, and the
production of non-slip d eck coverings, having
excellent ageing properties, would appear to hold
great promise. It h M been s tat.od that the "Empire
Elongation
per cen t.
Hardness
602
496
422
280
68
-
72
80
have b een t reated with neoprene paint have given
excellent results, the scouring effect of sand and the
pitting caused by cavitation being largely eliminated.
Another interesting application of neoprene solu·
tion lies in its application in the construction of
radiators, oil coolers, intercoolers, and the like in
'vhich neoprene replaces brazing and soldering, the
resilient properties of the neoprene bond giving
increased protection against the deleterious effects of
vibration.
Oil-Reai8tant Product8.- The resistance of neoprene
to oil enables its successful use in a. numb er of applications where rubb er would fail, such as for oil seals
and gaskets, including cork gaskets in which the cork
granules are bonded together with n eoprene, and for
valve diaphragms. A good report has been received
on the wearing qualities of neoprene air pump valves
in resisting corrosion under oily conditions. The
aeronautical industry h as developed the use of
neoprene strips for the caulking of joints where
welding is inadmissible, and it is possible that a
similar m ethod may be of interest to the shipbuilder.
Large quantities of n eoprene oil hose are a.t
present being manufactured, the material being
resistant not only to oil but also to weathering (a
factor of p articular prominence in the tropics) so
that the problem of storing spares becomes much
easier. The fa<:t that neoprene h ose can be manufactured with a. smooth bore free from internal
wiring is a. furth er advantage, enabling higher flow
rates to b e obtained with a given diameter.
Electrical Equipment.-The
superior
ageing
p rop erties of n eoprene render it suitable in a number
of applications for which rubber is definitely un·
suitable. The increased resistan ce to weathering and
th e possible use of neoprene as an anti-corrosive
covering and also for deck covering have already b een
m en tioned. I ts use in unarmoured cable is at present
attracting attention. At ono time the greatest drawback to the V.I .R. cable lay in its rela tively short life,
which meant that vessels had to be refitted at least
once during their life, but the improvements secured
of late years through the use of organic accelerators
and anti·oxidan ts combined with strict scientific
control of manufacture have gone a. long way towards overcoming this difficulty, and the life of
armoured ·cables and lead-covered V.I.R. is to-day
of a. high order. In the case of una rmoured and
uncovered flexible cables, where the effect of light
plays an important part and where the cables are
working under h igh temperature conditions (e.g. in
stokeholds, engine rooms, &c.) the use of n eoprene
as a. sheathing is of interest. It has been suggested
that a great saving in weight could b e obtained
through the replacement of lead armouring by
neoprene or similar products, and the suggestion
would appear worthy of trial.
The electrical properties of neoprene are somewhat
inferior to those of natural rubber.
TABLE
IV.-Oomparotit•c Ekctrical Proptrtiu of Rubber
ond N «Jprene
Vulcanised
Rubber
---------------------1-------Volume resistivity Obms.fom.3 ... 1·36
10
X
Dielectric constant
. . . . ..
Brealcdown strength 1\.vfmm.
Power factor (radio frequency) ...
2·3
30
2·1
1$
Vulcanised
Neoprene
I X JOlG
5
10
8
The above figures are indicative of the differences
between rubber and neoprene, but the actual figures
will vary to some extent with the compositions of the
mixings employed. Notwithstanding the relatively
poor electrical characteristics of neoprene, satisfactory
results have been obtained when using it as an insulator for voltages up to about 250. With higher
voltages a rubber insulation protected by neoprene
sheaths is usually employed . The production of
conducting rubber sh eaths by the incorporation of
carbon black, &c. has recently attracted attention
since static electricity is largely eliminated in this way
and the leakages which give rise to so much corrosion
t rouble are largely overcome. Sheathings made
from neoprene by a similar m ethod give even higher
conductivities.
Before leaving the question of electrical equipment a passing reference will be made to the use
of hard rubber ebonite for battery boxes. Ordinary
ebonite has been so used for many years and, while
satisfactory in its resistance to electrolytes, it suffers
from one grave disadvantage in that it is som ewhat brittle under impact. By t h e introduction of
relatively small amounts of neoprene a material
lmown as " flexible eb onite " is ob tained which retains the anti-corrosive properties of ordinary
ebonite whilst giving m ark edly improved shock
resistance. Experiments are actively proceeding in
the d evelopment of flexible ebonite battery containers which, if successful, should find use in ships,
particularly in submarines.
The covering of light alloy battery boxes with
neoprene and with flexible ebonite is also being investigated, but the trials are at present incomplete.
It is h oped that a. great saving in weight will be
obtained in this way.
Flame Reaistance.-Undoubtodly a. great drawback
of vulcanised rubber lies in its i.nflamrna.ble nature.
The need for fireproof materials in ship furnishing has
been only too well illustrated by the disastrous fires
which have destroyed many ships in recent years,
and in fighting ships the utilisation of flame-resistant
rubber b ecomes more important still. A great d eal
of work h as been carried out recently on the subject of flame-resistant rubber and a survey of the
subject is given in a. paper by Da.wson (India Rubber
Jourru:tl, 90, 525, 1935).
In neoprene, however, we have a synthetic rubber
which contains a relatively high percentage of
chlorine namely, about 40 per cont.- and after
vulcanisation exhibits mechanical properties similar
to those of natural rubber. Neoprene, therefore, is
an excellent starting material for ~he production of
flame-resistant and incombustible rubber articles,
and neoprene mixings are readily obtainable which
when h eld in a bunsen flame burn only with difficulty,
and cease to burn immediately on removal from the
flame.
Poly·vinyl chloride is another material of
interest as a flame-resistant insulator for cables and
similar purposes. This material contains approximately 50 per cent. of chlorine and its p hysical
properties can b e varied over a considerable range
by the addition of p lasticisers so as to obtain products varying from hard horny materials d own to
soft rubbery on es. Poly-vinyl chloride, however,
h as one disadvantage compared to neoprene in that
it is thermoplastic and softens at ab out 70 deg. Cent.
and cannot be vulcanised. It does, however, exhibit
excellent resistance to ozone, to oil and to weathering,
and in cases where no high t emperature conditions
are likely to b e met with in service there is no d oubt
of its great potentialities.
It is h oped that the ab ove summary of the properties of rubber and related products, and of
their suggested applications, will interest and h elp
naval architect.'3 and shipbuilders in the solution of
some of their problems. It cannot be too highly
stressed that close co-op eration between the engineer
and the rubber technologist is of paramount importance if the best results are to be obtained.
pAINTS AND FINISHES
Paint8 for P rotection againat Oorro8ion and Decay.The use of paint materials in ships gives rise in
the first place to certain general problems of pro ·
tection which are common to other constructions
also, and secondly to a g reat number of special
problems of localised or limited interest which there
'ivill not be space to examine h ere. An example of
the latter is the problem of corrosion in oil cargo
tanks on which Mr. H . S. Humphreys made some
illuminating remarks in his paper " The Care and
Maintenance of a Modern Diesel-Engined Tanker
Fleet " (Tra.ns. Inst.. Mar. Engrs., XLVIII, January,
1936).
In view of the references made b elow to d ecorative
uses of paints it will be well to make clear, in first
consid ering the use of paint for protective purposes,
that the same paint may b e b oth protective and
decorative. The protection afforded by the film is
due to the combined effects of the vehicle and pigment
after air-drying or forced-drying, the d egree of su ch
protection d ep ending to som e extent u pon the thickn ess of the film but mainly upon such of its properties
as flexibility, resistance to heat, cold, and wet.
The problems that arise in connection with the
protection against corrosion and decay can be conveniently examined under the following h eads :(a) Anti·fouling (below water line).
(b) Other protection (above water line).
Anti-fouling compositions are directed against
the adhesion of barnacles to the ship's bottom. It
has not so far proved possible to devise means of
preventing such adhesion, but only to reduce the
amount of adhesion and to facilitate removal by
scaling·off such barnacles as have adhered. The
importance of effective anti-fouling composition lies
in tho fact that barnacles provide resistance to the
passage of the ship through the water. Effective
anti-barnacle compositions thus increase sp eed and
•
230
T H E ENGINEER
.M ARCH
8, 1930
reduce fuel consumption, not m~rely in theory but satisfactory. Again, a very general problem of powder, has been added to the list and now forms
quite substantially.
construction and maintenance is the prevention of the basis for a growing industry. Simplicity of
A further purpose of anti-fouling compositions rust, a problem which, during the building of the ship fabrication is not, however, the sole reason for
is the important one of reducing the corrosion of on the stocks, is met to some extent by the use of a the increasing interest in metal powder technology.
The powder method may b e used to alloy metals
the ship's bottom. In general, the ingredients used rust-inhibiting primer.
in such compositions to r esist the barnades aro
Paints jot I nte1•nal Structw·e and Decotation.- which will not ordinarily alloy, to obtain greater
certain toxic metallic compounds which aro cience and art aro no longer thought of as in- accuracy of composition in the final product, to
intended to poison the barnacles and so cause them congruous. The chemist's contribution is a scientific produce a porous final structure or to obtain many
to drop off or to render their subsequent removal one, but is none the less artistic as well. This is other qualities not possible with the continuous
easier, and the ideal anti-fouling composition is especially true in the decoration of ships, where the metal. B ars or rods compressed from metal powders
one which poisons the barnacles and slowly " chalks " chemist plays an essential though indirect part in can be worked to obtain sheets, wires, and similar
so as continually to present a toxic surface; in the rosthetic realisation. Nor should this function be products with a close, uniform structure.
Almost all of the m etals are now obtainable as
absence of this chalking characteristic the anti- constnted too narrowly in terms of the pleasure
barnacle value of the composition becomes pro- afforded to passengers alone; for, just as it has now powders, though of course at a wide variation in
gressively weaker until the application is renewed. b een established that factory operatives react favour- price. In general the powders are substantially
Consequently a high order of durability has not ably to a bright environment, so there are signs of a more expensive than the corresponding solid metals
been found compatible with the most effective anti- disposition on the part of shipbuilders and shipowners and can be used only when processing economies
fouling characteristics. Although some progress, to perceive that (subject to over-riding economic offset the extra cost of the raw material. Howalong conventional lines, has b een made by the considerations) the accommodation provided for ever, in the production of small, simple parts the
relatively small number of manufacturers concerned ships' crews need not b e so drab as h as often been the sp eed of production and the savings in material
in the manufacture of anti-fouling compositions, no case in th e past. Owners, in providing the brighter occasioned by the elimination of machining often
revolutionary changes in formulation have been pro- atmosphere to which paint can so largely contribute, make the use of po\Yder less expen sive than the
posed and an important field of activity here awaits may not only give themselves pleasure as employers conventional use of the m etal.
Many alloys a re made by mixing their components
further attention by the chemist.
but are likely to influence helpfully the attitude of the
tainless steel, for instance, may
Other protective finishes are those applied to crew to their several tasks. This applies to cargo in powder form.
the hull, superstructure and miscellaneous surfaces. vessels no less than to passenger ships. Here two b e produced by mixing iron, nickel, and chromium
On passenger ships the hull paints employed are sciences meet, for the ch emist is helping to implement powders, although it is necessary to heat-treat the
product for a r elatively long time and at a high
black, white, or one of many intermediate shades. the work of the industrial psychologist.
The instinct of the shipoWI1ers has been against high
The contribution made by the paint chemist to the temperature to disp erse tho three constituents.
quality materials and they have in the main been d ecoration of the modem ship is best summarised by Brass powder is produced by h eating a mLxturo of
content with orthodox oil paints, asking only that indicating the principal d evelopments in paint copper and zinc powder to a temperatw·e close to
the paint should last for a reasonable p eriod. The formulation which have taken place in recent years. the melting point of zinc. This is a diffusion method.
reason for this attitude, and for the consequent lack The basis of orthodox paints was always drying oil in r.Ii.'--ing the powders is not, however, a simple proof application in ships of those d evelopments which which pigment was ground. Even before the cedure ; and, where there is a great difference in
have latterly been realised through research on revolutionary changes in composition which have density b etween the materials to be mLxed, it may
paints in general, may be found in the circumstance occurred in recent years the contribution of the require up to three or four days. Of late equipment
that the principal merit of improved finishes which chemist was far from insignificant, for there are many has b een developed which reduces the mixing period
has to b e relied on to outweigh their slightly higher grades of oil paint and the adjustments which can be considerably.
cost per gallon lies in their greater durability and made to ensure the complete suitability of the
An outstanding current problem in the art is tho
appearance. Generally, their economy depends on product for the particular purpose in view are the production of ferrous a lloy parts which will have
the fact that labour costs are lower because the result of much patient investigation on his part. It the hardness required in many uses. F errous alloy
durability is greater ; but where, as is so often the would be unsound to assume, because n ew types of powders meeting the hardness requirements have
case on board ship, the crew do the exterior painting finish have in many instances displaced oil p aints, offered serious moulding difficulties. One solution to
when they would otherise be idle so that labour cost that these have had their day or are incapable in this dilemma. has b een to decarbonise the sw·face of
is not a separate factor, such saving is not necessarily appropriate circumstances of giving eminently satis- the particles, thus producing a coating of soft
realised.
factory results. Here, as elsewhere, enthusiasm for iron, which permits the cohesion and welding of
In a. few cases where a separate labour cost is technical advance needs to b e tempered by a reluct- the powder under pressure. Mter forming, the
thrown up savings have indeed b een effected through ance to identify the new with the invariably and product is heated and the ca.rbon disperses uni·
the use of modern materials of a. synthetic resin necessarily better.
formly, yielding a. product of r equisite hardness
type and it is worthy of note that some of the largest
Chemical research, again, has b een responsible for and having an w1Usually high tensile strength.
United States liners a.r e finished in synthetic resin the development of m ethods of producing cellulose This work opens a broad new field.
hull paints. Superstructw·al painting, moreover, is acetate and cellulose nitrate from vegetable m aterial.
Probably some of the greatest advances ia the
usually undertaken by contract, and this gives an Both in the United States and in this country it was utilisation of m etal powders have been in mould
opportunity for superior paints to be evaluated and realised that the products so available might, with design and in the moulding process. The quantity
for labour costs to become clearly apparent.
suitable solvents, be used to provide a film for coating of powder delivered to the mould must b e kept conIn the case of both hull and superstructure paints both metal and wood surfaces. The adaptation of stant within minute limits in order to produce
the essential difficulties encountered are the same. nitrocotton to such peaceful purposes as the manu- products which are accurately uniform. So success1n ships operating through wide variations of facture of finishes provides a n otable example of the fully have the orifices through which t he po\vd er
latitude the alternation of h eat and cold affords sword being beaten into a ploughshare. Faster flows been designed that it is now possible to proono of the severest tests that any paint can be drying and the possibility of spray application a.r e t\vo duce gears and other parts which require no fw·ther
ca1led upon to resist. Paint should provide essen- of tho principal advantages d erived from nitrocellulose finishing. It has been d etermined that the shapo
tially a flexible film ; >vithin limits this flexibility is finishes which have led to their use becommg all but of the particles, their sizo, assortm ent, and tho
a saving feature, but b eyond those limits extreme universal in the mass production of motor cars and apparent density have an appreciable influence
heat alternating with extreme cold may easily lead fw·niture. Still n ewer materials continue to be on flow and that consequently great care must be
to cracking. The company with which the author developed, offering, for particular purposes, still exercised in the production of the powders. The
of this section is connected have b een successful furth er advantages.
fine powders, of course, contain large quantities
in developing modern synthetic finishes which stand
In their decorative applications cellulose finishes of air which must be vented during the moulding
up effectively to extreme cold or to extrem e h eat gained ground slowly, mainly owing to the difficulty, in operation. The design of the vent, which must p ass
and which have withstood severe tests in both cold the case of small jobs, of making the spray equipment air but hold back particles som etimes finer than 400
and hot climates ; but where these extremes alternate available on the site, and also to that of masking in m esh, has been a Yexing problem but has been
on one and the same film it has to be admitted cases where only small areas are to be finished. As solved. D espite the difficulties encountered origithat an extremely difficult problem remains out- regards interior finishing of passenger ships there has nally, production rates up to 1500 parts per minute
standing. To some extent this has b een solved by been no difficulty at all, and cellulose has in fact on a single press havo been attained for simple
the use of a synthetic v ehicle and modern types of made an important contribution to the interior parts, far exceeding tho moulding rate for plastics
pigment.
but not yet equalling tha t of pharmaceutical tablets.
decoration of the woodwork of modem vessels.
Insofar as hull and superstructure paints undergo
The latest and most revolutionary material in this
Formation of large articles by moulding is difficult,
cleaning, this is norma lly done by simple washing field to become available through the work of tho for the total pressures required become impracticdown without any dry ing. Tho paints are, there- chemist is that resulting from his formulation of ably large. Asido from the increased cost enfore, e>.'J>OSed to brine, in addition to which the finishes with synthetic resin v ehicles. These have countered with high p ressure, the size of the press
pigment from which the colour is derived may provided paint films greatly superior in important becomes unwieldy, since the powder occupies three
be affected by hot sW1Shine active over long periods. respects, including those of durability and fl.e:-...- ibility, times the volume of the fina l product. Handling
In the case of hulls, bituminous compositions to orthodox materials of the oi l twe, and also much of such large volume requires elimination of a
have been tried but without success ; they tend, superior in build to tho b est nitrocellulose finishes. large quantity of air and d emands impracticably
after severa.l coats have b een applied, to sag. It Gloss is readily r egulated by small adjustments in close control of friction in order to secure dimen'vill be appreciated that hull paints are applied. formulation and the materials are normally available sional accw·acy. It is now possible, however, to
coat after coat, without any intervening prepara- in matt, eggshell and glossy types.
fabricate larget· articles from strips formed by
tion of the surface as in tho case of ordinary decoraAnother recent d evelopment, the applications of compressing the powder either alone or on to a solid
tive painting; the protection is afford ed not by one which are b eing studied and may well prove to be base sh eet. Some investigational work is now
paint film but by the many which are superimposed of special interest in marine -n·ork, is the incor- being conducted on compression under vacuum,
on one another, until eventually all are stripped poration in paints of the chlorinated rubber already whereby the required pressures may b e reduced
away together so that the process may begin over m entioned in this paper. One of the special merits from 30 tons to som e .five tons per square inch.
again. A normal paint system may vary between of this procedure lies in the proved possibility of
The parts formed from powdered metals have
4 and 10 thousandths of an inch in thickness and thereby obtaining a paint which offers considerable diameters of up to eight inches ; commutator rings
such a r elatively thin film would offer little pro- resistance to flame and which can be used with are a good example. Goat'S, brake drums, and clutch
tection against the waves which pound against the side advantage for the serving of electric cables and the rings are typical pr·oducts.
Powder compression
of the ship ; hence the practice of building coat upon covering of tanks for inflammable liquids. In addi- m ay be used to particula.t· advantage in annulat·
coat.
tion it is highly resistant to corrosion, and experiments parts, since so much m ateria l is normally wasted
The method of application is an important factor are being made to test its anti-fouling properties.
in cutting the rings from Rheets. The versatility of
powdered metal products is well demonstrated
in connection with protective paints and finishes.
by the use of a sheet made ft·om aluminium powdet'
For the painting of the hull and superstructure there
on the leading edge of an aNoplane wing to prevent
is no reason why spraying should not be used except
ico formation. The pores may be filled with wax,
for the considerable waste of material which would be
Gear
Powder
s*
which p revents adhesion of the ice, or a liquid may
involved when working under very exposed conditions.
be forced under pressure through the pores to pre·
The commonest method of applying general protective
MANY m ethods, such as casting, forging, rolling vent ice formation. The continual progress in
paints to hull surfaces is still by the use of the Turk's
and extrusion, have b een used to coax metals mould design, the better apprecia tion of th e facto1'S
head brush.
Every ship contains a large number of miscellaneous into the shape that is finally desired. I n the past involved in pt·oducing a satisfactory powder, an<l
items of one type or another which require protect~ve decade a n ew method, the compression of metal the advances in tho utilisation of iron powdor
combi.no to indicate g t·oat.ly inct·easod usefulne ·s
painting ; canvas and cordage aro examples on which
tar and bituminous type paints have been found • From Arthur D. LitUo, Inc. Industrial Bulletin, Jan., 1940. fol' metal powders in the future.
MARCH
•
8, 1940
231
THE ENGINEER
Rail and Road
Miscellanea
l\1EXIOAN HAlLWAY ACCIDENT.- Whon 0. paKHengot•
and a. freight train collided head on soul h of Queretat·o
City recently, twenty perHonll were killed and an unknown
number injured.
RoAD VEUJ C'LE~: NEw H EOISTRATlONS.- T he number
or mechanically propelled road vehicles registered for the
flr11t time in Great Britain during the month of January,
1940, was 11 ,746 compat·ed with 40,001 in January, 1939.
SouTHERN RAIL\VAY MISB'AP.- Whon tho 8.7 a.m.
train from Shoreham-by-Soa. was leaving Cliftonvillo
tunnel on \<'ledncsday, February 28th, it ran into and wall
derailed by a fall of chalk. Although tho train waH
<·rowded with passengers n ot one was injured. B oth
lines were blocked for some time and trains wore divot·tcd
to anothet· route.
AROENTJNE RAILWAY htPBOVEMENTS l'ROORAMM E.An expenditure of a.n additional sum or nearly three
million dollar~! has boon authorised by tho Argentine
Government on railway improvemontR. or this amount
nonrly two million dollars will bo spent on line repait·11 and
equipment;, 360,000 dollarA on the Parano.-Rio Orando lino
and 230,000 dollars on tho r·cconstruction or the TI'QnHnndine Railway.
NEw TBAlllS AT GLAsoow.- A scheme for the <·onHtruction of four-wheel trams, similar to two expor·imontal vehicles built at the Coplawhill works, has boon
placed before the Glasgow Transport Committoo. T ho
oxperimonlal cars coflt £2946 and £3 140 reHpectively, and
it iH anticipated that a largo sum of money will be s£wed
if the schomo is adopted. Tho new vehicleMhave separate
driving compartments and incorporate improved bral<ing
racilities.
AMERICAN RAILWAY I NCOME IN 1939.- Sta.t,illtics Of t.ho
Bureau o£ Railway E conomics of tho Afii!Ocia.tion of
American Railroada show that the ClasH I railroada of lho
United States had a net operating income of nearly 1.100
million dollarll or a return of 2·26 per cent. on their
propol'ly inveHtment in 1939. G r·o~<H opor·ating rovonu('>~
to talled nearly 4000 million d ollars and opcwating exponHeK
ncady 3000 million dolll~rll. Taxes paid amounted t.o
nearly 400 miJJion dollars.
L.M.S. NEw TtmNTABLES.- The London Midland and
Hcotliflh Railway Company announce!! that at nino out;
of ten places where locom otive turntables are to bo
ronowed, the now turntables will be of larger diamotN· HO
O.H to accommodate bigger locomotives. The place!!
affected aro Bolton, Colno, Blll·ton, Chadde!!don (Derby),
Nottingham, Shrews bury, Tobay, PenriLh, Normanton.
and Stt·anraer, and with tho exceptions of Burton (57ft.)
and Sht-owl!bury (70ft.), all the new turntables will bo of
60ft. diameter ; some of those to be replaced are as small
as 42ft.
NEW MEXICAN LINES.- When a 460 miles long railway
now under constt·uction botwoen Puel'to Mexico and Campeche is finished the United Railways of Yucatan will be
(•Onm~cted with the National Mexican Railways aystem.
In the north-western part of the country a line is being
laid between Fuentes Brotantes and Santa Ana. on tho
system of tho Southern Pacific of Mexico, and when it is
completed it will be p ossible for goods t.o be sent from
Lower California to the Mexican markets without the
necessity of passing through the United Stales. On
both theso lines the problem of obtaining suitable boiler
water for s team locomotives is particular'ly acute, and it
has been decided to uso oil-electric locomotives for both
shunting and train haulage.
GooDS VERICLES BUN ON GAs.-Tho present basic
ration of liquid fuel fixed by the Minister· of Transport for
goods vehicles run on producer gas is ono-sixth of tho
normal issue. It has now been increaRed to one-half
of the normal issue, and tho samo proportion will bo
available for vehicles rwming on coal ot· other gas,
whether in cylinders or loose containorR. The now
arrangement will remain in operation for six months.
There will bo a review of the p osition before the
end of this period. The new arrangement will not
affect the existing righ t of operators of vehicles propelled
by gas to apply for supplementary rations of liquid fuol
for approved work for which gas propulsion is unsuitable.
The Minister hopes that undet· this f.wrangement operators
converting t heir vehicles will bo able to derive the fullest
possible benefit from thoil· enterprise, and that others will
be encouraged to follow suit.
VEmOLES FOR CIVIL DKFJtNCE.-Tho Civil Defence and
General J>urposes Committee of tho L ondon County
Council reports that tho hiring charges for tho 7800 vehicles
mobilised by the council for it!l civil defence services
would amount to ove-r £310,000 in o year. The Government has recently indicated that it i~ desirable to discontinue the existing hiring at-rangcmonts as soon as
posRible and purch ase socond-hand vohiclo1-1 for use in tho
civil defence services. This p olicy will involve tho pul'chase of more than 4000 m otor-cArs, lol'ries, vans, and
motor -cycles, at a cost of some £205,000. Second-hand
cars purchased for t he Auxmary Ambulance Service ar'O
already being converted into light ambulance vehicles at
the rate of 50 a week. As converted cat·s become available
to tow trailer pumps for tho Auxilinry Fire Servico tho
taxis which have been usod for this purpose s ince tho
beginning of tho war will bo returned to their owners.
RoAD IMPROVEMENT Pnoc BAMME tN SPAIN.- An
extensive scheme has been prepared for tho reconstruction
and extension of the road system in Spain. 'The first pnrt
of the scheme, which has been begun, includes tho roconstnJction or ropai t· of r oads and engineering s tructures,
the construction of new roads and t he completion of work
previously begun. Concreto or bituminous surfacingtJ
will be provided on first- and second-class road~c~, waterbound macadam being used on rural r oads onJy. On
first- and second-cla ss r oads level crosaings and curves of
11mall radius will be eliminated. It is expected thn.t this
work will bo completed in four or five years. During
the second period 390 miJos of national r oads, 1250 miles
of provincial r oadR, and 6250 miles of rural roads will bo
constructed, tho H'Rpoclive widths being 30ft., 25ft., and
20ft. At tho end of this p eriod Spain will posaess a total
of 12, 160 miles of national, 15,000 milcl! of provincinl,
and 62,500 milos of rut·a l ,·oads.
COAL ExPonTs.- Exporta or coal from this country in
.Jnnuary showed o. riso in value of £462,846 at £3,472,012
compared with £3,019,166 in the same month of 1938.
Shipments of coke and manufactured fuel declined by
£54,341 to .£349,773 as againRt £404, 144 in January last
year.
A LoNo SwEDISH HOPEWAY.- A ropeway at present
undot· conHtruction in Central Swodon will havo a total
length or about 26 miles. It is to be usod for the transport
of limestone, its capacity being about 90 tons an hour.
The cost of tho plant, which is expected to be completed
by tho ond of the year, is estimated at £235,000.
lNSTJTUTION OF NAVAJ, AnCIDTECTS.- It is announced
that tho annual general m eeting of tho Inst-itution of
No.val Archi tects will tako place in t ho L octuro Hall of
tho R oyal Society of ArtR, J ohn Str·eot, Adelphi, W .C. 2,
on WedneRclay , March 13th, at I 1.30 o'clock. A t thil!
m eeting, mombcrR aro reminded , only formal bu'!ineaR
will bo tr·onaactecl, and this will include the annual report
of tho Coun('il, election of pre!!idPnt, vice-preHidontfl,
Lt•easur'N'H, nnd o fficers and council, election of now
members, QMijOciato momho•·~~. OH!iociatcfl, and studonlH.
and tho appointment of ~C'rutinee t'l! fot· the next annual
m eeting. No annual dinner is to take place this spr•ing.
A list or the po.per!! which havo been HOiocted for publication in this year's volume or the Transactions iR
h erewith appondecl, and advance copioA of tho!le papers
may b o obtained from tho Hccretary. Written commontH
thet·eon 1\1'0 invited w ith o. viow to their· publication in the
Transactions. The papers a re as follows- " The Shipbuilding and Ship-ropo.iring Industries After the War,"
by Sir Archiba ld Hurd ; " Ship Structural Memhor>~,"
hy Mr. J. L . Adam ; " A New Mot hod of Calculo.tinp;
Wavo ProfiloR, a nd \Vavo R esistance of Ships," by Dr.
R ene Guilloton : " Rolling Experiments with Shipl! and
.Model1-1 in Still Water," by Mr. R. W . L . GMvn, R.C.N.C.;
"Somo Expm·im ent~c~ ' ith a Now Instrument for tho
1\leasurcmon t of H eel and Trim," by Mr. T . U. Ta,vlor ;
" L ongit udinnl Strength, " hy Mr. J . l•'oHter King and Mr. J.
Turn bull ; and " Tho Salvngo of H .M.S. " TheLia," hy
Mr. G. H . Cl'itchley.
THE BmTtSH Co.uPonATlON REotSTER J uBLLEE.- At
t ho fiftieth annual m!!olin(Z: of the Rritish Corporation
R ogist.et· of Shipping and Aircr·aft, which took placo in
ClaRgow on WedneRday , March Gth, the chairman, 1\h.
Gilbert J . I nnos, said thnt the meeting had an importance
of it!:! own as it mat·kod tho Jubilee of t.ho British Cr>rpot·ation Reg i t~to•·. Reviewing the origin and progress of the
Corporation'!! " ork during the past fifty year!l, Mt·. Jnnes
!laid that. the history fell broadly into two Atages, fi rllt on
initial Rtage during which the Corporation succeRsfu lly
achieved its primary m otive of combating monopoly in
Brjtish conLrol of load linos and clasAification, ancl a lator
stage of remarkable growth from nat;ionnl to international
influence in both sphflres of a ctivity. On the technical
side the C'o1-poration had to its credit the approval of the
design for the first I Mhorwood oil tankers, and fo1· la rge
single deck craft for bulk cargoes. It also Rponsored the
introduction of topside tankR and tltringorloss ships, of
double bottoms with open floor·s, of wide-spaced pillars in
holds, as against rows or s tanchion>~, while linked up with
this dovolopmont were tho large unencumbered hatches of
the m odem cargo liner. Outstanding 11hips had included
tre fitst ocean-going turbine steamer " Loongana" and
the first Atlantic m oto1·ahip " Jutlandia," which had boon
followed by many notable ships and the moto recent
aircraft developmonts connected wit.h tho register . The
raison d 'otre of the Br·itish Corporation was the need to
create high standarclq of toC'hnical excellence, capable of
commercial application. This bad bPcn the justification
for the Society'P exiRt~>nro and progr·ol!!l during tho past
fifty yearfl, nnd it muRt bo tho conLinuous aim of the
Corporation in tho years which wore to como.
ANoLO· F.RENCH T.RADE T ALKs.- This week, at tho hoo.dquartel'>l of the Federation of British Inrlustries, there
wore hold a Reries of meetings between leading BritiRh
and French industrialists for the purpose of discuRRing
economic and commercial probl~ms of common intorost.
These mcot.ings were referred to in J om·nal Notes in our
issues of l<'obruary 16th and Februar·y 23rd. A full JiRt
of delegaloA is now available.
From Franco there at·o : M. Reno Duchemin, chairman, la Confederation Gcnth·alc
du
Patronat FrangaiR,
president,
EtabliMsemonlM
Kuhlmann, vice-president, Internntionnl Chamber of
Commorre ;
M. Mal'lio, president, la Compagnie doH
MinoRot Produits Chimiquos d'Alai, Frogos et la Camat•guo;
M. Henri do P eyflrimhoff de F ontonollo, p resident, lo
Comitc Central des Houillt'lres de lt'tanco : .M. Painvin,
vice-president, la Chambro do Commerce de PariR, pre~< i ­
dent, !' Union dos Tndustries ChimiqucR; i\L Dubrull<',
president, la F ederation Jnternationalo de lo. Laino ;
M. JacqueL, m ember or tho executivo council, le Syndico.t
C{>n eral do l'Industrio Cotonniere; M. Alfred Lambot·tRibot;, vicc-presidont,lo Comite des Forges; M. A. Dutreux,
vice-p•·eMidont, F{>det·ation de la Mcconiquo; M. D etoeuf,
president, lo Syndicat General de la Construction E lectrique; M. Bienaimo, president, !' Union des Syndicat11
de la Par·fumerio ; lo Vicomte rlo I.avergno, deputy
vice-presic.Jont, la Con£6d6r-ation O~n crnle du P aLronat
Francais. The Bt·itiRh dolego.tes ar·o :- Lieut.-Colonol
Lord Dmlley Cordon, president-elect of the F edomtion of
BritiRh TnduAtries, chairman, J . and E. H all, Ltd. ,
Dartford ; Lord Barn by; Sit· Ft·ancis J osoph, chairman
and manop;ing dirpctor·, Aottlo, Spoakman and Co., Ltd.,
Stoko-on-'l'ront, ; Liout.-C:onoral Sit· {loorgo Mo.cdonogh,
chairman, fntemationoJ l 'aint and CompoHitions Company, Ltd.; Sir Georg<' B oha.rroll, chairman, Dunlop
Rubber Company, Ltd.; Sir WiUiam Larko, director,
British Iron and Steel Federation; W. J. U. Woolrock,
Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd.; Captain D. Bulo.yWatson, chair·man and joint maml.ging director, C. 1?.
Taylor and Co., Ltd., Shipl!'y ; li'ol'l'cst H ewit, chairman,
Joint Committee, Cotton Trade Organisations, vicechairman, Calico Printers' Association, Ltd.; A. C.
i\1acdiarmid, chairman and managing director, :itownrl!i
and Lloyds, I..td.; <:uy Locock, director, F ederation of
BriLish I ndustries; C. F. I. H.amsden, for·eign dir·cclor,
li'.B.I.; Hoy Glcnday, economic advisor, F.B .l.; l )hilip
Archer, French representative. l•'.B .I.
Air and Water
INDEPEN DJ~NT Allt SEIWICEs.-Tho Gover·nment has
not;i£iod a number or indep endent air services in this
country that the national air c~mm~nicationH H~ho!ne
under which they have boon working sm~e t~o bogmnrng
of hostilitiell is to he concluded, and thoar all'ca·aft taken
over. The compnnies concerned have prepare~! a K~~ome,
which th<:~y aro seeking to place before t~e Arr Mmrl!try,
which thoy think would help them to Aurvtve and also help
the countr·y.
CoNTROr, OF Snr.PDUJLOINO AND REPALRS.- Tho Controllet' of Merchant Shipbuilding and Repairs haf! appointed
Mr. S. M. Turnbull of the Greenock Dockyard Company,
L td. and the Clan Line, Ltd., and 1\lr. Summer·H Hunter
of tho North Eastern Marine Engineering Company, L td.,
to be hill pet·11onal t·opt·osontativoa fot· Scotland . and
Not·thcm I reland and for N01,:th -East England reRpoctavoly,
with tho title of " Regional Director." Both these gentlemen havo agreed to givo their services.
CANADIAN-BUILT FrORTER AmCRAFT.- The 6rst " H urr·icane " f.ghtet· aircmrt to be built in Canada has O.t'l'ivod in
England. It was bui lt by the Can~ian C~r .atld Fou":dry
Company and is the f. r·~c~t of a HOr tos of Hrm1la r machrnes
which will bo delivered in the noar future. 'l'ho constructorA form part of the group of fa.c~des c~rryi ng
out the orders for aircraft placed by tho Umted Krngdom
Government with tho DominionH. Built to normal
Br·itish l!poci(lcationa, the machine haH already carr·iod
out a tlatiHfactory test flig ht in Canada.
RtvER IMPROVEMENT IN AMEatCA.- During tho Great
Lakes navigation season, the steel plants at .Clevol.and,
in tho United States, nro served by voHsels whrch sari up
the Cuyo.hoga. River. I n 1938 work was begun on tho
impt•ovomont of this r iver by straightening out it>~ crooked
channel in order that the boat!!, wh ich are about 635ft.
long and 70ft. beam, could save Lime on the up-rivor trip.
Pointfl which jut out are being cut back, tho principal
bondH aro boing eased, and a numbet• of old narrow br·idgeK
aro being widened to provide a channel generally not lcl!s
than 200fL. wide at tho main unloading docks. Thrco now
highway bridges with quick lifLing Hpans m·e undor·
conatt·uction and two bBSina fot· tul'lling the boalH aro
being provided. The wot·k will cost jW!t. undot· 14 million
dollar:1.
NEW Al.'t1ERIOAN MOTORSHIP. -Tho flr·Ht of tho c.:}
type m otor cargo shipl! being built under the United Slalo~<
Maritime Commission has been placed in ~;ervico. Named
the " Mormacpenn " the new vesHol ha.'! the following mairt
dimensions : length ovot·all 492ft.; br·cadth 69ft. l.lin.:
depth of shelter deck 42ft. 6in.; dead weight ll, 735 ton~<.
Propulsion is by four two-stroke oil engines ralod at
2226 B.H .P . at 240 r .p .m., having a maximum conlinuoUH
rating of 2460 B.H.P. at 247 r.p.m. Each pa.it· or engine!:!
is connected to ono pinion of a red uction gear, with an
electro magnetic coupling interpot~od boLween oach engine,
and tho pinion it d t·ives. The gear ratio is such that.
when the engines arc turning at tho t•ated speed of 240
r.p.m., the propeller speed is 85 r.p .m. Each engine has
seven cylinders 20*in. diameter by 27tin. stroke.
AEROD.Uor.ms IN CANADA.- The Canadian deputy
Miniat.or of T ransport has announced that detailed l!ut·veys
have boon made on 52 sites for the proposed eHtablishment
of fJying fields acrot~!:l Canada. and contow· survoyfl havo
beon made on 26 other sites. Theso 78 Mites will p robably bo
developed into fiying fields in connection with tho Briti>lh
Commonwealth air training plan. The field~; aro o.mong
183 examined by depat·tment of tranHport officia ls and
report;od on by officers of the National Defence Department.
Originally 1647 possible sites received preliminary examination h·om the air and on the ground. From this examination tho number was narrowed to l 83 which were studied
more thoJ·oughJy by R oyal Canadian Air Force repi·esontat.ivos. I n addition to the 78 siteR. Trans-Canada
Air Linos has about 30 flying fieldfl a lso o.vailo.ble for
training purposes.
THE BnrsTOL " B LENUEur."- The history of the B ristol
" Blonheim " bombet·, o.lthough comparatively short;, its
vory intea·esting. It was OI'iginally designed HOme H~x
years ago a..~ o. civil machine, tho prototype being the
Brif! tol 142, known al! " Bt·ita.in tho Fir'St ," which was
presented to the nation by Lord Rothermere a fter it had
proved it >~ol£ to be among the fastest machines in t ho wod d.
A Ae r·ic~c~ of improvements have been made to t.ho original
design , tho " low wing " having boon c·hanged to t ho " midwing,'' tho fuselage re-deiJignod and viHibility improved,
ancl t.ho engine powot· progressively inc,·oased from about
I 200 IL P . to o. toto.I of nearly 2000 H . P. An ordor in 1935
for 200 m odified ver>~ionl! of " Br·itain Fir:it " laicl ono of
the foundation11 fo1· tho expanded Royal Ait· Fot·ce with
whic·h Br·ilain enter<'<! tho war. Tho number of " Blenheim s " eventually oi'Cierod may now be rot'koned in
Lhow~undH rather t.han hundreds. The latel!t vet·Hion of
tho " Blenhoim " now in 11ervice, tho Mark 1 V Ot' " long
n ose" fitted with two 920 H.P. Bt·iswl " Mot·cury "
engino11, has a top Hpeed of about 300 m.p.h., and a range
approac·hing 2000 miles.
AN UNUSUAL ScHEME l!'OR SALVAOINO Yttsst:r..s.- An
extm<"t fr·om an American pa.pot• in Shipbui ldinu and
Shippiny Reoonl doHca·ibes a novel p t·oposal by Mt·. D.
H oLchkiHs whereby c·one propellel'IJ fitted to cargo shjps
draw water· from compnrtmontl! which havo become
flooded owing to <larnago by mine or torpedo nnd keep
the Khip afloat. All cleHcribed tho action it~ o.utoma.tir
and upon <>ntry or water into t ho hold>! o. number of Hmall
" Hoats " roloaKe Rhuttor·H which cl o~;o tho inletli from t he
HCI\ o.ncl rcliovo tho p t·opollet'il o£ pumping load.
This
cauHCI! lho eloctt·ic motor:1 which drive the rotating
impeller·s to accolet·ate, and so onablet~ them to give the
necesHary centrifugo.l force for overcoming the large head ,
or prOI!Huro of water due to the vessel's draught, and
enables the propollor1-1 t.o comm onco pumping out the ship.
A non -rotul'tl valve gives the connection required, and
when tho leak iH ovo1·come the 11huttors-oboying the
falling Oonts-regain their or·iginal po~;iti onH. The
d('~r r·r plion in Slt ipb~tildinu ami Shippin{f R ecord c·oJwl ude>~
with thc1 following J'Nnol·k, " Tlw pr·oposal il! in teresting.
What wo now want i1-1 nn invention to onsw·o t hat Auch a
vulnomblo cont,rivunco in Huch a v ulnoro.blo part. of a sh ip
will not bo itself put out or action by o. mine ot· torpedo."
OIL
ENGINE
RE S EAR CH LABORATORY
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(F or descri ption see page 236)
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SIX•CYLINDER ARMSTRONG
LABORATORY WORKSHOP
WHITWORTH
AND S INGLE · CYLINDER PETTER
ENGINES
SINGLE-CYLINDER
•
SIX-CYLINDER
JUNKERS
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SINGLE-CYLINDER ARMSTRONG
•
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ENGINES
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THE ENGINEER
MARcH 8, 1940
233
now six, with much heavier charges, may be fi red
in a volley. This has neceRsitated the re-design
JT is a!'! certain as the bypot honuRc lhaL tho of under-water protection , and the new " Lord
speech which the First Lord of the Admiralty Nelsons " which will soon be in commi Rion are
made in tho H ouse of Commons on Tuesday, far better adapted to withstand under-water
~~A RCH 8, 1940
February 27th, will not be circulated in Germany, explosion t han a ny ships we have at this timo.
No. 4301
YoL. CLXJX
unless the R.A .lf. t a kes pains to distribute it in Nevert heless he told his hearers t hat when
the Wilhelmstrasso and Unter den Linden. F or, H .M.S. " Barham " -a battleship of 1914 was
since nearly every word in it gives heart to the hit by a torpedo she ma naged to get home under
Contents
Allies, it could do no less than depress the enemy. her own steam, and will soon rejoin the Fleet.
TilE ENGINEER , :If arch 8th, 10 I()
I'A0tl Mr. Churchill is invariably encouraging and even He revealed also that a younger ship, but still
.\ KB\'E~-DA Y JOURNAL
--- 221 when he has t o record mishaps, misadventures, and fifteen years old, H .M.S. " Nelson ," had suffered
t ragedies, he places them in t he right perspective, from an underwater explosion- a magnetic mineJ,EA DINO ARTICl, E
Tu-.~ NAVY
... ... ... ... . . . . ..
.. .
--. 233 letting his co untrymen and their allies know t hat but had been able to proceed under her own power .
the losses we suffer, and must suffer if we a re to That was in the early part of December, and she
KI' g('T AI, ARTICLES
ll P.AVY PASSENO P.R ENGINES, SOOTII AtRICAN llAILWAl't! .
be about our business, are negligible by comparison will soon be ready to put to sea again. These are
No. r. (11111!1.)
. ...
. . . . . 222
KOME OB ER\' ATIONS ON .}li'!TALLJC ARC I~LUXES
. 224 with our ever increasing power and with t he duties encouraging facts ; they show that the bulge and
Kl'Bll ERG EO B \RRI ERS FOR lfORR P ROTF.CTIO:S . (TIIu.s.) .. 220
t ha t the Navy is ceaslessly performing. More- other means of underwater protection even of our
.. ''''0
_,_,
('ASTERS KITCIIES E QUII'Mt;ST. (1llu~. )
over, his candour inspires trust. No doubt he older ships are reasonably effective . W e need not
...
C II F.ll lST ANI> TIIK S IUP
.. . ...
.. . .
... . . 22tl keeps some things back t hat it would be imprudent
say that the case of the " R oyal Oak " was
GO,OOO-VOLT D.C. 'l'RANRM.ISSION. (lll u~.)
... ... .. . ... 240
<I AS MDUSO V ,\.I,\' E. ( IIIW! .)
...
... 230 to say , but t here is no Minister of the Crown who exceptionaL She was at rest and was struck by
OEAJl POWDERS .. . ... .. . ... ... .. . ... ...
... 230
takes the public more into his confidence, none several torpedoes in succession . Unfortunately , it
l\I OOEBS COATING ~lACIII~"F.
.•.
. 2<11
) I OTOR TRA.~SPORT. ( lllu~.)
.. .
.. .
... .. . .. . 236 who more clearly sets before it both sides of the would appear from a remark by t he First Lord that
OIL ENGINE RESf!.lRCU LABORATORY. ( JIIUR. ) .. .
... .
235
Wh ilst he displays proudly t he she has madeScapaFlow inaccessible for the present.
PNEt'MATI C ROOFS FOR AruiY ROTS
...
.. 210 balance sheet.
.. 210 great work that is being achieved by t he Admira lty, That has meant that ships have had t o keep at
TRACK-LAYER TRACTOil. ( nl\1!1.)
.. . •
... ...
T RANSFORMERS f OR TilE C'.E. ll. (lUUJ!.)
.. .
... 210
the Navy, and all t hose who a re working for and sea throughout a particularly severe winter more
LJl:1•n ; RS TO THJ~ J•: I> ITO R with them, he does not attempt to conceal our t han they would have done in other circumstances.
... ... ... .. .
. 231
AUTOMATIO TRA IN CONTROL
. ... ... .. . ... 231 losses or to magnify the losses of the enemy. This fact led Mr. Churchill to pay a compliment to
C'OL. CROXPTON • •
..
.. ... ...
LIOIIT· WEIOIIT TEAM l'LANT ... ... ... .. .
... 231 Hence it comes abou t that no Minister's speeches engineers t hat we feel it only right to put on
are more eagerly awaited and none more valued permanent record in our columns. Speaking of
O IHTUAR\"SAMOF.L :llATTIIEWS Y \l' CLAlS ..
... ... ...
• . 23 1
by t he public.
our hip , he said, " their steaming capacity
N J~ \\'~ AXD NOTNS
The occasion of Mr. Churchill's speech was the and t he trustworthiness of their machinery is
..
.
2:l
J
.. . ... ... .. . .. . ...
Aut ANI) W ATER ... .. . ...
IIRI TISII P ATKNT SJ>i-:(' 1~!CATI ONS. ( 11111>1.)
... .. . 2<13 consideration of t he Navy E stimates. It may be marvellous to me, because the last t ime I was
('ALESDARS AN'U DIAJUt:s ... .. . .. . ... .. . ... ... .. . 2 11 t hat twenty-fi vo years ago the E stimates were as here one always expected a reg ular st ream of lame
VORTH COMlNG ]~NOAO t:M ESTS ... ...
. ... .. .
... 244
. . 2 13 short as those presented last week, but when we ducks from the fleets to the dockyards with what
FRP.NCII ~NOlN ,.; Jo;RtNO NOTF.S .. . • •• ... ... ...
.. . ~42 recall th at we were able t o cover t hem in a J ourna l was called " condenseritis " or heated bearings, or
M ARKETS, NOTE!! ANU N&\IS
... ... ...
~1 1 :-.CF.LLA:SF.A
.. ... ... ... ... ... ... .. . . . 231
l lAIJ, ASH R OAU ..
.. .. ...
... ... ... .. . 23 1 Note in our issue of last week it will be understood other mechanical defects. But now they seem to
SIXTY YEARS AOO
.. . ... ... ..
...
.. 23 1 that they revealed little or nothing regarding the steam on for ever . E ven ships with old engines,
KOtTT II AI'RJ CAN J~NOINRERI NO NOTI~S ... ...
... ... :l:Jij
buildi 1g programme of the Admiralty. The votes, under modem care, have steamed ninety days or
as the First Lord said, were only token votes, for more out of 119 days between the outbreak of
NOTICES TO R EADER S
in the first place it was physically impossible to war and the New Yea r. This reflects the very
make exact estimates for cont ingencies which greate t credit on the engineering branch of the
WAR MEASURES
were constantly changing, and in the second, there Royal Navy, and I wish to pay my t ribute t o them
was no need t o tell the enemy more than was good here in t he H ou e of Commons, and ask the H ouse
PUBLISHING AND ADVERTISING
for him about what we were doing. But Mr. t o join me in it, so that these many thousands of
THE ENGINEER is now being published at Churchill was able t o indicate in some measure the faithful, skilful, untiring engineers may lea rn,
the works of William Clowes and Sons, Ltd., magnitude of t he work that is being pressed as they wil l learn , that we here in London underBeccles, Suffolk. Telephone No. Beccles 2103. forward. H e reminded the H ouse that there are stand what they have done and are doing, a nd
All correspondence connected with publishing no modern battleships in service; many are being that we admire their work and thank t hem for it."
Let us turn now from the F leet itself to what has
and advertising should be directed to that built in various countries, but not one is in commission. " In a short time," however, the been accomplished by it, with the assistance of t he
address.
British fleet will be reinforced by five ships of the air forces, in countering the efforts of Germany to
EDITORIAL
King George V class, against which the enemy can impede our seaborne trade . That, it will be
All Editorial correspondence is being con- only show two . We have, even now, three, if not remembered, is at the moment the p rincipal duty
ducted from 28, ESSEX STREET, STRAND, four, possible lines of battle not one of which the of the Navy. E ven the de truction of t he " Graf
W.C.2, and all articles, etc., should normally German navy could face. In another very im- Spee " was not a naval action fought with the
be sent to that address, but in cases of urgency portant direction the Navy is being augmented. intention of diminishing t he might of the enemy so
messages may be sent to the Editor at It is expected t hat the U -boat campaign will much as t he removal of a raider . The ceaseless
increase as the summer approaches, and it is warfare against U-boats is to be regarded in t he
Beccles.
cs. entia l that counter measures should be pres ed same light. Whilst it is a fact, as we have soon,
GENERAL
forward as rapidly as possible. H ence, the token t ha t they do now a nd then attack hips of war,
The head office, 28, ESSEX STREET, estimates provide for the construction of a largo
t heir prey is the mercha ntman- regardless of
STRAND, W .C.2, is open from Mondays number of vessels especially designed to combat nationa lity. Hence, it follows that the British a nd
to Fridays inclusive from 9-IS a.m. to S-15 this danger. Then there is the magnetic mine. Jh ench Navies are performing t he duty of policing
p.m., where classified advertisements may be Th e methods of attack upon U-boats have proved so t he seas rather than engaging in battles. l n t his
handed in as usual and copies of the paper successful that they have been pract ically forced to duty t hey have been as successfu l as could be hoped.
may be purchased. The office is not open on give up using their guns and have been largely driven By the end of last year the Germans had lost half
from using the t orpedo t o t he laying of mines in the fleet of submarines, seventy in number, with
Saturdays.
the approaches to our harbours. Here we must which they began the war . The Admiralty
PAPER SUPPLIES
quote the First Lord's own words. " There are," estimated that ten new boats were commissioned
With a view to the conservation of paper, he said " two stages in t he process of dealing with so that t he present year opened with a total of
readers are advised, in the interests of all the magnetic mine. The first is finding out what forty-five under-water raiders. It seems probable
concerned, to place a regular order for THE t o do , and the second is apply ing t his knowledge that ten of these are in operation at any one time,
ENGINEER with their newsagent or direct to practical conditions upon a very large scale. and the indications are that at least two a re
We are now far advanced upon the second stage, destroyed per week. With the completion o£ the
with the Publ isher.
and although we must exp ect , perhaps in t he programme of the new a nt i-U-boat craft referred
•. • If anv Subscri!Kr abroad 11/wuld m:eit·e TnE EN OfNEl!R in a11
unf)Jrfect or tll't' itawt condition, I~ will oblioe bv uivinu wompt immediate future, furth er much heavier attacks to above it is hoped t hat the Navy will bo in a
i ••fomntion of tl~ fact to tl~ Publi1hu, with tlte nan~ of tlu~ Aq1'11t
lluouqlt whon~ tile P"-Ptr i& obtaitred. Suc/1 inconvenience, if 1uUertd, upon us by t his method, we believe that we sha ll position to meet any larger attack which German y
r11n be remtditd bv obtaitaing tile paper direct from tlti' office.
find ourselves equipped t o deal with them ." It may have in con templation .
• • • llor Su~.fcription ratu, 1v PfJIJt 2 of Adrerti•mmrtl.
It is fitting that we should end this review of the
• • • All l,ttu1 inunded for i~~~trtion in TnE ENOJNEER or comaiuing would be improper even to hint at the nature of
1/tt«tiotu U.ould ~ accqmpa11ied bv tM 1UJTM and addre'l of tile wriltr,
?ll)t I~«U&arilv for publi('Jltion, but cu a proof of good faiUt. No not ire t he counter measures which are being taken, but First Lord's speech with another literal quotation.
to.buver can be takt11 of anonvmoru communie4tionl.
it is no secret that special equipment is being made In his pororation he said, " when we consider the
• • • N o undutakinq can be given to return drawi11(11 or manu1cript1;
in large numbers.
great number of British ships which havo been
corrupondentl are tl~re/ore rtiJI.IUltd to kup copiu.
On the subject of modern warship design, Mr. withdrawn for naval service, or for the t ransport
CUANOE OF ADDRESS
• • • Will S ub1cribt71 p/uue MU tllat in tUl a4oicu reqarding dwnqu Churchill gave some instructive and encouraging of our armies across the Channel or across the
of addru1 i t i1 m«1rarv to hare both the old and new addresses, tU
our Jutl are kept alphabtticllllv bv toum1. ..tdvictl of thi1 nalure information . H e reminded the H ouse that all our globe, t here is nothing in these results which- to
llloultt reach m bv tile jir1t ])08t Wednud4v morning prior to tM
existing major ships being of old design were put it mildly- hould cause despondency or alarm,
alural ilm.
liable to suffer from the advances which had been or which justifies the idea that we cannot carry
Postal Address: " Tbe E nQlneer ," 28, Essex Street, Strand,
London, W .C.l .
made with the t orpedo and aerial bomb. Where on our national liie and the war upon which our
TeleQrapbJc Addrees : '' En~tln eer Newspaper, Estra nd , London . ' •
one torpedo with a 500 lb. head was fired in 19115, national life is centred, with increasing vigour. Any
Telephone: CENtral 6565 ( tO lines).
OCnginttt
•
..
..
•
• I o
THE NAVY
THE ENGINEER
234
reductions a nd austerities in home consumpt ion,
which we have found or may find it necessary to
imp ose upon our selves, a re not due to any failur e
of the Navy to keep the seas pen, but to the need
of making p ruden t preparations against the
unknown, and of our r aisin g our war effort t o the
highest pitch. " It would be difficult t o find
any words wh ich would express m or e concisely
what the British Navy has accomplished and is
accomplishing. For six months it has kept t he
seas open to commerce, and en a bled the ships of
all lands not only to tran sport hundreds and
t housands of men and women, but to br ing t o
our p orts such v:ast supplies of overseas products
t hat we suffer n o appreciable privation s, an d to
carry hence a volume of exports equal to that of
peace time. That t here have b een grave losses is
admitt ed , but on the other hand there have been
notable gains and t he enemy has not succeeded
in reducing our sea-b orne commerce in an appreciable degree. W e owe t hat to the Royal .Navy
and to all t h ose who, in greater or lesser duties,
have helped t o maintain the sea-tradition of t his
island and her empire. And we owe it no less to
the engineers ashore who by their industry and skill
a nd their increasing endeavours to make the ships of
the King better tha n any other s hips the world
over, have given t o t he Navy material which is
worthy of the great and enduring hearts which use
it for the discomfiture of the enemy.
Obituary
SAMUEL MATTHEWS V AUCL AIN
ON F ebruary 4th, Mr. S. M. Vauclain died at the
age of 83, at his home in R osemont, P ennsylvania.
He h ad b een associated with the Baldwin Locomotive W orks since 1883, and had been the
ch airman of its board since 1929.
Vauclain was born at Philadelphia on May 18th,
1856. Shor t ly after his birth, his father , Andrew
Vauclain , for merly in the employment of Matthias
W. Baldwin, the founder of t he Baldwin W or ks,
enter ed the ser vice of the P ennsylvan ia Railroad
a nd removed to Altoona. There the son was
brought up in a r ailway at mosphere, and at the
age of 16 entered the Altoona shops of t he P ennsylvania R ailroad as a n apprentice. At the age of
21 he was appointed foreman of the frame shop .
In 1882 h e was sent to the Baldwin W orks to
insp ect some locomotives then being constructed
for h is r ailway, and as a direct outcome was
offered a p osition in those wor ks. I n July, 1883,
h e enter ed t he company 's ser vice as superintendent
of its Seventeenth Street S hops. Three year s
later, at the age of 30, he was app ointed gener al
superintendent of the plan t. In 1896 be became
a member of Burnham, Williams and Co. , at that
time the proprietors of the works. I n 1911, the
company having been incorpor ated as the Bald win
Locom otive W orks, Vauclain was made a vicepresident, becoming senior vice-president in 1917,
and president two years later. In 1929 h e r elinquished the presidency to Mr. G. H . H ouston
and was elected chairman of the boar d.
During his fifty-seven years' association with
the Baldwin wor ks, Vauclain was responsible for
many technical developments in the design and
construction of locomotives. His best-known
contribution was p robably the four-cylinder
compound locomotive which was first tested in
1891. Other d evelopments for which h e was
largely responsible were the first " decapod "
heavy goods engine, supplied in 1886 to the
Dom P edro II r ailroad of Brazil, the first " wagontop " boiler, for the D enver a nd Rio Grande
railroad, a nd the first " Mikado " locomotive
supplied t o the J apanese r ailways in 1897.
Vau clain's great abilities were not confined
solely to the design of locomotives; he also
introduced n ew methods connected with their
construction and their sale. Shortly after becoming general superintendent of the Baldwin
works he introduced the h ydraulic forge for
the production of driving wheel centres. A few
years later he decided to reduce t he idle t ime
of the expansion_ machine tool in the c?mpany's
sh ops and introduced the t hen novel prme1ple of
double shift working. H e had ideas too for t he
in dividual motor driving of m achine tools much
in advance of t h e age, to such an extent, in fact,
a s t o call forth the ridicule of his fr iend George
W estinghouse. H is abilities as a salesman we:re
n oticeable on many occasion s, one of the most
striking being that on which he completed a
transaction with the Roumanian Government under
which he sold it fifteen million dollars' worth of
locomotives and machinery, the payment being
made in sixty monthly instalments in cash or
oil. The oil which was received as a result of
th is bargain was, it is said, sold by Vauclain to
the British Government at a handsome p rofit.
In addition to his close association with the
Baldwin works, Mr. Vauclain at t he time of his
death was a member of the boards of a number of
banks and insurance comp anies, and a director of
seven engineering and allied works, subsidiaries
of t he Baldwin Company. H e also was a member
of the boards of the W estinghouse E lectric and
Manufacturing Company and t he W estinghouse
Electric International Company.
Letters to the Editor
(We do
rn>t
hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our
correspondents)
AUTOMATIC TR AI N CONTROL
Sm,- Our attention has been dr-awn to the letter
from Mr. E. B. P arker which appeared in your issue
of F ebruary 23rd, in which he refers to the SYX
system of Automatic Train Control.
This apparatus was designed by the la.te Mr. E. S.
Tiddeman, for many years chief draughtsman at the
Stratford \iVorks of the G.E.R., and the manufacturing rights were held by ourselves. It was in
use for some time experimenta lly between E pping
and Ongar, and also at some signals in the neighbow·hood of Leyton, and on the P alace Gates branch
line. High speed trials were also made on the
Brentwood Bank.
The mechanism wor·ked perfectly, and ·w o have no
doubt that had the G.E.R. remained a separate
tmdertaking it would in all probability have been
gt·adually adopted.
As your correspondent says, both dista.nt and stop
signals were successfull y catered for, and in addition
we would like to point out that a locomotive could
back past the stop signal at clanger, in the wrong
direction, without a ny effect being produced.
We have always felt that this apparatus did not
receive the credit it deserved when the Automatic
Train Control Committee were conducting their
enq mrtes.
F. J. SYKES,
Managing Director
( W. R. Sykes Interlocking Signal Co, Ltd.).
26, Voltaire Road, Clapham, London, S. \i\1'.4.
COLONEL CROMPTON
Sm,-I take my courage in both hands to point
out a slight error in the obitua.ry article on Colonel
Crompton!
The R.A.C.'S first show was not in 1903, but 1899.
It was held on a " tentod field " in the Old Deer Park
at Richmond, a.nd hill-climbing trials took place on
P etersham Hi ll. I was an absorbed visitor and
spectator-had contemplated entering my De Dion
t ricycle for the latter, even. A Ba rriere tricycle did
best time- 13 m.p.h. I think !
The R.A.C. 1903 activities were chiefly concerned
with the Gordon-Bennett Race in Ireland, won by
J onatzy on a Mercedes. Edge was the only English
finisher, on a Napier-and he was disqualified.
EDWARD H . LIVESAY.
(An illustrated accotmt of the Automobile Club's
show and tr ials appeared in THE E NGINEER of June
23rd, 1899. Our statement was ta.ken from Colonel
Crompton's " R erniniscences."-Ed.).
29, Fairfield Road, Croydon,
F ebruary 25th, 1940.
LIGHT-WEI GHT STEAM PLANT
Sm,-Your correspondent (February 16th) on the
subject of " Light Weight Steam Plant" expresses
a view hold by many engineers with exp erience in
both the light and heavy industries.
A fLmd amental equation which determines the cost
in heavy industry is :Gross cost = W(P + C) + on costs.
where W = Weight in tons.
P = Price of materials per ton.
C = Cost of production per ton.
I n this oqun,t.ion only tho " 'Vcight" fact m· is IHHll' l.
the control of the designer.
In all mobile power units the weight is an important
factor, whereas_in a stationary power unit, excepting
MARCH
8, 1940
that part of the plant which is mobile, the weight
factor is often neglected.
Your correspondent m entions a weight of 1 lb.
per B.H.P. for aero engines, 10 lb. per B.H.P . for
Diesel engines, and 40 lb. p er B.H.P. for a particular
steam plant, but 2 lb. p er B .H .P. is a more reasonable
figure for commercial aircraft, and Diesel plant often
is about 13 lb. per B.H.P. An investigation shows
that tw·bine plant for power stations of the order of
50,000 kW. has a power to weight ratio of approximately 15 lb. per B .H .P. (inclusive of turbine,
condenser, feed heaters, pumps, pipework, and
valves), and of this the turbine accounts for 6 lb. per
B.H .P ., but this figure could be reduced by an
application of light industry technique.
In comparing oil and steam plant, the oil refining
plant should be considered in lieu of boilers. Many
other questions arise in drawing up a true balance sheet,
i .e., useful life, capital cost, thermal efficiency,
maintenance, continuity of service, fu el costs, &c.
A contribution to lightness could be made by the
users of plant allowing the manufacturer more
freedom in design and by insisting that weights are
included in specifications.
JoHN W. HILL, A.M. Inst. M:.E.
Newcas tle-on-Tyne.
F ebruary 29th, 1940.
Sixty Years Ago
THE ST. GOTHARD
TUNNEL
AT 11.15 on the morning of Sw1day, F ebruary
29 Ll~>
1880, the two headings of the St. Gothard tutmol
established co1mection with one another. For tho
second time the Alps had been pierced. The Mont
Cenis tunnel uniting the French and Italian railway
systems had been begun in August, 1857, the
advanced headings had met on Christmas day,
1870, and the railway had been opened in September,
1871: That twmel was 7·57 miles in length. Scarcely
had 1t been completed before the St. Gothard R ailway
Company;was formed todrivealongertunnel, 9·25miles,
for the purpose of connecting the railways of Germany
and Ita ly without passing t hrough French territory.
On August 7th, 1872, a contract for the driving of t he
new tunnel was signed with Mons. Louis Favre of
Geneva, the contract price, including all the works
and the lining of the tunnel with masonry, being
about two million pounds. Mons. Favre undertook
to complete the work in eight years with a penalty
~ he failed to do so of £200 p er day for the first
stx months, and £400 p er day thereafter. In addition
he undertook to forfeit a sum of £320,000 which
he had deposited as caution money if the tunnel
were not completed by the end of the ninth year.
Numerous difficulties arose, a.nd it was not until the
middle of November, 1872, that work could be begun.
Under Mons. Favz·e's energetic direction, construction
w?-s pushed f?rward at the greatest speed possible
w1th the equtpment then available. At :first rock
drills supplied by steam-driven air compressors were
used. Later the compressors were driven by
hydraulic turbines operated at one end by the waters
of the R.iver R eiss, and at the other end by those of
the River Tremola. Soon it was found that the
Tremola was an insufficient source of power, but
Mons. Favre, nothing daunted, constructed an
aqueduct 3000 m. long, and brought a reinforcing
supply fr~m the River Tessin. The compressors
also supplied power for the locomotives used for
haul~g. the debr is out of the headings and air for
venttlatmg purposes. Other difficulties arose. A
bed of sch~st was pierced which discharged torrents
of water mto the workings. Then a st ratum of
"plastic material" was encountered which in
effect_ transmitted a semi-fluid pressure from the
super~cumbent strata on to the centring and on
occasiOn. c~ushecl the h eavy granite voussoirs of the
tunnel lmmg. More than once :financial difficulties
arose and threat ened to add the tunnel to the list of
wlfinished projects known as " follies." Favz·e's
ze.al and determination, however, were not to be
Withstood by any difficulties, na.tural or human.
H e p~rsisted w1til success was in sight, and then one
day, m July, 1879, while inspecting the tunnel, he
suddenly collapsed and died-one more death a<lded
to the total of between 60 and 70 which the tunnel
had caused. H e was only fifty-three when he died.
.M.INlSTIW OF SUPPLY AREA 0RGANISATION.- The
Mmtster of Supply has inauguxated the Manchester At·ea
Advisory Committee. The committee will advise the
North-Westem Area Board which has already been set
u~ ~nd con~is~s of representatives of the Admit·alty, Air
Mm1stry, Mm1stry of Labow· and National Service and
the Ministry of Su~~ly. The secretary to the board,
M.r. C.. T. Dean, ~:llrustry of Supply, Piccadilly House,
Ptccadilly, Manch~s~er, will be pleased to place before the
Board any propofnt10ns. that a manufactmet· or gt·oup of
manuf9;cturcrs may w1sh to make. Any joint body,
fedet:at10n, or chamber may also approach the board,
pron~ed .the group or body is itself strictly a non-profit
orgarusatwn .
:MARCH
8, 1940
THE ENGINEER
235
Oil Engine Research Laboratory
X the coun,e of a recent visit we paid to the
Kadenacy d epartment of the Armstrong Whitworth • ecurities Company, Ltd., at Buckingham
Avenue, the Trading E state, Slough, we had an
opportunity of inspecting the special research
laboratorie!'l which h ave been established and
equipped b y the firm for the further d evelopment
of the original work of 1\I. Michel K adenacy on
the exhausting and r echarging p rocesses of internal
combustion engines, particularly those operating on
the two-stroke p rinciple.
At the last annual meeting of the comp any, the
chairman,
ir Charles Brucc-Gardner, ann~unced
that the firm had recently completed a long-term
programme of research and d evelopment work,
covering the commercial application of the K adcnacy
process t o nll types of interna l combustion engines,
including those for s tationary, rail, and marine work,
and that further d evelopment was p roceeding on
road and air transport engines. It may be recorded
that the Armstrong \\"hitworth ecurities Company,
Ltd., of Thames H ouse 1\Iillbank, London, ·" ·. 1,
and "lough, holds the exclusive right t o grant
licences under the Kadcnacy patents to all countries
with the exception of France. It is not, we tmders tand. the intention of the company to engage in the
manufacture of cnginC's, and the fun ction of the
laboratories we are about to describe is to dc,·clop
further applications of the K ad cnacy sy;;tem to
different types of oi l C'ngincs, and to provide an
advisory and consulta ti ve service for the firm's
licencees.
The laboratories which we illustrate on page 232
comprise two hu·go bays on the Trading E sta te,
complete with drawing and administrative offices
and well equipped engu1o test and physical laboratories. There is also an engiJ1cering workshop, in
which machining operations connected with the
construction or m odification of engines are carried
out, and a d emonstration room in which representative
t ypes of Armstrong- Kadenacy engines hM·o been
installed, coupled to brakes and equipped ready for
running tmder test conditions. This demonstration
room also contains special apparatus d esigned to
d emonstrate the physical characteristics of the
Kadenacy process.
I
THE KADENACY PRINCIPLE
The contribution which 1\1. Kadenacy has made
'
to oil engine design is based on the phenomenon
that immediately on opening rapidly the exhaust
ports of a two-stroke engine, at the end of the
ex-pansion stroke, there is within the first interval
of a few t housandths of a second an urge or impulse
in the body of gases to escape as a whole very
rapidly from tho cylinder. By providing for the
gases to escape in this mamwr and utilising the
consequent suction effect, by suitable timing of the
opening of the air admission valve or port, the new
air charge is made to enter the cylinder immediately
behind the escapiJ1g body of gases. The work of
the inventor is distinguished from that of other investigators of exhaust effects in that while they
have generally consid ered the problems connected
with a more or less steady flow through exhaust pipes,
over a series of cyciC' , he has examined the inter d ependence of the inlet and cxha u t proce ses during
a single cycle. H o fotmcl that a d efinite explo ive or
ballistic effect can be caused to occur which is d ependent upon the area-time factor of exhaus t and \\hich,
if properly conh·olled and ut ili cd, enables the cylinder
to be completely charged with fresh air, the charging
volume reaching up to one a nd a half time~ the
cylinder volum<'. A further <'x tcnKion o f his work
has shown that it is po:-.si blc, "it h !'luitable d esigns
of inlet and cxhauKt arTang<'mcnts, so to utilise
the momentum o f tlw cxlutu!';t gnscs leaving the
cylinder that tho pC'riod of time during which the
depression or \'~\c uum pn•vnils in the cylinder is
prolonged. By such means it become~ possible to
extend the range of cond itions under which advantageous chargin ~ can take place. This effect, it is
pointed out, does n ot originate within the exhaust
pipe, but the pipe i-, util ised to control the gases
after they leave thC' engine cylindE'r. In practice
the dimensions of an exhau'>t pipe, used with an
engine operating on the K adenacy principle, a rc
comparable to those "hi eh would be used with a
similar fow·-stroko engine. Actually, " e saw Armstrong-Kadenacy C'ngincs running equally well with
and without exhaust pipes, the ba ic principle of
operation being w1disturbed. This principle of the
entry of the air charge being secw·ed by the action
of the mass of exhau ·t gas as it leaves the engine
cylinder can be studied from the accompanying curve,
which records the p ressure r eadings taken from
an Arm.strong-K adenacy engine working on the twostroke cycle, during the period that the exhaust
and air inlet arc open. It will be seen that the
pressw·e has fnllcn to 5 lb. p er square inch at tl~c
moment the ni•· nclrni~sion begin~ , whC'H the <Ur
llows into the cylinder directly from tho atmosphere.
' ubsequent ly tho pressure falls very little belo~v
atmospheric nnd it ri:-;cs u.bovo that prc:- lll'e as the au·
admission C'eascs. Although ttt the moment of
opening t he air inlet the pressure in the engine
cylinder is abovo that of th<' atmosphere, no expansion of the ga es out of the inlet take place,
as the whole mass of <'xhaust gas has already taken
its unidirectional motion out through tho exhaust
orifice.
As already mentioned, a furt her feature of the
Kadenacy principle is the control of the motion of
the exhaust gases aftC'r they have loft the cylinder,
which is accomplished by so arranging the exhaust
syst em that the resistance offered to the outgoing
mass of burnt gases is r educed to a minimum, and
the mass of gas is kept moving in an outward direction
a sufficiently long time, in order to enable the cylinder
to be reC'hargcd with incoming air.
Important results, it is claimed, follow from the
succcc;sful application of these principles. The weight
of pure air entering the engine cylinder is increased ,
and more fuel can be burnt with hig her mean effective
pressure~, there is also marked internal cooling, valves,
piston!'!, a nd ports aro not subjected to the higher
temperature stresses normally associated with high
outputs, and loss heat is carr ied away in the jacket
cooling water.
The successful operation of the engine with natural
aspi1·ation to which we have already referred does not
preclude the addi tion of a blower, which may be
utilised either for stabilisation or for supercharging
the C'ngine. In the case of a K adonacy engine, however·, the power required to drive the blower, we are
assu ..ed, is loss than that required for an engine which
d oes no t possess the natural aspira.tion or suction effect
5
4
I
I
I
I
I
l
I
I
I )
!
t\.
TO 20 30 ~ 0 50 60
I
Degrees
I
Exhst.
Opens
I
V
I
1
:
'I
!
I
.......
I
I
Atr
Opens
)
I
V.
C ON VERTED " SUPERSCAVENGE "
I
I
I
I
~ fY700
935 lb. per square iJ1ch and the temperature 75
deg. Fah. Another noteworthy feature of the
new p erformance was the wide range of output
over which the Rpecific fuel consumption was very
low. Thus from 94 B .H.P. to 230 B.H.P., representing a range of brake mean effective pressures
from 50 to 123 lb. per square inch, the specific
fuel oil consumption was under 0·4 lb. per brake horse
power hour. Over the range of75 to 107lb. per square
inch B.M:.E.P. the specific consumption was slightly
less than the lowest consumption recorded by Professor Hawkes when testing the four-cylinder engine.
The stato of the exhaust was reported to be very
good throughout tho trials and the limit of satisfactory exhaust was shown to lie above the value of
120 lb. per square inch B.M.E.P. For these trials a
710 120
;
i
Degrees from Exhaust Opemng ExhsL
0
Closes
I
hAtr
'
Closes
@
PRESS URE - TIME CURVE
associated with the Kadenacy process. These
advantages were illustrated by the representative
types of Armstrong-K adonacy engines which were
nm for our insp ection during our visit to the laooratory.
Two -CYLINDER 125 B.H.P. PETTER SUJ>ERSCAVENGE
ENGINE
This eng ine is in its general design and construction
similar to the series described in our issue of July 1st,
193 , in which results of a test made on a fourcylinder unit by Profe sor Hawkes were given. The
engine we illustrate above was supplied by P etters,
Ltd ., and built in accordance with the Kadenacy
}Jatcnts, tmder licence from the Armstrong \Vhitworth
Securities Company, Ltd. It was sent to Slough,
and duru1g the past few months has been the
subject of experiment and improvements carried out
in t he laboratories. Although as orig inally d esigned
it utilised tho K adcnacy principlo and the p erformance results both as regards fuel consumption and
output wcro of a high order, it was found possible
to improYe flll·ther the correlation bC'tween the exhaust
and air adm.ission process, withou t having to modify
seriously the d esign of the cnginC'. In its new form the
engine waR recently tcsLcd by Professor S. J . D avics.
The engine has two cylinders with a bore of 8fin.,
or 215·9 mm., and a stroke of 13in., or 330·2 mm.
corresponding to a total swept volume of 24·1
I itrcs. The rated output is 125 B .H .P. at 500
r.p.m. corresponding to a brake mean effective
pressure of 67· 1 lb. per square inch. The engine,
we may recall , has air admission ports controlled
by the piston, and two ex haust valves in the cylinder
head, giving a one-direction flow of gases through the
cylinder. It ic; equipped "ith a rotary type Zoller
blower. The combustion chamber is of the open
t.ype '' ith on<' cC'n t rully placE'd fu el-injection nozzle
of the C.A.Y. -Bol:>ch pa ttern. ThC' series of tests which
were run at 500 r.p.m. constant speed and iJ1creasing
load sho" C'd l:itriking impro\'emcnts in performance,
compared with tho ('adi0r tests made by Professor
C. J. H a'"kes on a four-cylinder unit of this type,
already referred to. The ClU'ves show that for an
exhaust temperattu·o of 690 d<'g. Fah., the brake
effective pressure was raised from 80 lb. to
11 4 lb. per squnf'o inch, r <'JH'CSI.'nting an increase o f
42·5 pt'r c<'nt, "hi le t.lw m odcmtc pt·essm·e nnd
heat JoadiJtg is indicated by the fact that at a l:n·ake
m ean effective pressure of 126 lb. p er square inch the
maxin1wn pressure Wl\S of the moderate order of
ENGINE
pool gas oil of 0·847 specific gravity at 60 deg. Fah.
was used, having a gro s calorific value of 19,634
B.Th.U. per lb.
OPPOSED-PISTON JUNKERS TYPE ENGINE
Another example of an engine to which K adonacy
principles have been applied is the single cylindet'
J wtkers type opposed -pi ton engine shown in our
laboratory photographs. 'l' his was chosen as representing a high-rated two-stroke unit. It has a
cylinder bore of 65 mm. , or 2·56in., with a combined
stroke of 210 mm. or 8·27in., the stroke of the U}Jp or
piston controlling the operation of the air ports
being 90 mm. , or 3·54in., and that of the lowor
piston controlling the exhaust port 120 mm., or
4·72in. As originally designed the engine had a
rectangular piston attached to the upper piston,
which served as a scavenge blower and delivered air
to tho cylindor at a pressure of about 3 lb. per square
inch . T ho Kadenacy system was applied to this
engine by changing completely the characteristics
of the ai1· and exhaust passages and the exhaust
pipe. The scavenge pump was rendered inoperative
and the engine operated with natural a piration.
The original engine had a power range of 6·7 B.H.P.
at 800 r .p.m., t o 10· 5 B.H.P. at 1200 r.p.m. with
brake mean effective pressures of 78 lb. and 84 lb.
per square inch re p ectivoly. \Vhen converted to
the Kadenacy system and run under conditions of
maximum rating, the power range was increased, the
outputs of 8·6 l3.H.P. at 800 r.p.m., and 24·9 B.H.P .
at 1700 r.p.m., being recorded with brake mean
effective pre sm es oflOO lb. and l36lb. per square inch,
respectively. It will be noted that the po,\"er output
was increased by 130 pot· cont., without having to
make any a lterations either to the combustion chamber
or the fuel inj ection equipment of the engine. The
fuel consumption was reduced from 0·46 to 0·36 lb.
per B.H.P. hour, while the maximum cyliJ1der
pressures were sensibly lowered. These results a re
well in advance of those hitherto obtained with twostroke engines of this power, and clearly point to the
benefits of t he Kadenacy system.
IX-CYLINDER
AR~t
TRONO-KADENACY 120 B.H.P.
E!><CJNE
This p tuticular unit, view of which will be seen on
page 232 and in the sectional view reproduced herewith, represents an entirely new design of Armstrong-Kadcnacy engine for l:itationary, marine, or
rail transport. I t has six cylinders each with a bore
of lOO mm. and a stroke of 150 mm., giving a total
capacity of 7 litres. The combustion chamber is of
the Armstrong-\Vhitworth open type, and the fuel valve
is of the C.A.V.-Bosch horizontal single-hole pattern.
will bo seen from our engraving, a blower of the
J\ln•·shall -R oot!'l 1YJ)e iR fitted and is utilised for
stnbiliHing purpose:-;. 'l'ho ait· enters through ports
in tht• cyJinclor walls, "hich luwe tangentially arranged
deflecting :·nu·faccs, impa1·ting to the entering air
a high d egree of swirl, It is fol..ll1d that when
236
operating with natw·al a piration the engino draws
more than ono cylind er volume of fresh air into the
cylinder. W ith tho blower in action, about. two
cylind er volumes per cycle are passed, the pressure
b etween the blower and the cylinder only amounting
to about 2 lb. per square inch. The maximum loads
are obtained with a clea1· t'xhaus t, which wo observed.
U nder full load rating a power range of 56 B.H.P.
at 560 r.p.m. up to 125 at 1200 r.p.m. was ob tained
with a b rake mean effective p ressure ranging from
The main tosts wero carried out with an exhaust pipo
and si ll'ncer pntetically identical with t.h ose used in
the original t<" ts of tho unaltered engine in thf> engine
makN·'s works. In that test there was a l Oin. diametN
tail pipt'. npproximatoly 25ft. in length beyond the
siiC'ncc•·· On tho con vert.ed engine a series of trials
wa'i run under full load conditions with the engine
runni.ng at a sp eed of 400 r.p.m. and the e s pecial
tests were made with thirteen different lengt.hs of
tail pipe, vary ing from nothing up to 150ft. Tho
re ults show that throughout these tests the performance of the engine was not materially affected.
The fuel consumption varied less than 0·25 lb. p er
D.H.P. h our, and the ~xhaust temperature only
increased by 6 dog. Cent., while the p ressur e of the
charging ai r only varied by 0· 1 lb. per square inch
between the minimum and the maximum value.
These results s how that in this case the influence
of the exhaust pipe is rendered n egligible. The
diameter of the exhaust pipe can moreover be
reduced , and it was found that using a tailpipe of
30 m. in length, a n Sin. diameter pipe was needed
for the original engine, whereas ''rith the conver ted
engine a pipe of Sin. bore s ufficed. Another fact
n oted from the tests was the way in which the
charging pressure of the engin e fell off with an increase of the brako mean effective pressure. This
reduced cha rging pressure, it is h eld, is explained
by the fact that in the K adenacy system the greater
the energy in the exhaust, the greater will be the
suction effect, tending to draw air into the cylinder,
and thereby reducing corresp ondingly the resistance
to the delivery of thC' air from the b lower.
TOO mm
Bore
SECTION THROUGH
MARcH 8, 1940
THE ENGINEER
•
ARMSTRONG-KADENACY ENGINE
90 to l OO lb. per square inch. The fuel consumption
curve h as a flat characteristic at these B .M.E.P.
values and is of the order of 0·417 lb. p er B .H .P. h our.
The exhau t temperature ha a range from 300 to
390 d eg. Cent.
BlHtMEISTER AND \\'AIN AUXILIARY 120 B.H.P.
ENGINE
This engine, which has been modified to conform to
the requirem ents of the K adenacy system, is a t win·
cylinder two-strok e engine with a designed output of
120 B .H .P. at 400 r .p.m . It has a cylinder bore of
220 mm. or 8·66i.J1., and a stroke of 370 mm. or
14 ·57in., the fu ll powor rating cor responding to a.
B.M.E.P. of 69·5 lb. per square inch. The engine
is fitted with a R oots t ype blower which is chain
driven from the crankshaft, and the injection of
fuel is carried out by B. a nd \ V. type fuel pumps,
one t o each cylinder. The injectors are of the
multi-hole pressure lif t type, the quantity of fuel
d elivered being regula ted by a centrifugal governor.
The engin e h as bet'n con verted b y the recon struction of tho eylinder, cylinder head, valve gear,
a nd <'xhaust. branches in s uch a way that the
es entia! features of the air inlet. and the exl1aust
system s havo as far as po. si ble b een made to accord
with the K adenacy principle. No oth er changes
wore made, and the fuel injection system and the
a ir ch arging b lower remain unaltered.
Careful
tests were made before and after the modifications
in d esign were carried out, and the principal results
obtained may b e stated as follows. The converted
engine now carries the full rated load of 120 B.H.P.
w ith an exhaust. temperature of 265 d eg. Cent. ,
instead of 301 deg. Cent. in the original engine. At
a n output of 143 B.H.P. the converted engine has
only the same exh aust temperature as that of the
original eng ine when delivering an output of 120
B.H.P., while a n exhaust temperature the same as that
of t he original engine op erating at 134 B.H.P. permits
of an outpu t with t he conver ted engine of 158 B.H.P. ,
rcpre ·t•nting an increase up to 32 per cent. overload.
The fuel cons wnption has been improved, and at full
load it is 7 per cent. less than that of the orig~1al
engine. The charg ing pressure of the converted engme
is 17 per cent. lower at t he full rated output than
that of the original engine, and 19 per cent. lower at
the overload rating of 134 B.H.P. I n the case of the
converted engine the charging pressure falls as the
load increases, whereas it rises in the case of the
original engine. The a~ount of heat rejected. to the
cooling water am~ lost m the exhau:>t gases lS con·
siderably reduced m the converted engme, as compared
with the original engine, and these factors. have
allowed t he p ermissible rated out.put of the engme to
bo increased materially.
I n carry ing o ut. these tests an opportunity was ta~en
to mako experiments with the length of exh aust. ptpe.
INGLE-0YUNDER ARMSTBONO-KADENACY 5 B.H.P.
ENGINE
An inter·c ting application of the K adenacy system
to a s mall engin e i:s that of the single cylinder w1it
with a boro of 2i in . and a strok e of 4!in. with a
capacity of 438 cc., and a designed output of 5 B.H.P .
when rwu1ing at 1000 1·.p.m. I t operates without. a
blower, but b y using K adenacy designs an air
t.hroughput of 1·3 times the volume of the cylinder
ha,., boon achieved. The air inlet ports in the
cylinder are a rranged t o give a tangential flow, and
as in the case of the six-cylinder engine we illustrate
a single exh aust valve a rra nged in the cylinder
head. Tho combustion chamber is of the Armstrong
\Vhitworth op en type, and a single-hole sprayer is
placed horizontally. The test. results show a comp aratively flat B.l\LE.P. curve, and with a brake mean effectivepressw·eof7 51 b. per square inch , a fuel consumption
of0·41lb. p er B.H .P . hour was recorded. T he exhaust
temporatw·e was moderate over a wide range, and
varied between 220 deg. Cent. at a B.l\LE.P. of
45 lb. per square inch and 260 d eg. Cen t. at a B.M.E.P .
of 85 lb. per square inch. The engine is part.icularly
neat in its design , and fo rms a new d epartw·o in
two-stroke p ractice as applied to small engines.
passengoN>: lt is dear, h owever, that tho rear
ent rance', m combination with t ho low floor h eight
neee sary to give adequat<' headroom and a low
centre of ~rnvity, favour t.he front p o ition for thC'
f>nginc. An alternative a rra ngement ,,.as exemplified
in the " Q " t ypo vehicle, with side engine, produced
by the As:sociatcd E quipment C:ompany in 1933 ; the
arrangem ent did not find favour and was not p er petuated.
There are other reasons for t he retention of the
orthodox po ition of the engine in fron t. The front
axle may be placed \Veil forward, with consequent.
reduced loading, b etter steering, and road holding
qualities. Fur thermore, this arrangem ent places the
objectionable front wheel a rch es outside the p assenger
space, thus obviating the use of inward facing seats,
and facilitating a symmetrical interior layout.
The double-deck bus is limited to 26ft. overall
length and l Ot tons (23,520 lb.) maximum laden
werght if of the two-axle type, or 30ft. and 12! tons
(28,000 lb.) if of the thr ee-axle type. I n conse·
quen ce of this regulation, considerable interest was
taken in the six-wheel type from 1926 to 1933, and
many vehicles were built with the object of taking
advantage of the increased weight and size permitted.
The then L ond on General Omnibus Company built
some thirteen hundred buses of this type, the
majority of which are s till operating. A close s tudy
of the relative m f'rits of the type under large-scale
operating condttions was therefore possible. It
became apparen t t hat for urban services, with t he
T AB I..&
I.- Distributiorl of lVeight of Standard Double-Deck
Omnibm
Steering .. . .. . .. .
Paint
...
...
...
Indicators
...
Electrical
.. . .. . .. .
Fuel, lubricating oil, and water ...
Windows, fixed and drop
Sprin~s .. .
.. . .. . .. . . . . .. .
Cha.ss•s frame... .. . .. . .. .
·eats
. . . . . . . ..
Wheels and tyres .. . .. .
Engine, gearbox, and dynamo
Front and rear axles .. . .. .
Body shell ... ... ... ...
Passengers, driver and conductor
lb.
105
229
234
412
420
486
750
952
977
ll30
2072
2838
4895
8120
variable fare system, it. was in many cases difficult for
the conductor to deal with seating capa-cities in excess
of fifty-six.
tatis tics were obtained of the relative
operating costs of four- and six-wheel vehicles, which
indicated an increase of 11 p er cent. in operating eo t
and some 13 per cent. in re pect of capital charges
and d epreciation , for the six-wheel b us. The only
advantage wh ich justifiably could be claimed for the
type was the s uperior riding given by the twin-axle
construction. This advantage has been subsequently
negatived , to some extent, by t he introduction of
low-pre s ure tyres on the two-axle vehicle. It was
concluded therefore, on economic grounds, that the
six-wheel type could only be justified when traffic
CONCLUSION
cond it ions and the fare system in u. e permitted
From the <.lescr·iption we give of the engi.ne:s in the capacitie:s in exc<:>ss of sixty-five.
la boratory, it wil l be evident that. n oteworth y
The rela t ively low maximum weight imposed by
improvements have been recor·ded with stand ard legislation int roduces a particu la rly difficult problem
engin es of different sizes nnd types. It is p ointed in the <:>as<' of double-dock vehi.cles. The distribu tion
out, however, that in some of these cases the full of weight on a typical vehicle of this type is hown
benefits of K adenacy p r·inciples could not be obtained in Tahlo I , which indicates the manner in which the
owing to the limi tations which \Vere pre ented in total weight of 2:3,520 lb. is allocated. It will be seen
modifying the engine d esigns. In actual practice that 8 120 lb. is accounted for by the passenger ,
it was only po ible to make a somewhat restricted driver, and conductor, som e 420 lb. for fuel , oil, and
and }Jractical compromise a nd som e types and water·, and 6821 lb. for body and fittings, leaving a
dE>signs have p ermitted a more complete ad aptation mere 8 159 lb. for the mechanical parts of t.he v ehicle,
than was possible with othe1'S. It is claimed that including whC'els, tyre , engine. and frame.
given g reater frcC'dom in engine d esign , especially with
• 'i11gle-Deck Omnibuses and C'oaches.- U ntil rccont.
regard to the C'Xht>usting and recharging functions, years, the dC'sign of this type of vehicle was not consome s t ill further improvement. in engine JWrfor- ~ idered indcp<'ndcnt ly of the d ouble-deck bus. Thl'
mancc may be looked for.
Hame t ype of chassis was u cd for both, and low
overa ll height was considered oo ~ thetically desirable,
even at the cost. of h eadroom and the passengers' view.
A high floor, however, reduces the protrusion of
Motor Transport*
wheel arches into the p assenger space, and g ives a.
lly E. C. OTTAWAY, A.!II. I nst. M.E.t
better viow. Moreover, low t raffic density and long
fare stages do n ot n ecessita.te extremely rapid loading
'J.'he Double-Deck Omnibus.- A double-deck omni- and hence any objection to a double-step entrance is
bus representative of the lates t p ractice in Great eliminated.
Britain has the engine in the front a nd a large single
The adoption of the high floor has opened the way
entrance with a low platform situated at the rear. for consideration of a lternative chassis arrangem ents,
T ho p ersistence of the rear entrance, in spite of many with a view to the more efficient utilisation of t he
attempts to popularise alterna t.ive a rrangem ents, is space available and the provision of a greater seating
a lmost universal. A few front-entra nce double-deck capacity. For· t.he time being, however, the orthodox
buses a re used in certain localities, and under s pecial p osition of tho engine retains its popularity. 1\vo
circumstances. It is generally b elieved, however, that practical a lternatives are tho rear engine de ·ign ,
the rear entrance p ermits quicker loading, enables which has achieved considerable populari ty in
the conductor to control tho vehicle more effectively, America , and tho w1der-floor arrangement, which
and that it gives greater security from boarding and ha.<; a lso been adopted in a con~iderab l e numbC'r of
a lighting accidents. The limited overall length pre- vehicles.
cludes the u e of more than one combined entrance
Tho location of the engi.J1e and gearbox tl'ans·
and exit, a nd under theso circumstances t h e use of versely at the rear of the vehicle, with a skew drive
d oors h as been found to increase loading time . It is to the axle, is practicable where the permitted overall
a lso the convenient practice of intending pas angers width is 8ft., but is far more difficult under t he
to board or a light from the vehicle when travelling res triction to 7ft. 6in. ruling in Great Britain at the
slowly in conge ted traffic, or when stopped by sig nal present time. Under the most favourable circumlights.
s tances the dimensions of the clutch housing and
Much thought has been given to the possibility gearbox must be reduced to a minimum, and little
of locating the engine beneath the floor, or at the scope is allowed for epicyclic gear -boxes, torque conrear, with a view to increasing the space available for verters, or other automatic devices, rendered increasingly necessary by the remoteness of the drive1·
• Excerpts from o. paper to have been presented at the 1939
from the engine and transmission. The transmission
American Meeting of the I nstitution of Mechanical Engineers.
t Technical Olflc~:~r (Buses ond Conches), London Passenger w1it is nocossarily m ot·o ~omplex and includes an
T ransport Doard.
a.rlclitionnl pair of gears. Somo difficulty has also boon
237
THE ENGINEER
MARcH 8, 1940
experienced in providing satisfactory engine cooling
nnder adverso conditions. Advantages claimed for
the transverse engine include a reduction of noise
within the vehicle, and improved accessibility of
the engine and gearbox tutit. I t is also probable that
the effects of engine vibration may be more easily
dealt with, since the reaction to such vibrations is
normal to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The
weight distribution of the rear engine arrangement
seems at first sigh t open to objection on the gronnds
that an unduly light front axle load will have a
tendency to cause instability. Experience, however,
has shown that, on the contrary, an improvement
in stability is effected, together with a reduction in
steering effort.
The alternative under-floor engine arrangement
p ermits a completely clear floor space for passengers,
and a very straightforward transmission layou t, with
ample scop e for specia l forms of transmission. It also
possesses an important ad vantage in that a front- end
radiator may be used with grouped auxiliaries driven
from the front end of the engine. A careful study of
the maximum seating p ossibilities of the two types,
having regard to British regulations, shows a slight
superior ity for the under-fl oor arrangement. The
rear eng ine arrangement nece sitates a. deeper rear
eat t o accommodate the engine than is required for
the passenger's comfort ; moreover it eliminates the
possibility of a. rear emergency door, which must then
be provided within the bod y side.
The arguments in favour of the rear engine d esign
are stronger in the case of one-man operated vehicles
of the 20-seat type. Such vehicles are often r equired
to operate on routE's tr·aversing secondary roads
where manreuvreability is of importance. In consequence, their wheelbase and overall length must be
kept to a minimum. I n t his class of vehicle the en trance must necessarily be situated at the fron t under
close control of the driver. The relatively short
length p recludes the use of a. floor sufficiently high to
a<!comroodate an under-floor eng ine. The London
Passenger Transport Board placed in service ex-perimentally numbers of vehicles of both types, namely
34-seat coaches with under-floor engines for ex-press
work, and 20-sea.t one-man buses employing the rear
engine a rrangement, for use on " development "
routes. The mechanical d esign of these vehicles is
of some interest, and the lay-out of a rear axle drive
of a rear engine bus is illustrated in Fig. 1.
The larger vehicle is equipped with a. six-cylinder
The alternativo positions of the engine outlined
abovo simplify the provision of a. full -frontad body,
and thus contribute to an improvement in appearance
which has generally been accepted. Experience in
London, however, has revealed some important disadvantages in comparison with the half-cab arrangement which has hitherto been the accepted practice.
The clriver'R view in bad weather is adversely a ffected
by tho increased distance of the major part of the
windscreen g lass from his eye. In addition, reflections from passing lights and from the interior
of the vehicle arc mor·e d ifficult to deal with. Accident statistics have shown t he importance of the
driver's view. It is desirable that a. small child
standing immediately in front of the vehicle should
be visible to the driver, and that blind spots be
reduced to a minimum. With the full-fronted d esign
the waist must be extremely low a.t the front to give
the required view above the near-side windscreen
glass.
To meet t hese objections, a compromise between
the full front and half-cab design has been devised,
a nd is embodied in the vehicles which have been
described. This a rrangement has been found <'X·
tremely satisfactory in service and entails very little
sacrifice of pa ssen~er space. The improvement of tho
driver's view is com~iclcrablc even when compared with
the half-cab arrangement, and by the provision of
suitable blinds the driving cab can be completely
darkened. During periods of fog, a serious difficulty
in our la rge cities, the nearside window of the cab
may be opened outwards and t he roadside kerb may
be easily seen a few inches in front of the near-sid e
wheel.
The subject of driver's view has received considerable attention of late. It was apparent, par ticularly in the case of the private car, that insufficient
importance wa..<J being attached to this feature. In
consequence, tho 'ociety of Motor Manufacturers
and Traders has laid down certain minimum standards. In tho case of public service vehicles a nd
trucks, these standards are easily attained, and should
in all cases be improved upon. An interesting comparison of the gr ound level visibility from vehicles
may be made by photographic means, Figs. 2 and
3. The vehicle is placed in a. darkened shop or
garage, and a ligh t is placed in t he cab at the position
of the driver's eye level ; a photograph is then ta ken
from above and g ives an outline of the limits of floor
visibility. This m<>thod may be rendered quantitative
From tho standpoint of the large operator there
a rc certain (lrawbacks. P eriodic overhauling may be
carried out more economically by separation of the
body and chassis. The maintenance of large numbers
of vehicles of a similar type can be most economically
achieved by means of a. floating supply of bodies and
units such as engines, gearboxes, &c. This system
is particula rly appl icable where large fleets are
concentrated in a. relatively small area, and in consequence it has been developed to a high degree by
t he Bus and Coach section of the London Passenget·
Transport Board. It has been found impracticable
for the chassis and body to be d ealt with concur rently, a nd, moreover , the time occupied in body
repairs and repainting is necessarily longer than is
required for the cha nging of units and adjustment of
the chassis. By the provision of a. floating supply of
bodies the time dlu-ing which the vehicle is withdrawn from service is reduced to that required for
Flat-engine coach
•
$wAIN
Se
Fig. 1- Mec/umical Lay-OuJ. of R ear Axle Driue of Rear Etlgille Onmwu.t
engine substantia lly similar to the orthodox vertical
engine ; s tandardisation of d etails is thus attained.
All parts of the engine requiring adjustment can be
brought to the outside, where they are accessible
without the use of a pit. At the same time the crankshaft axis lies approximately along the centre line of
the vehicle, providing a simple and symmetrical
transmission arrangement on orthodox lines. The
engine is mounted on rubber and the vehicles are
particularly free from vibration. The radiator is
situated at the front. The engine fan, in combination
with the ventilating unit, dy namo, and compressor
are driven by a straight ca.rdan shaft from the front
end of the crankshaft.
The smaller vehicle of the rear-engine type has
the power unit arranged longitudina lly at the rear.
This arrangement was chosen because the small
engine used (3!in. bore x 5in. stroke) requires little
more space than with the transverse arrangement,
and the transmission problem was again simplified.
The engine and transmission are arranged as a. unit
in such a manner that the eng ine, gearbox, or clutch,
may be removed separately b y withdrawing the
internal primary shaft ; a lternatively, the complete power and transmission unit may be withdrawn from the chassis. Some difficulty was
encountered in the early stages of design in providing sufficiently long side shafts to enable the
maximum angularity to be k ept within reasonable
limits. This difficulty was overcome by passing the
sid e shaft through the hub and mounting the universal joint within the dish of the outer wheel; this
measure enabled the maximum angularity to be kept
within about 6 d eg.
by marking the floor in rectang ular spaces of equal
size and carefully placing the vehicle in relation to the
markings.
Chassisle/Js Construction.-This form of construction, though generally used in America., ha made
little head way in Great Britain. Experimental
vehicles have been p roduced and the subj ect is wide ly
discussed. It is probable, however, that certain
differences in the conditions prevailing in Great
Brita in will retard its progress.
The manufactw·e of road transport vehicles in
Great Britain is, in the main, sharply divided between body and chassis. It will be apparent therefore that the development of the chassisless form of
construction will inevitably be hindered by admmistrative considerations.
The primary advantage claimed is presumably a
reduction in weigh t. It will be seen, however, by
reference to Table I, that the weight of the chassis
frame of a typical double-deck bus a.mow1ts to
approximately 952 lb. To this may be added 560 lb. ,
representing the weight of t he structural parts of the
body floor frame, giving a t otal of 1512 lb., or
roundly 6! per cent. of the t ota.lladen weight. Were
it possible to save half the weight of the body floor
the total saving would be equivalent to approximately 1 p er cent. of the laden weight, an amount for
which the most ardent gambler would be prudent
in the matter of risk. It is essential, when considering
the merits of this form of construction, to ensure
that a fair compat·ison of like with like be made. I t is
often the case that improvements in equipment
resulting in weight reduction are made concurrently ;
or the stress factor may be of a different order.
Double-deck omnibus
F igs. 2 and 3- Photo(Jraphic M ethod of OompariTI{J l'illibility
Characteri8tics
the chassis, and the complete overhaul may be
accomplished in five days as compared with ten days
normally occupied by the complete process.
Goods Vehicles.-With a view to presenting a
composite picttu-e, the relationship between unladen
weight and pay load of some seventy vehicles on the
British market has been plotted in Fig. 4. It has,
moreover, boon possible to indicate on this diagram
the arbitrary limits of taxation , speed, and maximum
laden weight, together with the number of vehicles
of each class in use. A study of this diagram will
readily disclose certain fundamental considerations
affecting the manufacture and operation of good ::~
vehicles in Great Brita in. lt will be observed,
primarily, t.ha.t the vehicles in use below. a.n unladen
weig ht of 2 ~ t ons (5600 lb.) g reatly outnumber
vehicles above this unladen weight, and this has led
to the production of these lighter vehicles on a
quantity basis. This, in turn, has influenced t heir
design and general appearance.
238
THE ENGINEER
At tho same time the number of vehicles in use
above this line of demarcation is not negligible. The
fact that the line of demarcation between these two
types occurs at the unladen weight limit permitting
n. speed of 30 m.p.h. has r esulted in the two classes
overlapping at this point. The manufacturers of the
heavier chassis produce light vehicles with a view to
carrying upwards of 6 tons pay load at a speed of
30 m.p.h. , whilst the makers of the lighter type of
chassis normally falling within tho lower taxation
rating claim high pay load capacities to meet this
competition. The tendency of taxation on a basis of
unladen weight, and speed rating, to encourage overloading is thus well illustrated, and the anomalous
position has arisen that manufacturers are publishing
I.
a
30 M.P.H. ,
( S.600 lB)
400CWT
(5600 lb.) unladen weight cla::;si.fication is almost
negligible.
It will be seen from Fig. 4 that for the carriage
of loads in excess of 150 cwt. (16,800 lb.) the law
demands the use of three axles, and for loads in
excess of 260 cwt. (29,120 lb.) a four-axle chassis is
required, corresponding approximately to a gross
woight of 4 tons (8960 lb.) per axle. The direct
result of this legislation has been uniformity of
tyro sizes and interchangeability of axles, the in·
creased load capacity being obtained by a further
interchangeable axle. The 36in. X Sin. tyre with a
load capacity of approximately 2 tons (4480 lb.) per
tyro is almost universal.
Much ingenuity has been displayed in attempts
20 M.P.H,~.~·~------....(
16 M.P.H WITH TRAI(ER
OAY LOAD SCALE fOR COST PER TON
I
100 CWT.
ISO CWT
( 11.1oo Ls.)
( 16.800 LB.)
so CWT
0
•j~
0
MARCH
lOO CWT
( n.~ LB.)
lSOCWT
{28000 LB.)
( 44,800 l 8
I
050
SI,7SO
8
•
£)00
I,SOO
--
nso -
0
l,l.SO 0
NUMBER OF VEHIClES IN
E.ACH TAXATION CLASS
0
g CWT~.,.,."'"""'
<
...
0
£200 ..
, 1,000 ~
200
~ ('U.100 l .
...
z
0
....
~
·~
-,
00'
-·+0
@'I
~I '00'l
2
20
WT
40
(2.240 LB.)
c{o ·
I SO
"THt EHOINC!Eft'•
0
ds ·
I 7S
do
$100
WT.
( 4,480 LB.)
.
60 CWT.
80 CWT.
( ~720 LB.)
(8.960 LB)
UNlADEN WEIGHT
cis - dO · ds ·
$125
SI SO
$175
do
u so
TAXATION
Curve A-Ratio of pay load to unladen vehicle weight.
Curve B-Cost of vehicles per ton of pay load capacity.
Curvo 0-Maximum limit of po.y load for o. single vehicle.
'
....
110 WT
(11.440 LB)
100 WT.
(11 .100 l8)
do
uso
1
£'10
s•so
SWAIN
Se
Curve D-Maximum limit of po.y lond for six-wheel vehicles.
Curve E-Ma,x imum limit of pay load for four-wheel vehicles.
Fig. 4-0haracteri8tiC8 of Good& Vehicle Typu
data permitting pay loads of 5 tons (11,200 lb. ) on
chassis nominally rated at 3 tons (6720 lb.). This
practice was fast becoming a menace in that claims
were m ade for capa.city far exceeding the designed
loading of the chassis. The manufactw·ers havo
realised this, and are supporting impending legislation
to limit the m aximum loading of vehicles. It is becoming the practice to give the maximum permissible
guaranteed laden weight for each type of chassis.
The lighter vehicles may bo subdivided again into
the small van of up to 1 ton (2240 lb.) pay load,
which is based upon private car design and is, in fact,
generally produced in tho same factory "'ith tho
same standard parts, and light tmcks of up to 5 tons
(ll ,200.Jb.) pay load with a maximum chassis weight
of the order of 35 cwt. (3920 lb.). The differentiation
between light trucks and heavier vehicles, whilst overlapping in respect of load capacity, is very marked in
design features. Light trucks are manufactured under
mass-production conditions; they are relatively light
in construction, and are correspondingly low in cost.
The vehicles comprising tho h eavier goods class aro
manufactured by the makers of large passenger
chassis under conditions of relatively low output.
They are generally heavier in construction and
more suitable for long-period maintenance, as is
inevitable in view of their gt·eater first cost.
The lme plotted in Fig. 4 giving the capital cost
per ton of pay load capacity, shows that the minimum cost is reached by those vehicles falling just
withm the 50 cwt. unladen weight class as a result
of their artificially increased pay load. Were it n ot
for this it is probable that the cheapest vehicle in
relation to pay load would be tho type of which the
greatest number a re built, namely the 30 cwt. to
40 cwt. unladen weight class.
The light vans are exclusively of the bonneted
type, and disclose their origin by a general similarity
of radiator and bonnet with their private car prototype. The light trucks are, in the majority, of the
bonnetcd type, but forward control designs are
available in the larger sizes. An analysis of a numbet·
of the moro representative types shows that with tho
forward control 78 per cent. of tho overall length is
available as body space, whereas with the bonneted
type only 63 per cent. is available.
I n appearance the light trucks have developed an
individuality like the private car, whose rapid changes
of fashion they follow. Among the larger and heavier
vehicles the appearance is more stable, showing a
similarity with the large passenger vehicle prototype.
Tho mechanical design of the lighter vans and trucks
follows, in the main, us ual lines. Petrol engines are
genel'ally JitLed, and it may bo observed that the
number of oil engines in use bclo\v the 2! tons
to provide the additional axles necessary with the
minimum of cost and complication. The suspension
of the rear bogie is now inval'iably by means of four
semi-elliptic springs shackled at their adjacent ends
to a swinging balance beam ; this system affords
three points of attachment to the frame and permits
of some adjustment of load between the two axles,
which is an advantage on single-axle-drive bogies.
'l'o reduce cost and eli.mi.nate the transmission
inefficiency of the double-drive r ear-axle bogie it
is the practice of several manufacturers to market
the six-wheeler with single-axle drive and, in some
ins tances where loading permits, ingle tyres on
the hindmost axle. This arrangement is not entirely
s~tisfactory, in spite of tho adjusted axle loadings,
smce under some conditions adhesion is insufficient.
In all cases an alternative design employing doubleaxle drive is available.
With a view to obviating thcso difficulties certain
manufacturers are employing twin steering front
axles and a single rear axle. By this means the
maximum weight is available for adhesion on the
driving wheels and tyre scrub is elimi.J1ated. Moreover, by the use of twin tyres on the ingle axle,
equal tyre loadings are obtained.
Trailers have not achieved tho popularity in Great
Britain that is observable on tho Continent, largely
bccauso of the reduction in sp eed thoir use entails.
In spite of this, the trailot· finds favour for certain
classes of work. Its advantages mainly lie in operation, and are most apparent where one towing vehicle
can serve two or more trailers, and thus minimise
idle loading time.
The subject of trailers would not be complete without some reference to tho articulated five-wheel
vehicle, or " mechanical horse." This arrangement, originally developed to meet the needs of
the railway companies in displacing the horse for
short hauls, has achieved considerable popularity.
The tractor has an automatic coupling and a single
fo•'ward steering whcol and can turn in little more
than its own length. It is capable of a spoed of
20 m.p.h., and in lal'gor ~; izcs will haul a 6-ton
( 1:3,440 Jb.) pay load. This arrangement has a
particular advantage for municipal transport il1 towns
of medium size, where the capital expenditure involved in the provision of scpat·ate self-contained
vehicles for each and every purpose would be pro·
hibitive. One tractor of the mechanical horse type
employed with a carrier unit for each purpose is a
very satisfactory solution.
(To be continued)
8' 1940
South African Engineering Notes
(By our Soutll .IJ.jricc.n Oorrupcnchnt)
Graving Dock Needed at Table Bay
Now that tho Parliamentary session ha s
begun- it was opened on Friday, J anuary 19ththere is likely to be strong representation of Capo
Town's need for a new graving dock. The subject
is not new, but so far nothing has been done. Those
more vitally concerned with this matter, however,
havo not abandoned their efforts, and at least one
representative deputation will again take an early
opportunity to impress upon the Government tho
imperative necessity for making immediate provision for this facility for shipping in the new Tablo
Bay harbour. The war factor need not be used as
the chief argument in justifying the claim for a
modem graving dock, although it would be a great
pity and certainly a loss of prestige if Cape Town
were suddenly called upon as a result of war action to
render assistance to, or repair, some valuable ship
and was unable to do so. The important fact is
that an up-to-date graving dock was included in the
new Table Bay harbour scheme and was agreed to
in principle by the Government. Unfortunately, it
appears on the plan in the " future" section of the
harbour scheme and not in the "immediate" which
is due for completion in about eighteen months' time.
It is now urged that the " future" need of two
years ago has already become " immediate." There
appear to be sound reasons for supporting this
contention.
The plan shows the sito of the graving dock on the
Woodstock side of the new harbour. Before it can
be constructed the area a round it--now sea watermust be reclaimed. This r eclamation is also in the
" future " section of the harbour scheme and is
not included in the present contract of the Dutch
dredging contractors. This chopping up of the ultimate harbour scheme into two sections-" immediate"
and "future "-has not worked well in practice. For
example, the dredgers now deepening the new harbour
area have found less sand and more rock than
expected. All material recovered is used to reclaim
the foreshore. Even a year ago it would have been
economical for the dredgers, in view of the unexpected
nature of the substance then being recovered from
the new basin, to have dumped that substance in the
area of water around the site of the graving dock.
However, the contractors were not concerned with
filling in that area, and they dumped it elsewhere.
No authority has been given to reclaim this small
section, but had the two sections of reclamation been
dovetailed the area arotmd the graving dock s1te
would at this moment havo been partly dry land,
and the actua l construction of the graving dock could
have been started almost at once. The position is
that the graving dock cannot bo constructed until the
a r·ea on three sides of it has been reclaimed as dry
land. Those who are pressing for the dry dock at·e
a nxious that authority should be given at once
for the reclamation of this area,--beforo the Dutch
contractors wish to return thoir fleet of dredgers
overseas at tho termination of their present contract
next year. '!'he war is an added reason why everything necessary should be clone at once to ensure that
the graving dock is provided at the earliest possible
date.
" Iscor " Workshops Moved on Skids
A clever engmeering feat was carried out
at the South African Iron and Steel Corporation's
works recently when the electrical workshops, a
building 160ft. long by 50ft. wide, and weighing
about 160 tons, were lifted bodily and moved 88ft.
This operation is believed to be the first of such
magnitude to be carried out in South Africa. I t
was made necessat·y because the electrical \Vorkshops
stood directly in the way of important extensions
required to the mechanical workshops. These
extensions form part of a p rogramme of expansion
upon which the engineers have been engaged
for some time. Tho electrical workshops consist of
a structural steel ft·ame building covered with a
corrugated iron roof. B efore the building could bo
shifted the steel framework had to be reinforced by
stays consisting of 96 lb. railway rails and of wire
rope tension stays. Special tackle had to be devised
for the job. Moreover the " shift " had to be carried
out without interfering in any way with the normal
programme and electrical maintenance work. The
buildmg had first to be moved 30ft. to the north and
then 8ft. to the wost.
First of a ll the vertical columns were jacked up
sufficiently to allow the builders to clear obstructionli
on the grotmd, and adjust the 96 lb. rails which wore
used as skids. The vottical columns were skilfully
moLmted on these rails a nd plenty of grease applied
to facilitate the haul. All manner of pulling tackle had
t o be used and anchorages contrived against which
the pulling could be done. The latter were obtained
by sinking eocopans 6ft. into the ground. Eight
hand winches were used for the actual hauling.
As they were all of different sizes, considerable
ingenuity had to bo exercised to ensure a steady
pull. The pull had to be uniform at all points to
prevent distortion of the framework. '!'he actual
time taken to move the building northwards was
MARcH 8, 1940
1 hour 5 mins., and the movement westwards occupied
45 mins. The entire job of planning, preparing the
new site, and t ransferring the building took only
ten d ays. The operations are fully described in the
" J ournal " of the Corporation.
It may be m entioned that for some time, and
particularly since experiencing periodic waves of
international tension, I scor directors and executives
have been giving special attention to the question of
the local manufacture of sparo parts for replacements
and many items of plant and equipment which had
previously been purchased overseas. Towards this
end extensions to the fotmdry and the machine shops
have been provided for and a large e>.:pencliture has
been incurred in installing additional and up-to-date
machine tools. These improvement s involved the
use of the boiler and erecting shop for other purposes
and instead of building a new and enlarged boiler
shop it was decided by arrangement with the other
Rhareholders in the Pretoria Steel Construction
'ompany (P ty.), Ltd., t o purchase their holding in
that com pany and to take over for use as a boiler and
erecting shop , the p roperties, works, and plant of
that company which are adjacent to the I scor works.
Approximately £200,000 has been spent or provided
for over the last eighteen months to two years with
the object of making the works more independent of
overseas supplies and generally of safeguarding the
industry against the possibility of the stoppage or
r estriction of overseas sup plies. Since I scor Vv orks
star ted up a sum of £43S,461 in all has been provided
out of revenue for additions and improvements to
plant and properties, including amenities for the staff,
of which £203,759 was set aside during the year
ended June 30th, 1939. Of the £43S,461 so set aside,
£303,924 had been spent up to J une 30th, 1939,
adding considerably to the efficiency and the profit
earning capacity of the plant.
Plant to Produce Steel and Ferro-Ailoys
Dr. H. J. van der Bijl, D irector of War
Supplies, chairman of the Electricity upply Commission, a nd chairman of the South Mrican Iron and
Steel Corporation, has just announced that the large
works at Vereeniging will without doubt b e launched
when the international position warrants it. Dr.
van der Bijl said that had it not been for the outbreak
of war the scheme might already have been started.
H e was in England on business connected with t he
scheme when the war interrupted his plans. The
scheme involves r aising £5,000,000 capita l to finance
a h uge new steel and ferro-alloy production plant to
be established at Vereeniging tu1dcr the control of
the African Metals Corporation. This is a p rivate
compa ny whose sha.reholders include mining houses
and big steel concerns in England. It has b een
operating for two years at Newcastle, where it is
making ferro-manganese and pig-iron. Its production at present is 4000 tons of pig-irou and 1700
tons of ferro-manganese a month. It supplies all
the country's r equirement s of ferro-manganese, and
has for the first time made South Mrica indep endent
of overseas supplies of that commodity. Dr. van d er
Bijl's a im is to m ake the steel industry absolutely
independent for all raw materials. The industry
requires not only coke, iron ore, and lime, but ferromanganese, ferro-chrome, and ferro-tw1gsten. The
object of the new company is to make these ferroalloys and also to make more steel, but steel of a
kind which cannot be made by I scor at Pretoria.
"What we do at the new works must rationalise
with what is done at I scor ; the two projects must
dovetail " said Dr. van der Bijl ; he added that
further expansion was contemplated at I scor. A
big new wire works was to be establish ed with an
initial production of about 35,000 tons a year, which
was about 40 per cent. of the Union's requirements.
At present, South Mrica's supplies of wire were almost
entirely imported.
239
THE ENGINEER
have been laid, and at the locomotive depot nearly 22in. and depth of 24in. The frying range has two
all the inspection pits have been built.
Workmen lSin. square pans, each 7in. deep, its overall dimensions being 4ft. wide by 2ft. Sin. d eep by 3ft high.
are now erecting tho steel frame for the sheds.
One of the boilers is used for the preparation of
soups, &c., and the other for cooking vegetables,
Port Elizabeth's Big Dam
each having a capacity of 20 gals. The gas heated
Tho task of building P ort Elizabeth's great steamer has a compartment 2ft. high, l Sin. wide,
dam has begun in earnest. This dam, which is being and 2ft. deep, and the grilling space on the griller is
built across the Kromme River, seven mile.- from the 27u\. wide, l 6iJ1. deep, and 9in. high. The l Oft.
city, will be South Africa's first multiple arch dam, long vapour h eated hot closet a nd serving counter is
and is d esigned to hold 7,S23,000,000 gallons with divided into two sections, one being used for k eeping
provts1on for enlargement when necessary to plates warm, and the other for keeping the prepared
12,500,000,000 gallons capacity. I t is expected meals warm and ready for quick serving.
that it will take two and a half years to complete.
The single pipe line which is being laid concurrently
with the raising of the wall will supply the city with
5,000,000 gallons a day.
Gas Mixing Valve
Developing Union's Timber Industry
1\fr. A. Jurriaanse, statistician in tho Division
of Forestry, has just published information showing
the great development that has taken place in the
Union's Coniferous timber industry. Although prospects are considerably improved, the Union is still
dependent on overseas supply for the greater part of
its timber requirements. H e points out that timber
from the Baltic can be practically ruled out for the
present. This fact has thrown a big increase in the
d emand on the timber products of Canada and
America from many other countries besides South
Mrica. This demand has already caused the f.o.b.
prices from Canada to increase b y 25 per cent. Mr.
A: J urriaanse comes to the conclusion that South
Mrica's imports of coniferous timber for fruit boxes,
for industrial pm•poses, plywood, and pulpwood, &c.,
will become much r estricted, and that the Union
will be able to land possible imports only at h igh
prices. About 6! million cubic feet in the round of
conifer ous timber 5in. to Sin. in diameter, or after
being sawn about 2 to 3 million cubic feet, could be
supplied from the Government plantations. This
total of sawn wood is still less than the annual
impor ts before the war of boxes only, viz. about
4,000,000 cubic feet. T he Union's contribution to
its timber requirements is therefore still very small,
and it is d ependent on supplies from overseas for the
greater part of its requirements.
accompanying engraving illustrates a gas
mixi11g valve which has been designed in connection
with the conver:;ion of petrol driven vehicles to gas
operatio,u. The valve consists of a tap ered choke
tube (A, B) with the smaller tube capable of vertical
adjustment, to a llow variation of the amount of gas
passing between the ends of the two tubes. The
upper part of the movable choke tube embodies a
differential cylinder , the smaller diameter of which is
pr~vided with air inlet ports and the larger with a
closely fitting piston (0), the back of which is put
THE
f or Idle
Running
D
Safety Slow
Sock Value
Screw for
Locking
Choke
Tube
Canteen Kitchen Equipment
THE now canteen kitchen of a large engineering
firm h as recently been completely fitted with gas
heated cooking and other equipment by R adiation,
Ltd. The equipment, which has been designed for
the preparation of meals for 300 p ersons at one time,
includes a double oven " B ordo " range; a two pan
" \Vardour " fish fryer ; a two gallon " Lune"
vegetable boiler ; a vapour heated hot closet a nd
serving counter ; a steamer ; and a " Savoy " griller
on a stand.
In the accompanying engraving is shown one part
of the kitchen, and in it may be seen the fish fryer ,
vegetable boiler, and the steamer, which are set
back-to-back with the other equipment. The whole
group is situated under a glass hood which collects
steam and cooking fumes a nd discharges them
through a centra l trunk to the outside of the building.
A continuous hot plate surmounts the range for
general roasting and baking, T his actually compr ises
two " Bordo " ovens, one being 24in. and the other
30in. wide inside, each having an inside height of
flame
Arrestor
E--
' T Ht EHQINfCA"
GAS MIXING VALVE
into communication with the lower end of the choke
t ube by a small pipe. On the engine induction str oke,
the d epression of the pressure at the mouth of the
choke tube results in a r eduction of pressure above
the piston. The rise of this piston va.ries with the
engine speed, thus preserving a correct air and gas
mixture. A small screw (D) is provided for idlerunning adjustment. T o m eet the requirements of
t he Ministry of Transport regulations a flame arrestor
Manufacture of Chlorine Gas
One of the first of the new industries to be
established on the R and in consequence of the war
is the manufacture of chlorine gas. A big pulp
and paper manufacturing concern has informed the
J ohannesburg City Council that it has decided to
manufacture the gas if there is found t o be sufficien t
d emand, and it offered to supply the Council for its
public health requirements at a cost considerably
lower than the pr ice of its last overseas contract.
The city engineer has suggested , and the Public H ealth
Committee has recommended. that the Council should
accept the offer at the confidential p rice quoted on
a three-year bas is provid ed the quality of the product
is up to previous standards. Chlorine is also used
extensively on the Rand in purifying water a nd in
bleaching processes. Supplies have hitherto come
ft·om overseas, but the effects of t he war on communications and costs make it desirable to ensure a
continuous supply from local sources.
New Railway Works
The provision of new and modern railw·ay
works in P retoria, estimated t o cost over £1,000,000,
has been proceeding according to schedule. The
construction of the marshalling yard and its service
station, t he locomotive depot, has advanced considerably during the past few m onths. The tracks
•
CA NTEEN
KITCHEN
•
240
THE ENGINEER
(E) consisting of a. cone-shaped gauze is fixed between
the gas mixet· outlet and tho induction manifold.
In som e cases, as a.n extra ~afeguard , a safety blowback valve (F) is fitted in tho valve inlet. The valve
has, wo are informed, proved itsolf satisfactory for all
sizes of engines up to about l OO H.P.
An alternative arrangement consists of a. combined
mixing valve and low-prcsRure reducing valve cast
in one body for use in low-pressure gas systems.
As a r efinem<.'nt the movable choke tube can be made
remotely adjustable by mf?am; of a Bowden wire
cable. For abnormally hC'avy engine loads this
feature, it i~ stated, is desirable. The valve was
originally de igned at the R esearch Laboratory of
the City of Birm.ingham Gas D epartment, and i~
manufactured by Bellis and Morcom, Ltd., Birmingham.
plates between which are m ounted a nwnber of
rollers for transmitting tho drive to the track shoes,
on the inverted-tooth chain-drive principle. The
trac~ provide a runway for four bogie rollers per
side; adjustment for tho tracks is effected by moving
the idler sprockets at the front of the tractor, recoil
springs being furnished to provide a shock absorbing
MARCH
8, 1940
aro formed by tho pneumatic-core method, which is
probably well known to our readers.
The advantages claimed for the roof over the type
at present sp ecified are its cheapness, and the speed
with which it can b o erected owing to its extreme
simplicity. The " Bison " roof, as it is called, is tho
result of extensive experiment carried out over several
Transformers for the C.E.B.
FIVE large transformers have recently been supplied by the British Electric Transformer Company,
Ltd., to the Central Electricity B oard. They are
three-phase, 50 cycle units with a capacity of 30,000
kVA. ThC'i r no-load ratio is 132,000/ 33,000 volts
star/d elta connected . Tho d esign of these transformers is in accordance with BSS. 171/ 1936. The
transformers are of the 5-limb core type. On the
RV windings tappings are provided for ± 2·86 per
cent., and ± 7·15 p er cen t. voltage variation, and
they are connected to a 5-position off-circuit linear
t n>c tapping switch which can be operated con vC'niE'ntly from the grotmd level. For cooling tlw
\lnits, there are two air-blast coolers which hav('
forced oil circulation, and which a re bolted directly
to one end of the main tank. E ach transformer i~
fitted with an explosion vent and silica-gel breather,
while in addition dial thcnnometors and window
pattern oil gauges are pr·ovidcd. On both the high
and low voltage sides the bushings are of the compound -fil led condenser type. Above each main
tank cover, auxiliary three-phase transformers are
mounted in small tanks. The e au.xiliaries are
permanently connected to the low voltage side of the
main transfor mers. They a re rated at 30 kVA with
a no-load ratio of 33,000/400 volts, delta/star con-
TRAC K - LAYER
medium when irregular ground is being traversed.
Independent hand levers control the brakes on each
driving hub, thereby effecting the steering of the
vehicle. These levers aro motmted so as to be within
easy reach of the driver.
P ower for driving the tractor and operating the
TRACTOR
m onths at the firm's works in Leeds, H ounslow, and
Birmingham. The roof has been designed for spans
of 19ft., 24ft ., and 28ft., as well as for composite roofs
of these spans with valley gutters. The roof is
formed by two sloping " B ison " slabs which butt
together at the apex, and thrust against the gutter
beam at t he foot.
The beams are tied by rods at
12ft. centres. vVe are informed that tho maximum
cleat· space i'3 given below the roof, and t hat the l"Offit
is sm ooth and t'<'ady to t~tkE' lime-whitening.
50,000-Volt D.C. Transmission
30,000
kVA TRAN SFORMERS FOR THE
nected. On these transformers there are no tappings.
Each auxiliary transformer tank is provided with a
conservator, an explosion vent and a. silica-gel
breather. The engraving shows three of these w1its
awaiting delivery at the British Electric Transformer
Company's Hayes works.
Track-Layer Tractor
IN the accompanying engraving we reproduce a
photograph of a new track-layer tractor manufactured
by David Brown Tractors, Ltd., of Meltham, near
Huddersfield. At the front of the tractor is mounted
a. power-driven winch, which has obvious military
uses and is also designed for timber working and
for the extrication of bogged vehicles.
The tractor is built up from units mounted on a
specia!ly designed sub -frame. These units comprise
the engine, gear-box, differential, radiator, tanks,
and so forth assembled as a major unit, and a special
spur-gear final reduction unit mounted on the subframe, the front of the major unit being attached at
a single point to one of the cro s-members. Standard
structural steel sections are used for the construction
of the sub-frame.
From the differential the drive is taken through
the spur reduction gearing mentioned above to the
rear track hubs, upon which are mounted brake drums
of large diameter, forming in addition the steering
medium. I<'itted to the periphery are sprocket
C.E.B.
winch is supplied by an overhead valve petrol engine,
which, with a compression ratio of 5! to 1, develops
28 B.H.P. at a. speed of 1400 r.p.m. A governor is
arranged to limit the speed to either 1400 r.p.m. or
2500 r.p.m. The transmission is through a lOin .
single dry-plate clutch, provided with ball bearing
withdrawal gear, to the combined four-sp eed , r everse,
and differential unit. The road speeds at the lower
governed engine speed are 1-2, 1·75, 3-58, and 5- l
m.p.h. in the four respective forward gears, and
0·8 m.p.h. in reverse gear. By opening the throttle
to the higher governed sp eed, the road speeds are, of
course, increased correspondingly.
The winch drive is taken from a power take-off
shaft on the gear-box through a chain drive and a pair
of bevel gears to a jackshaft, driving the winch through
a pair of spur gears. The reduction ratio is such that
a cable speed of 20ft. per minute is obtained, which is,
wo are assured, sufficiently low to avoid cable snatching occurring. When operating at this speed, the
winch exerts, it is claimed, a minimum cable pull of
15,000 lb.
Pneumatic Roofs for Army Huts
A NEW type of r oof has been approved by the
War Office for use in tho camps now being built for
the militia. I t is mado of hollow precast concrete
units, and has been evolved by Concrete, Ltd. , of
Leeds and London. 1' he cavities in the precast units
THE use of high tension D.C. for the transmission
of power over long d istances has been advocated by
certain engineers for many years. Inductance and
capacity effects which becom e troublesom e, when
very great distances are involved, are eliminated and
wattless current does not have to be compensated at
various p oints along the line. The cost of the line
for a given load has also been shown to be les than
that of a three-phase ''ire. The c and other wE'l lknown advantages, wit h which w<' scarcely need d eal,
rna ko the scheme attractive ''hen power has to be
s<'nt over very many miles. The Thury constant
CUI-r-ent system with sel"ics connected generators is
t.ho on ly D. C. traru;mi!lsion system that has been put
to practical use. :Since the current is constant the
lino losses are also constant, but the system does not
lend itself to interconnection with existing A.C. networks.
With the advent of high-power m ercury arc rectifiers,
or mutators, as they are som etimes called, attention
has been directed to constant voltage D .C. transmission. An exp erimental equipment built according to this system, with 50-kV. mutators was shown
by Brown Boveri and Co., at the Swiss National
exhibition. Although a pressure of 50-kV. is not
high enough for the transmission of large quantities
of power over long distances, the experimental plant
marks an interesting development. The A.O. cw·rent
is converted into D .C. on the site of power generation
and at the end of the transmission line it is converted
again into three-phase current for power distribution.
Voltage regula tion at the receiving end is obtained by
on-load tap changing switches on the transformers
and by grid control of the mutators. D.C. is only
used for power transmission while power generation
and distribution a re by A.C. which has well-known
advantages, esp ecia lly as regards voltage conversion
for numerous consumers.
Existing three-phase power stations, it is pointed
out, could b e connected to this system for power
transmission, the consumers remaining on the existing A. C. distribution systems. As controlled mutators
a llow of reversing the power flow it is possible to exchange power between different three-phase generating
plants thus r eversing the coupling of different systems.
The wattless current for the network supplied has to
be provided by synchronous m achines which govern
the frequency, since n o wattl<'ss current can b('
transmitted over the D .C. line. The advantages of
D.O. are most m arked when cables are used for tt·an~­
mission because the electrical stress is reduced. Tests
l\fARCH
8, 1940
sh?w that mutators for operating at 50kV. can be
bllllt for a current _of 400 amperes representing an
output of 20,000 kilowatts and hig her voltages arC'
contemplated.
For the experiment at the 'wi s National exhibition
the Zurich electricity works gave its whole-hearted
support by placing a transmission lino at the disposal of Brown Boveri and Co. A load of 500 kilowatts was _transmitted at 50kY. from the \\'ett ingen
power stat10n n ear Bad en , to the exhibition in Zurich
over a dis tance of 30 Ia:n· ~ simplified diagram tak<'n
from the Brown Boven ReVtew of the connpctions used
for the transmitting and receiv ing plant is shown below.
Tho A. C.-D.C. mutator set in the 'Vettingen p ower
h~us~ wa connected t~ tlw generator bus-bars through
c1rcu1t breakers and d1sconnecting switches. This set
c·onverted the thre<'-phase pow0r at 6kV. into D. C. at
50kV. for direct transmission to Zurich. The transmission line used was really the insulated earth con ductor of the existing 50kV. three-phaso transmi~ion line which changed over to a cable in the
Zunch_ area ~n~ then became a si ng le polo overhead hno agam 111 t he last section before tho ex hibi t-ion. High voltag<' D.C'. was the1·e convC'rted ~'lac k to
three-phMC' currcnt at 6k V. a net d c liv<'rt>ci t 0 t hc
THE ENGINEER
A Mod ern Coating Ma chine
241
In order to obtain a tight sheet for winding, a holdback is used immediately foll owing the dryer. An
improved type is used for the Provincial machin e.
It consis ts essentially of a driven drum, around which
the s heet travels, being held against the drum by
means of tapes. Between the dryer and the holdback the s heet hangs on a controlled loop. Following
the hold-back, there is a Pope reel of us ual de ign but
with minor modifications required for handling coated
paper. The hold-back, as its name implies, allows for
putting varying tension on the s heet going to the reel.
TH E. re~arkable Atrides made by the Canatlian
newsprmt md ustry during the past two d ecades has
been fostered chiefly by the extensive rise in the
amoun~ of n?wspape~ advertising and the inability of
~he Um~d tS;tes rrulls and forests to keep s tep with
1t. Durm~ tlus d~velopment, the industry, with the
very real a1d prov1ded by the paper machine builders
?as m~de notable m echanical progress, particularly
~n effic1en cy and cost of production. The fine paper
AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT
mdus~ry, h oweve:, h~s not, during this p eriod ,
There are five sections to the whole machine each
exper10nced anything like the same increased demand
.
.
'
for its products. While the mills have kept pace dr~ven by a direct-current gear motor through a chain
with r;todem improvements and methods, there has clr1 ve. These are a s follows, s tarting from the coater
end : The coater rolls, apron, dryer conveyor, hold been _little incentive for the building of now mills.
W1th the coated paper industry, the situation is back, and reel. Each m otor has its own rheostat f o1·
~;en less favourable from a production s tandpoint. adjusting the draw of the s heet between the sections .
_Ionnage has receded and the technical improvements The different d1·ives do not, however, n eed to be tied
m methods and materials have, until recently been in a in the case of a paper machine drive as the s heet
comparatively minor. It speaks well for the c~u rage is not as tender and there is more opportunity for slip.
of the ~xec_uti':'es of Provincial Paper, Limi ted, as well ln fact, slip is q uite necessary in the dryer section , as
as thc1_r faith m the Canadian coated paper indu. try, if the s heet, while being dried, was n ot allowed to
wh~n , m tho face of the comp arat ive inactivity of the change its position over the conveyor sticks, so-called
11
bus mess they saw fit to install the very latos t and " s tick-marks " would be apt to develop. The D .C.
m odern coating equipment in thei1· plant at George- m otot· driving the h old -back is actually a generator
town, Ontario.
(feeding back into the line) a soon as the sh eet
A few years ago, C:arl Men ·ill, a heating engineer of reach es the reel, as then the hold-back is a brake being
P ort_land, Mai?e, s~w possibilities of greater· speed in pulled by the sheet. The winding tension is adjusted
coatmg operations 1f the customary fes toon line could by the rheostats connected with the motors driving
be eli~nated . He developed a fiat, high-temperature t h e reel and hold-back.
and h1gh-speed dryer. About the same time the
The prime m over for the en tiro machine is a motor • '. D. 'Va~ren Paper _Company was developing the generator set and t he machine speed is governed by
:so-called a1r-brush, which they hoped would overcome volt~ge control at the generator. The main panel
t~e ot!_ler drawback to bigger speed coating, namely, holdmg the rheostat for this speed control is set at the
v1bratmg brush es. It is the combination of these two dry end close to the reel. This panel also carries the
pieces o f equipment, which allows for greatly increased ammeter and voltmeter for the generator, the
s peed with no sacrifice in quality, that Provincial ammeters for the sectional motors, the rheos tat for
~aper, after· considerable investigation, decided to motors on the_ hold-back and reel, and the pushmstall.
buttons operatmg t he four fans . The main control
The backstand of the coater in this plant holds the of the machine is therefore with the operators at the
expiring roll of " raw s tock " as well as the n ew roll dry end, although there is an emergency s top-button
to be s ~arted, and is so constructed that the splice at the wet end a s wel l.
A - - - ... - ·B ... -· - -· ... ...
connectmg the two can be made without s topping- a
The amount of air required for the air brus h is
so -called flying splice or paster . The sheet then rather large, considering also the pressure at which it
pa ses over an idler and a driven roll and then over is used.
'pecially designed rotary turbo-compressors
SO kV . ................
500 kW .
the colow· roll , :which consis ts o f 8; m etal roll revolving are used for this purpose, there being two which are
·---·····
"Tt-~ t [HOIHtt .. ••
at a co~para~1vely slow speed m a pan containing connected in series and each is driven by a separate
sw.... Se.
the coatmg m1x to bo apphed. This roll carries up motor. One or both may be required , depending on
T. \\"ettingeo Power Station.
A. A.C.-D.C. Mutator. an ex~es of colour, which the h eet wipes off.
The the class o f woPk to be done. In the Provincial
11. National Exhibition.
B . D.C.-A .C. Mutator. s heet IS then led around the bms h roll where the air- installation the compre sors, together with the motor
CONNECT IONS FOR D.C. TRANS MI SSION
brus~ blo~s off the excess colour and s preads the generator set and main power panel, are located in
remamder mto an even film . The weight of coat is the basement below the machine.
Ment ion has already been made of the change from
d.is~ribution ~ystem of t.he ~uric h electricity works. governed by the pressure of air into the air-brus h
1 hts convers1on took place m a D.C.- A.C. mutator which in turn governs the air velocity at the nozzle. a s lack sheet to a tight one by means of the hold-back.
set in the exhibition s ub-station . The convertor The s heet then travels up over the suction apron, a Between the dryer and the hold-back the s heet still
unit was connected to the 6kV. b us-bars of the s ub- perforated endless rubber belt carrying the sheet by hang in a slack loop. Owing to the fact that there
~;tation through an air-blast high-sp eed circuit breaker vacuum induced by an auxiliary fan. The apron is no definite tie-in between the section drives either
and a compressed-air operated three-pole discorulect- provides the principal drive of the sh eet through the electrically or mechanically, it would be alm~st impossible t ? keep this loop at a constant position, and
ing switch. The <'arth served as a return conductor coater .
1t wou~d etther drop to the floor or rise to the position
an d the ordinary service earthing of the power house
THE DRYER
?f a t1g~t sh eet. T his condition is avoided by the
served as an earth electrode for one of the mutator
Al~ost i~ediately after leaving the apron, the ms~allat10n of a small rider, resting on top of the loop
sets and the rails of the tramway system in Zurich
sheet JS fed mto the dryer and is carried through by a which actuates, by means of compre sed air a
for the other earth connection.
Both mutator sets were of the same d esign and apart conveyor made up of sticks set approximately lft. rheostat, which in turn governs the speed of the h~ld­
from the control circuits had simple connections. apart on a pair of endless chains. The dryer s hell is back and reel, to k eep the loop at practica lly a conEach unit comprised the mutator with its accessories approximately 200ft. long- the longe t dryer of this stant height. Photo-electric cells may be, and have
a main transformer and a break er for the A. C. side: type ever installed for single coating. The length was been, used to accomplish the same result.
It is d esirable with coated paper, as with most
tbo break er having primary current and therma l necessary owing to the use of 8 lb. exhaust s team, but
relays to protect the set from abnorma lly high over - 100 lb. s team has_ also been provided for use in special other papers, to be able to control the mois ture
loads. There was an earthed switch-board pane l to cases. For h eatmg the dryer is divided into four ?o~tent. Wb!le this is difficult with a festoon dryer,
~ccommodate various service switches and meas uring sections, each provided with a fan , a set of fin-type 1t JS comparattvely easy with a flat dryer of controlled
mstruments and behind it was a h ighly insulated panel heaters and a by-pa s. The firs t two sections each speed, provided an instrument is available to ind icate
containing the control apparat us . The D.C.- A. C. have three heaters and the last two each have two ~he_ dryness of the sheet. The Rogers condition
mutator had been placed i11 the s ub-s tation and care with space for a third. Each of the ten heaters i~ md1cato_r h~s been found well s uited to this p u rpose,
separately connected to both exhaust and high- and whtle tt doe n ot n ecessarily indicate mois ture
taken to make it easy to s upervise.
directly, it does ind icate a condition which can be
The new design of high voltage mutator used on pressure s team.
Al_mos t c?mplete reci_t·culation of t he h eating air is d~plicated for any given grade. The control rests
that installation differed considerably from that of
former types. F or the blocking voltages exis ting poss1ble owmg to the lug h temperature, which varies Wlth_th~ s peed of the machine; for example, should
between counter a nodE's . sp ecial an od<' bu hings between 200 and 300 d eg. F ah .. d epending on the the 1':ld1c~tor sh ow that the s heet is too dry, the
were d eveloped . At. presE'nt. Brown Boveri and pressure of s team used . The ait· is pulled out. of the ~aclune IS s peed ed up unt.il the d e:;;ired condition is
C:o. have a completP mutator in ~ervicc work ing at dryer belo w the travelling sh eet and cleJi,·erecl down - m~i cated. The ins tr·ument is quite sen it-ive and is
a p re s ure of 60k''·· and i l i~ t hP inte nt ion of 1hE> ward on top o f the s heet lluough a syAtem of intemal bemg found use ful on pap<'r machines a well as
Owing to the facL that the t~mperaturo of the coaters.
comp~ ny ~ o proce<>d with the dE'vPiopmcnl of uuits duc~ s.
The overall length of the machine is approximately
~or s ttll h1J?her p re s ures. \\'hen putting the plant drymg s heet cannot exceed tho wet-bulb temperahu·<'
m to operat10n the air-blas t high-speed circuit breaker o~ the air, dry ing temperatures of 300 d eg. Fah . and 250ft .. and it is dE's igned to coat a web ft. wide ~t
s peeds from 150 to 700ft. pe1· minute. The maximum
of the D.C.-A.C. mutator in the sub -station is htgher are n ot only safe but. quite practicable.
The entire dryer s hell is supported fairly high up :so s peed depends on a number of variables. some of
closed and by closing the breakers at the othE'r end
th~ A.C.-D. ~. mutator is put under voltage which is ~hat, ex~ept where the heating units are placed, there which are: s team pre s ure, weight and width of web
r a1sed by gr 1d control until the current attainA the IS walkm~ clearance below. Alternating current w~ight anti compos ition of coat. Production, like:
d esired value. A remote control d evice also enabl<'s motors dnve th e four fans, and these are controlled wtso, depends on all these as well as the number of
t h~ latter mutator to be controlled from the s witch- by push -bu~tons on the ~onkol panel at the dry end cha~ges in any g iven period. I t is difficult, therefore,
board panel in the s ub-s tation. On account of the of the machme. The enhre sh ell and heater units are to gtve any figure for capacity, but imilar machine
shor t distance covered, s hort-circuits on the tr-ans- i~ulated with a 2in. spun-rock-wool blanket, covered have produced as much as 50 tons of paper coated on
~sio~ line are cleared at the sending eud by the w1th two plas ter coa~s and heavy duck. With this one side, in 24 hours.
nnmed 1ate action of grid control. A brE'akdown of typ~. of dryer there i~ n o particular necessity for a
t he grid control apparatus results in the operation of pos1t1ve feed of fresh au·, as the conveyor s ticks, where
t h e p_rotecti~e relay and the tripping of the breaker they emerge from and re-enter the s hell at either end
OPPO~ITION TO ·raE LAKE ERtE-Omo RIVER CANAL.asso?1ated w1t~ the set. But the simplifications m ade produce s ufficient "spill " for the purpo e. There is, The _Untted tate Interstate Commerce Commission has
p osstble on th 1s last plant can scarcely b e claimed for however, a s tack ventilator at each end of the shell pubhshe~ a r~ por~ on its investigation into the proposed
~onger transmission distances which are contemplated ~h~ch tends to produce a slight negative pressure Lake Er1e-Oh10 Rtvor Canal which it is estimated would
mstde. These are not necessary in all cases, however, co~t 240 million dollars to build. In the conclusion it is
t n t he future.
and usually a re installed for the operators' comfort, p~u~ted out that a large volume of traffic, at least 56
rather _than for any effect they may have on the drying m1lhon toml a ye1u·, and pt·obably considet·ably more
operat10n .
would be affected and the gross revenue loss of the rail:
roads woul~ be about 35 r_nillion dollars and possibly more ;
_IT~IAN COLLIERY DISA TER.- A ga!'l explosion in a <'Oal'VINDINO EQU IPMENT
that the ra1lroads could 111 afford, now or in the future, to
mme m the Arsa region of Italy has resulted in the death
of 46 miners, and it is feared that about 50 more may have
Coating dryerR, either fes toon or flat differ from lose revenue _on such an amount of traffic, and that they
lost their lives.
have .a~ pie lme and terminal capacity to carry any traffic
paper-machine dryers in that the
is "slack." that
1s hkely to de,·elop for many year~ to come.
dryin8
THE ENGINEER
242
1\fARCH
8, 1940
Markets, Notes and News
The prices q uoted herein relate to bulk quantiti es.
Unless otherwise specified home trade quotations are delivered f.o .t .
Export q uantities are f.o.b. steamer.
proved to be only t empora.ry, and great activity now business, and in con.c;equence the Exchange now requires
prevails. The h ome requirements continue large princi- a guarantee. that t he metal sol~ s?all l!ot be exporte.d.
A New Scrap Order
pally for Government purposes. In addition to the It is also p omted out that the r1se m prtces should assrst
A new Scrap Order has been issued by the heM-y demands for steel from the construC'tional and Great Britain's exchange position , as licences for the
Minister of Supply entitled the Iron and Steel (No. 7) general engineer<~, tht> ship repairing yards are taking good e~'}>ort of fair quantities ha,·e been given out lately. 1\lr.
\'V. H . Gartsen 's statistics give the total visible Ru pply on
( crap) Order, 1940, which \\ill take effect as from March qmmtitit>s.
February 29th as 23,865 tons compared with 24,798 tons
5th. It fixes new prices for iron and eteal scrap ancl
supersedes the Control of Iron and Steel (No. 5) (Scrap)
at the end of J anuar·y, a decrease of 933 tons. The supplies
The North-East Coast and Yorkshire
Order, 1939. The effect of the Order is to increase the
during F ebmar·y totalled 11 ,863 tons compared with
main ronge of maximum prices of ir·on and steel scrap by
lR,022 tons in January, and the d eliveries w~re 12,796
The
8tcel
indust.ry
on
the
North-Ea.
t
Coast
iR
ft·om 5s. to 10s. pe1· ton. Adjustments to meet changing
tons, against l 8,244 tons. Of the latter the Uruted States
working
at
as
near·
to
capacity
a::~
ci.rcumstances
will
conditions have lt>d to larger increases in a few cn>~es.
took 6600 tons, and Great Britain 990 tons.
pet·mit.
and
thit>
intcnsi,·e
effort
is
rC'sponsible
for
a
huge
In substan.ce the scop e of the Orrler remain s unchangcd,
but t here have been certain addition~'> to the spec·ificationK output of steel which is pa~si ng into immediate conLead and Spelter
of the material coverf'd by the maximum price pt·ovisions. sumption. The vast bulk of the production is for Gover·n·
The D irection (No. 1) under the Order issued with it, ment work, but lately it ha · been noticeable that licences
The lead position so far as this count ry is con.
repeats the provisions of the similar Direction under thl"' for ordinary work have been given out with rather moro cerned i.; Hati::;fartory. \Vhilst consumption is at a. high
previous Order exl:'mpting the ~>ale ~tnd purchase of srra,p freedom. The pressur·e by consuml'!"H to obtain supplicH il'l leYel and is .;aid to be lending lo increa e, ~< uppli cs are
from the requit·ement of licencf' except for certAin spcrial unrelaxed and iR applied to e,·e•·y section of the induHt r·y. adequate to meet the demand. Distribution by the
types. Copies of the Order may be purchas<>rl from H .M. Raw materials a.ro now reac-hin~ the works on a tno ro Control appears ,;atisfac·tory, but there doE'H not l!eem
!'atisfactory I'Calo, with the oxc·option of iron and Ktocl
• tationery Office o•· through any boolo;ellcr.
scrap. which i-. Hti ll scaJ·re. Th(' scar·ch for suppliC's of to be any surplw; for any but order» arising from Governthe latter materiAl is one of the preorcupations of th<' stccl- ment requirements. T.ar·ge quantities are being absorbed
makers and it is hoped that considerable quantities of by the cable and battery makers, but some other :.-;cctiom•
The Pig Iron Market
imported scrap will sh ortly make an appearance in this of the consuming trades are not so well supplied with
Conditions in the pi~ iron mat·ket havo not country. The stringency has led to a greater demand for orders, po.rticularly those which normally rely upon the
materially altered during the pa::;t week or two. Gen~:>rally basic pig iron, with the result that some scarcity has building trades to tnke a considerable proportion of their
A certain amount of load is being released to meet
::~peaking, consumers nre receiving sufficient supplies to developed. The scrap position ia more complicatfld n-. output.
enable t.hem to maintain a. goorl rate of op eration, but some con.'lumet·s who normally u~c the hetter qualities of ordinary commercial n eeds and generally speaking conthis is made pos.'!i !Jle hy the careful super vis;ion of distri- ccrap are now contenting them-;eh·o;; with lower grades, sumers have little cause for complaint. In the world
bution by the Control. In the case of most descr iptions and this is r rt>ating a sh o1·tage o f this description. The market irregular conditions pt·evail, and whit t some
of pig iron there a re no stocks eithe1· at, the producing or distri bution of finished steel, howcv€'r, has been caniecl countries have mor·e than sufficient lead to mE'et cons11mer--'
consuming works. The C'ontrol, howe\·er, is concentrating out in a way which has avoided any g r·eat inconvenience requiremonts, others are short of thE' metal. In H olland.
upon the equitable distribution of the 1wailahle supplies to consumer:;, although naturally there has been delay for instance, there is little prompt lead 8\·aila.ble for the
and is averse to consumers building up reserves which in the complet.ion of contracts. The production o f market; in the United States, business has been active,
might lead to ot-her works going short. This p olic·y is Rtructw·al .'!teel in the ;;hape of jo i..;ts and sectionK ha::; and the price has heen raised to 5.25c. pet· lh. 'l'hi»
generally acceptE'd a» the correct one, although naturally reached a largo prop01·tion, and that these have been movement did not como a::~ a ..;m·prise to the market since
thet·e are some u sers who would feel happier if they were immediately absorbed by the consuming industries i::~ an it has been known for some time that the producers were
c.ble to lay in a <;tore of pig iron. In the foundry market, indication of the magnitude of the war effort. The well sold, and had not heen pressing to obtain new
the demand is inclined to be irregular, but considerable constructional engineers have a j!:r•ea.t deal of work on business . . . . The consumption of sp elter in Great Britain
quantities are pas ing into consumption. Production, hand in the way of new building jobs, and extensions to continues to increase and a pparently the mPtal arriving
a lthough on a good scale, could be increased if a bigger· premises, and as a consequence there is an insatiable here is rapidly taken up by ur:Ars. Practically a ll sections.
output were r equired. The light castings foundries, demand for all sizes of joists and sections. The roqui,·e· of the industries using r.pelter are busily empl0yed upon
which ar e the largest users of high phosphoric pig iron, ments of the shipy ards, also, are not only on a huge Rcale Government work. The brassmakers are particularly
are not well employed, a lthough there is a gradual im- but. are increasing week by we~:>lc, and in view of the pro- bu!'y and provide a good outlet for the metal, whilst t he
p t·ovement in this resp ect a s an increasing number are gramme of n e\v building of naval and merchant shipR galvaniser:; MO re~<ponsible for a heavy consumption. The
being employed upon work arising fr·om the war. The the demand from this quarter is likely to strengthen die castings makers also h ave lat·ge Government orders in
demand for low phosphoric foundry it'On seems to he rather than the reverse. The plate mills haYe orders in hand, and lately have bought with some freedom. At
rather more than current production can satisfy as it is hand, sufficient to keep them employed for SeYeral months, times a scarcity of high grade o;pelte t· has been noticeable,
used C'hiefiy by engineering foundrie<> which a re employed and there is no relaxation in tre pressure to obtain supplies but this has been only tl'mporary and, in spite of the heM·y
on work of national importance. It is p ossible that the of sheets. The Yorkshire steel industry is fully occupied, demand"• there are good supplies of G.O.B. qualitie ·
production of this class of iron may he increased in the and works are gradually extending the periods required for a,·ailable. An activ<> business de,·eloped rerently in the
near future. On the North-East Coast, Cleveland foundry delivery. Tn a numbet· of cases. makers are reluctant to Uniterl , tatc>s and the ::;ales in one day are rep orted to have
iron is not being made, and local fo1mdries are being accep t •new business owing to the already congested state exceedf'd 7000 short tons. The producers ra ised their
supplied with Midland brands. The producing p lant» of of their order boo k~. There ha8 been no diminution in the quotation t.v l'i · iOc. Ea.st St. L ouis. Stocks in America
the Midlands are all busily employed, and large tonnages demand for basir steel. The pressure upon the makers of hav~ fallen to a low level, and this may have accounted for
are passing into consumption. Consumers are receiving billets 8nd sheot bars increases, but some relief has bt>en the sharp buying movement, since American manugood supplies, and although there was some difficulty afforded to the situation in thi~> departmPnt by imports from facturer:; are apt to de,·elop nerves if stocks show signs of
with regard to deliveries owing to the bad weather in abroad. The demand for acid carbon billets is growing becoming depleted.
the first part of January, thie has now been overcome. and many maket·s now require seven or eight montl·s to
The Scottish founclrv
iron trade is rather slo'" as the execute a n ew order. There is continual pressure to
•
Non-Ferrous Metal Prices
light ca sting works a re not well employed. It is expected, obtain supplies of alloy and special steels and great o.ctivity
however, that they will receive more Government contracts rules at the work" producing stainless steel. The reThe L ondon Metal Exchange official average
in the future, and this may lead to a heavier demand for rollers are \veil supplied with orders, and lntely some prices for tin in F ebrua1·y show a substantia l rise over the
ordinary foundry qualities. Businoss in hematite iron is improvement has been not iceable in the supplies of billets January figures. The average price for rash tin advanced
particularly active, and there scorns little in the way of in this industt·y.
by £2 Js . 7d., and for three m onths by £2 6s., the settlement
stocks to draw from. Production is at a high le,·el, and
price being £2 2s. Rd. above the January average. The
it is probable that it will be increased this month. The
maximum prices for copper , lead, and spelter fixed hy the
Copper
and
Tin
scarcity of scrap has led to an increa sed demand for both
Controller of Non-Ferrous Metals are also giYen in the
hematite and basic. The lattllr description is in sh01·t
The improvement in the world copper ma.rket statement issued hy the l\fotal Exchange, which is as
supply, n otwithstanding important arrivals from abroad. noted in ou1· last week 's issue developed conside•·able follows:Additional impor ts are expected du1·ing the n ext few weeks, strength before it died away. Jn one day the Am~:>rican
and this should allay, to som e extent, the steel maket·s' pt·oducers are reported to have sold 60,000 tons to domestic STANDAno 'l'tN . .. Gosh (llfeon) £242 19s. 79d.
3 Months (Mean) £242 15s. I qd.
anxieties.
consumers at a price of l 1 • 50c. After this it is not
Settlement (Mean) £243 Os. 2~d.
surprising that the demand declined, although the
The following prices for copper, lead, and sp eltl"r are
quotation remained unchanged. This movement has
The Midlands and South Wales
placed the producers in a strong position, as although the maximum pricPs fixC'd by the Controller of NonThe steelworks in the Midlands are doing thC'ir consumers in the t:nitAd States hnd absorbed a ~ood Ferrous Metals:best to meet the enormous demand fot· steel, but are proportion of the copp er ordered E'arly in the yea1·, the STANDAin> Cot•Pen£ a. d.
gradually slipping behind in the stmggle. Delivery dnto~;~ new buying has again comfot·tably filled the makers' Electrolytic Copper ... 62 0 0 delivered buyers' premises
are lengthening, and most of the maker;o are reluctant books. In fact it is generally believed that ronsumers Electrolytic \\a re Bat-s ... 62 0 0
to accept fresh bus iness, an attitude which can be easily are no\'i covered until the end of .May, and buying on a. B est Selcct(ld Copper
(i0 10 0
understood s ince their order books providl"' f01· full working large scale is not expected to develop until some time Lead- Gocd oft Pig
25 0 0
••
(Foreign)
(du ty paid)
for the next seven or eight months. Practically 1\11 the in that m onth. The improvement in the Amer·ican
25 16 0 delivered buyers' premises
production is on work which comes within the priori ty domestic quotation led to a sympathetic advance in the Spelter-G.O.B.
(Foreign)
(duty paid)
categories and ot·dinary business ha.'~ little chance of being export price which r.tancls at 11•7fic. Neutral buying has
placed. The constructional engineering industry i» takin~ not been particularly active of late although Switzerland
lar·ge quantities of joi.'!ts and HC'ctions, and most of these ha<; been rcspom~ible for some enqui ry. Buying by other
firms have important jobs in hanrl which will keep them export markets ha;; !Jean quiet. The publication of the
well occupied fot· many months. Th~:>t•e i~. tl->f'refore, little American expot·t figures shows that Russiu bought
likelihood of any relaxation in the pressw·e to obtain 23. 75:l ton~ in January which is considerably aboYe the
A Nt:w 'TJ:: t:L ~lAKING PROt'ES ·.- A new t-.lecl maki.ng
~;upplies of btructural 1:1 teel, particularly as the shipyard~< normal Russian imports, and it i::~ suggested that some of proce::~s, known as ·· Pluramelt," has beon announced
\vhich for months past have been laking henvy tonnagC'H, this copper is finding its way to Ger·many via Vladivostock. in the United late» by the Alleghony Steel Corporation.
are likely to need still larger suppliei in the future as the Japan was the RPcond la1·gest importer with 11 ,254 tons. In its most popular form it consists of a metal having a
result of the Admiralty's naval and mercantile ship· .January was a good month for the American c9n suming ..;tainless steel sudace on an ordinary carbon steel. It i»
· builcling programme. The heavy engineering industr·y industry and it is understood that no less than 82,500 produced in a Kpecial type of electric arc melting fumac-e
is a lso a big consumer of various descriptions of l!teel, short tonl"! of copper wet·e consumed. The stock;; in in which a ll of the comp osit ion materials and a small
and is almost entirely engaged upon Government wo1-k. consumers' hands at the end of Janua ry were calculated a t part of tho low cost materials are melted and integr·ally
It is difficult to place orders for p lates, e peciaUy heavy 245,500 tons, anrl the orders in hand at 180,000 tons, joined. According to the Iron Age, the furnace proper is
ancl medium d escriptions, and in the majority of cases leaving surplus stocks of about 65,000 tons . . . . The rise radically diffet•ent from the com·entional type of electric
delivery cannot be promjsed in less than six ot· t.~e,·en in price of tin which followed the an nouncement of the furnace in that the functions of steel making and · the
months. Not only are hea''Y tonnages passing t o the reduction in the export quota by the International Tin mould are combined. In this way special steels are melted
Rhipyards, hut the locomotive builders are busy, and the Committee to 0 per cent. of the Rtandard tonnage haR and tmitcd to the low cost steels in ingot form. It is
tank makers a re booked up for many weeks. The re· continued, with thE' result that the nction of the Committee said that the process p roduces single ingots of two or
rolling industr·y is now operating at a good rate as supplioR has arou<>ed a rertain amount of cr·iticism. There is no more compositions integrally bound together and it is
of billets have come to hand with greater freedom during lack of tin at the moment, but it is suggested that. the cut, possible to change the composition within certain limits
the p ast week or two. In some instances, however, which amounts practically to a t hit·d of the output, will during the melting opet·ation. The description says
deliv eries have not been sufficient to meet the require- have the effect of forcing valueR to too high a leveL that the materials which have been succe sfully produced
ments of tbe works. Ne,·ertheless, output is at a high On the otrer hand it is thought that the possibility are :- Allcgheny metal 1
(low carbon, 18 p er cent.
rate, and the a r rears consequent upon the slow working that tin sold to the United Stntes has been re- old to chromium, per cent. nickel) ; the same "·ith columbium,
during January are being quickly made up. In South Russia for trans-shipment to Germany may have had molybdenum or both; low carbon , 13 per cent. chromium
Wales the steeh' orks are operating at capacity, anrl in something to do with the decision of tre Committee. steel ; and various tool steel compositions for the alloy
8pite of their large production are falling behind with It is obviouA that a reduction of exports will limit the portion and low carbon and carbon molybdenum steels
deliveries. All departments of the industry a1·e E'X· amount of tin available for re.aale. The Government of for the base portion. Extensive tests on samples of
p eriencing an insistent demand. AJthough there wA'! n the United States is undf'rstood to have Advised the New the new material have failed to distmb the bond between
slight recession in the overseas request for tinplates, this York Exchange that they disapprove of th is class of two component metals .
....
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•
l\]AH.Cll
-
French Engineering Notes
(From our
ou:r~
243
THE ENGINEER
8, 1940
British Patent Specifications
Corrupondettt in Paris)
Road and Rail Transport
Tlll~ regulaLion~ govomin~
public road h aulage
undCl' the co-ordina tion plan wer•o a h·ead y wo rkin g
HaLiHfacLorily when t.hoy had nN'O~<Harily to hC1 HuHpondcd
during lho pol'iod of h o:<tili t.ioH. Co l'l'i CH an d ot h er vo hid l'~<
wore requiHi ti o norl and Hupp lit'H of gM, oi l, and pctr·ol
wcr·o rat.ionc cl , except. for· military UHC. Jtoad h au lierH
<·an n o w onl y operate within tho limit:< of th oir r cHpoctivo
d oparlmon LH, and long-d iHtanco lr'l\nHpor·t iH rOHor·vod fo r
the railwayH, with Homo t'xcoptionH. PlanH for· o r~an i ;~in g
thl' c·ountry'H tr·anHport Hc r·v ic·o,.. undcw wur· <·ondition H
wore boHed o n th e UHHUrnption that. all \'Chi ck'>~ no t
C'ngagl.'cl o n nul ional Hen ·i<·l.' Hh oultl r·u n o n h ome- produced
HubatiluteA for gnH, o il , and pot rol. R<'HlrictionH imposed
cm petrol ch·ivon lo rTiCH were r·cmoved fr·om thoHe eq uipped
t o I' UJ1 o n s u e t ion gos, not• wou ld they bo liable t o J·oqui Hition, and their own<'rH wer·e gtanted pr·ivileges fo 1· haulage
within dopat·t m t>nt 1.1 a nd co uld be a uth01·ised to ca.rTy
good~ over lon g di!llan c·e>~.
H e lief fro m t axat io n i~ nnI)Lher indu roment to owner>~ t o convc:wt, the ir· lo r·ri<'l-4 t.o
I'I UCLio n gat~ c quiprnont . Fm· t\ c·hango o f tlri H kind t n he
immcdiatoly e fTcctivo lo l'l'y ow no r·H mui-4L have- c:·onlidenc·e
and the meant~ o f conver Ling thei t· vehi c leH at r·ea l!o nablo
cost., which ili only p ossible by m eans o f a practi cal and
extensive orgnni1.1at.ion that. is still in a comm ittee fita go.
H ad the National R ailway Com pany boon abl e to cloal
AAt il'lfa<·t.o rily wi th lon g di Htunco tr·affi c t.ho quo:<t.ion o £
road haula~o wo uld not bo occupy inj;( HO muc·h o,l.ton t.ion
ux it. is doing now. Bu L t,ho railwo,yH, unde r' Lh o military
roqui~< i Lion Hystom, find it. diffi t· uiL to deal nonnal ly wit.h a
good1-1 traffic tha t h llH g r·own c·on s idorably wit.h t h e r·ot~Lri ction s impo1-1ed on road h a uli cr:i!.
While p rofo re n co in
transport m uHt bo g ive n t o milita ry need,.. it. i!! becoming
inc reasing ly urgent to p1·ovide faciliLieH for pr·oducLion. o.nd
dit~t.ribu tion. Tho S.N.C..L<'. i!! cel'tainly obtaining Hupplies
o f locomoti vo!l and good !J wago ns fr·om Grout. J3r·itain,
but they are imH.Iffic ient. to on o.blo Lho compan y to d eal
Hatis factorily wiLh t.he whole of t,h o t.raflic, anti t ho road
must t h erefore come to tho h elp of t h o r ai lway. Tho
Minis t er o f l' ublic W ork s h as con seque n t ly i01.1t.ituted a
commission to go in to the ques tion o f modifying oxisLing
atTangoments for the cal'l'iage o f good!J in o rder to o btain
a. maximum e ffi c iency in n ational transport.. The commiaaion i1.1 com p osed o f five ropr·oHontati vea o f Sto.t.e
ser vices oontro lli ng tho tran~port o f goodl! ; two r oproaon tativos o f the National Railway Company ; t wo
represontativoa of c hambe rs o f commer·co; and t.h roe
oth e r member~:~ wi ll r eprosen t. tho nat.io nal fa d oratio n o f
r oad h auliers, tho Superior Council of T r·an HportH, a nd t iro
motor-car industry.
When an invention i.lt commut~iwtcd from abroad the name cmd
addr~ll of the communicawr are printed in ita.li~.
When atl abridgment is not illustrated th e Specifo;ation ;,
without dratiJinqa.
Copi~ of Spceijlcatio'fiiJ may be obtained at the l'atent Office
Sal~ JJranch, 25, Southampwn JJuildingB, Chancery Lane , W. C. 2,
Is. each.
7'hc date first given is th e date of application ; tile second date,
at the end of the abridgment, i8 the date of the accepl<lnce of the
com7'lete Specijl.ootion.
DYNAMOS AND MOTORS
5 1(1, 12:1 . .Juno l Ath, 10!18.- t•: r.r•:r-rru c O r'.I"EilATORI! PAJITI·
C'U I.AIH.Y ~·o rt I NTE R:O.AL CoMOllS1'10" I~NU I SK Jns rTJoN,
Jt nro ld Edwnrd Willium \\'pet, of" J eruol," l 'o.rlteido Lnn ~J,
Allcstrco, Derby, nod R olle- Hoyco, L td., ut Nigh tingale
Road, Derby.
This invention is po.rt.iculorly suito.blo for elcotriC'ol generators
driven by internal comb ustion <' ngines for supply ing oloctr ic
curr<'n t to ignite the corn bus I iblo mixturo in I ho tm~~:ine cylinders.
The objC'ct is o. form of el('olric ji(enerntor in which th e volto.l!o
riso wi~h increnso o f armature sp eed wi ll be main I aincd within
tho required limits. The st ato r consists of a c,vlinder of o.
steel havi n~ :15 pc•r CCi nL. of C'Obo.lt or· of a ni cld o-aluminium-ateel
O(IC h of whroh has n hil(h eoorc ivc• forco whe n magnetised.
Thn
c·ylind ~>r iR ma~nclisC'<l 10 produeo four po lca nt points PO dcg,
STEAM GENERATORS
fi t (S,070.
June
20th,
193!1.- hll'ROVEMENT!.I RELATINCI 'l'rJ
~Tll:AM OEr-:v.nATJNO .Ar-:o SuP£nn eATl NO I !o!STAr.LA'rroNs,
AND TO TRI<: MI':TllOD OF OP£ 1\1\TINO T FI E 8AJI1.E, Murine a nd
B
Locomotive Suporhoutore, Ltd., formerly known ne th e
A
S uperheater Company , Ltd .. nnd Leonard Clement So uth coLt, both of Bush H ouse, Aldwych. London, W.0.2.
I n t he acc·ompanying drawing is a diagrammatic illuetrnt-ion
of o. boiler and superhollter plo.nt i noorporuti ng o.n embodiment.
of t ho proseu t invention. The generati ng sur face of tho boile1·
is l ll!~i nt y conatituted by I he water tubes lining the walls of ~ho
furnace cha mber, tho slag scroon A nnd th o tt1bes I3 lcud nlg
across the top of t.he fumnce cho.mber from u. water d rum C to
o. st.oom and wawr drum. Above t he furno.ce cham ber is n
con vectively heated superheater E a nd t he goses, after fl o win~
over the superh e{tlcr olemonte, aro utilised Lo heat a reh<'atN· I•. opo.rt, nnd ut ouch of thc!lo points Lhcte is atto.chod by sc r·owH
economiser <.:, and an ai r healer. After loa.ving the air h(lah•r shown soft iron s hoes. Around th('Se s hoes is wound o. fi eld
t he gnsos arc drawn by 1ho main boiler induced draught fan .H wincling which, ns show n tlL A in Fiji(. 2, forms a shunt
winding connoclod directl y acro88 the rotor or o.rmfll,uro 13.
By s uitabl>.• proportioning (,he coil winding& of this shunt winding
it is poSI'rblo to arrange I hat at high )(Onorator speeds the
N0516.070
opposrnp. field will op<"ro.to lo roduco the vo ltagCI of tho gonerntor·
without permanently reducing the mnin flux producerl by t he
perman<>n t mo.goel, but ut lower Apcod the reduction produced
will be smaller a nd immlllerio.l. By this means the volto.go of'
lho generator may bo kept under control at high s poods whilo
Qt. tho so.me time B<'Curing o.t lower speeds suffi cient vo ltage to
serve for the igni tion purposes of o.n internol combustion engin,,
driving the genoro.tor.- lJeccmber 22nd, I 039.
E
ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES
5 10,324. July 16th, 1938.- F us r;t; E'Ol\ Til E PnOT&CTION OF
8r.r>CTnro Cu tOU JTS , Callond or·'s Cable and Constr uction
•
Com pan y. L td .. of Hamilton H ouse , Vi ctorio. Bmbo.nlnnent,
L ond on. E.C.4, Loslio Ciddenf> Brazier. and Alfred Whitley
Me t calf, both of tho company's address.
A fWio co nstructed in o.cC'ordance with th e present invenLion
co mprillei:l t wo groups of fusible olemonts havi ng different operating rharucteristics. Tho fuso is o f the curtrid~o type und
eompriS<'8 o. c·ylind r·ical barre l A rnnd o of insulatrng materia l,
C'loaod n t it11 ondA by m etal end cups 8 , flx ed l o th e bo.rrel by
C'<'mon t. The bore of th o borrel has o. nurnbet· of semi-circular·
r·ocessc·s, (luch o f whi ch r·eceiv('f! a g la88 Lubo C. I ho t.ubee being
The State and Industry
fixed in position within the bnrrol by comon t D . Euch t ube.
of whic·h t horo nro fou r·, contai ns a fuAibt o oloment.. Two o f
Duriug h OH I ilit.icli induHtt·y iH c·on t ro llod b y I h o
a nd clf•liver·od int-o I he chimnC\y duct. J\ fan K draws ~oscs l hc·11o olflmcm iA c·ompr·is<' si lvc•r win•a t•: of circulur cross-l!eC' t ion
State a.lmoRt U..'! c·omple t e ly a.H in tolali~ari an c·o uutrio!l. thr·ou~~:h a bmnch from I h(l r h imnoy du ct o.nd delivers them
huvi ng (•ontl'alty diiip OI!<'d waist portions F of c·ompnrntivoly
l t iH o rganiHod by o n o man with Lho Hole o bject o f winning into l.h o furrraro <· ht\mber·. The quttnLiLy of gos rotul'lled t o Ahort length with l( lobul<•s (.l of low mC'Ilting poinL mQtal at.t.achod
tho wa•·.
'inc·e t h e m o bi liMaLion, induHtry haH bron lhe fur·nuro cha rnl)(lr is r·egulalod os nece886ry, by var·ying th a to thCI wi r'ol! ndjt~cent t o the wuillls. The areo. o f C'ross-seotio n of
a dapte d t o t.h a.t. on o e nd, and no o n o c·o mplainH o ( the ~<peod of I he fun. in or·cler lo ob tai n the desired inol'ense in steam lho ond por·t,ions of onch wiro is tnr·go ns compared with that of
way in which •·emarkablo re:-<ultl! h avo been uc· hieve d. temperature over that which normally would be oh tainod by lho wai~:~t. The other· Co'lemo nts co mprise o. number· of siiV<'I'
SLill, memorieH o f tho failu1·e o f Soc·ialiHt. ~taLe contr·o l the usual rate of firing. I n t he opemtion of the plant th o wires H o f cir·culo.r· C'rosR-ser t ion brought, toge t.her at, places
u.re t oo froHh to avoid apprehon~:~i on that t h o pl'esent t ransfer of h oo.t from the fresh com bustion gases in the furnace mid woy of thei r· length!! o.nd joined o.L t hose places by g lobules
chomber to t ho watel' tubes a nd the slog screen will bo reduced,
c xporion('e may. when t.h o necessity fo r it n o lo nger e xiRL!l, ns the furnace tempera tu re is reduced due to the odmissio n K of low melting point motul. The wire11 H aNI not wnisled
be ('On tinued in o. lell!l complet.e fo rm th~\t will J'O:<tri ct t.he of the return ed prod ucts o f combustion , but the volume or
initiati ve o.nd autho r·it.y of manufactui·or·l.l. For'L\JJ'\.atoly, weight of go.sos avai lable to pMs over the s uperh eater elements
a r eaHsuring pro n o uncem en t h as boon mad e by Mon Hie ur will be materially incroo~:~ed , resu lting in the required steum
Da.njel Sorr·uy!l, High CommiHHioner· o f National E con om y , temperature bei ng obtained without un excessi ve gas wmperawh o mako1.1 a cleat· dil:ltinctio n between war and p eace turo at t he superh eater elemen ts. Further, in consertuenco
condit.ions . The who le induHtrial reso ut·cel.l o f the co untr·y of the increased volumo of gases fl owing over tho rehentor, o.
higher robeo.t temperature wi ll be obtoined.- Decembcr 2 1111,
are at presen t co n centmted on the s u cceHHfu l pro:>oc ution t 9:l0.
of tho war , whic h mearL'3 not only tho product.ion o f a r maE
m e nt::! and an e liroi11ation o f waste, bu t alt~o tho d ovelopy
m ont, of fo r·eig n tn1do and t h e croat.ion of n ow indw~tl'ieR
INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
fo r tho utilisation of h o m e natural re~o urces. Afte r t.h e
G
war, thiH con centrated energy and the ex p enditure o f I) I 6,4 90. ,J nl y 14·th, 19:38.- <.:oNTROt:. 0 11' LrQu r o Coor. rNO
t.holl.ijandH o f million s of fr·ancs o n a w o rk o f de~.~truction
:SYf!TEMS OF l NTEIINAt. COMDUSTTON ENOINE!'I, •'o.undors
m us t be di verte d to pro duc t.ivo wotktl, par·t ic ulady the
Va lve Co mpany, L t.d ., J3uckingham H ouse. t 9, Pa lt\CO
Street, London, S. W . I , and Philip l<oith So.und ors, 42,
carrying out o f vasL undo1·to.kings in diffot·ont pt:wts of the
Dro.y ~on Str·eet, W olverh ampton.
world. The partial fl ooding of the Saho.ra d eMer t. a!J
Jn ord er t o render the th er mostutic con Lrol o f an intor no.l
0
o. m ean1.1 o f g iving fe rLili ty to the re mainde r and t h e
combusLion engine s ubst.a ntio.lly independent of a tm oaphcri<'
conl.ltruction of a Trans-Sah aran railway wore m entio n ed pressure, according to this inven tion th e cooling system is
B
by Mo n s ieur Serruys, w h o also re fe rred to opportunities sealed o.nd a valvo, controlling the flow to o. bye-passed radiato r,
t h at awaited engineer8 in the con 1.1tru c ti on of r oad s and is opora.ted by o. diaphrugm ono side of whi ch is opon to tho
railway"' in Asia and t.ho cany ing out. of public w o r k s pressure in Lho coolmg system and t he other s ide to a seoled
I
in So uth Am e tica and e lsewhe re. Collecti viHm and chumbCo\r. An embodi ment of the invention is illu slrl~tod
Communi8m muxt, he Maid, be e liminated fro m a. p o1.1t wo.t· diugramrnat.icall y in the a ccompan y ing di'Uwing. The T
01'ganisat.io 11. The w o rk co.n on ly be d o n e by indi v idual piC'CC' shown is fitted in t he cooli ng Ayt~!Nn o f I h(l (' nl(in e with
effor t and init.iativc. lt iH a tas k fo r human be ingH, and
i t is upon them tha.L a nati on rises t o gr·catnesl!. l n view
N°516,4 9 9
of the pos ition occ upied by M onsie ut· Sorruy1.1 in di.recLing
('
the S tate war eco no m y his ideas o f o. p o1.1t. wat· organisation
A
H
imply that the State will go no far·t.h or than is n ecessary
to h elp private en ler·pr·i~:~o and g ive l'Onficlence to capital ,
without whir·lr c·nlN'}JriH<' fail s.
ns nro the wires I~ buL are o f uniform cross-section an d M th eir
c· nd~ I ho wii'NI IT tU'CI br·oup;h l Iop;(ll h('r nnd aro joined by
g lohuloR L ol'low rn olt ing poi nt u1<>tnt lo whiC'h is tLIHo nllu<'hcd u
The RocheUe -Pallice Mole
l!horL lcmgth of c·o ppN' win•. 1'ho onds of th t' wirNI H projec t.ing
hoyond tho p;lob ulc•s L t\l't• twisted arou nd t ho coppC1r wirca 1:10
'J'ho (i r·Ht. Hhip to ul!o Lh o now m o le boLwcon La
I hut the laL!.<Ir nro in purnllol with t ho onds of t he Rrl vor wir·es H..
Po.llico and th o l ie of H 6 wn1.1 o n o from AnLwerp whi c h
Tho wires H and Lho copper wires are tal<en out through the
recently emba1·k od 200 llolg io.n paH!!enget·s fo r t.he B e lgian
ond of tho t.ubos C and t.he wires E uro o.lao taken ouL t-hrough
Congo who h a d tro.vclled ovodand. Tho con stniC'ti o n of
tho onds of the tubes, all th e wires boing connected in po.rallel
tho mole WD-8 hogtm in 1931 , bu t owing to Ol'ro r·li in data
at. their ends by soldering me tal M which is run into the concaved
E
r egard ing th e rock fo undMi on tho wo rk wa1.1 Hu>ip endod
encjs of the c~pa .8. 'l' ho e nds of tho tubes C aro closed by
cem ent plugs N and th e spuces bot.woon tho plugs are filled with
for a long Lime. M cnn whil o tho <·On Hlruction of tho
sand or other arc -quenching m o.terinl 0 . Tho wires E are taken
v iaduc t with two doc k1:1, ono fo r the r ailway t o La H och olle
o ut through glass bonds P. The fusible ele ments consisting of
and Paris and t h e other for a roadway ami footwayM, wa:.~
t he wires B. wais ts F and g lobules 0 h ave the chnraotet·istic of
continued tltraight fo r 950 yardtl, and then c urve d r o und Lho passage A co nnected in the us ua l ro.diatot· byo-po.88 und high rupt ul'ing pet·formance and t.he fWiiblo olom onta consisti ng
to tho mole. Tho mole i1.1 in a channe l havin g a d epth o f tho branch pieco n con noet.od to the ro.dio.tor inlet. F low of of tho wires H and g lobules K and L have the oharM t orisLi c of
ooolinp; liqu rd down t his branch iR co nt.ro llod by the butterfly
fNfL. aL low wa.tor level. The di1.1tan co b etween t.h o mainvalve U whi ch is loo.d od by t ho spl'ing towards the cloaocJ posit ion. di scrimina tion . Jn lho construction s hown, oach group cons ists
land and tho lie d e He iH about, Lwo mile!!, and the s h e lte r The vu lvo is connected by the wiro J) to a d.io.phragm E clo.mpod o f a po.ir of ole monte. By varying th o number of the elements
u ll ow11 of Hh ipH m oo r·i.ng Hafoly along~ic:le t h o m o le in a ll between o.n extensio n Of\ I he sid.e of the br·nnch and u rigid p late. in tho two p; r·oups, the charact eristics o f the fuse rnay be var ied
wcatherH. L a Po.llico i1:1 the mo.r·itime por·t of L a R ocholle , 'l'ho spnco between the diuphmgm and t he plate is ovo.ouo.tcd to moot purticu lur co nditio ns. lly employing olomonts having
whic:•h claim H to olTer advantagoH ovor B ord eaux f o r d ealing or filled with the vo.pour o f o. volo.tilo liquid. It will bou nder- diOor·onL t:harncteristi cs iL becomes po88ible to prod uce o. fuso
which combines in dosircd proportions tho charo.ot or·ist.ics
with t ra ffi c t o and fro m Contr a! o.nd South Ameri ca 111.1 stood t hat the valve does not make o. oomplotoly tight joi nt, of both l<inds of e lomonts.-Decemhcr 29th, 1930.
w oll tlH the we11t coa1.1t o f Africa. L a R och e lle ha:.~ e. s horte 1· but in the closed position substa ntia ll y erovonts a ny fl ow of
cooling liquid through the ro.dintor. 'I ho bro.nch is conse- 5 I 6,·182. J uno 28t.h, 1 938.-M ~>.:ANS von PnoTECTJNO ELE:CTI\1·
railway route t o Par·is and t.ho conveni en ce o f a s h e lt01·ed quently under the so.mo pressure as the rest of tho cooling
CAt. APPARATUS AOAINS'l' SUROES ANI) £xo r~SS lVJ:: VOLTAOI!S,
and Rafo channe l fo r all s hips botwecn La P allico and tho system. The cooling system is soo.led. As the t emperature
' L'ho C onoral Electric Company, Lld., of Mognot H ouse,
llo do R e. Le. J>allico has, in fac t. bocomo a rival of L o of the cooling liquid rises thoroforo the pressure rises, nnd acting
Kin gswo.y, Lond on, \\'.0.2, orrd Loo nard Willio.m Bo.rsd orf
V e rdon , whe re O<'O&n liner s call t.o land and embark on th e diaJ?hragm opons tho valve and thus admita cooling liquid
of tho ao.roo address.
to the rndro.lor. -J anuaru 3rd, 19~ 0.
This invention r elates to meuna for protecting electr ical
pat-!HCngcn~ to and from .Bordeaux.
G
~
--
244
THE ENGINEER
upp~ratus, for ~xample. rortable electri<'al apparatus such as
FURNACES
~frage!atol's, vacuum cleaners, and tho Jiko ttgainst surges a nd
e:ccess•ve voltages d u e to lightn inp; and otho•· causes. Protective means for $Uard ing against surges and excessive voltages
normally compnse spark p;aps arranged to brt'ak down oo the
occurrence of unsafp. <'Ondi t• ons ancl t o connect. th e c:>l~ctrical
cir cuit in which the surge ot excessive voltBp,o oc<:urs to <'arth.
:rhe three-pi!! plug, ono livo pin A of which is shown, is similar
m cons~ruct •on t? the ordinary stand ard three-pin plug, the
th~ee pms, that •s the earth p in (not shown) and two live pins,
bemg _mount~d on an insulating plug base C. The shanks of
t he pms proJect through the base in the normal manner, and
are provided wi t h terminals M that at B for the connection thereto
of the supply a!ld earth leads to a portable electric apparatus
such as ~ refn~erator, vacuum cleaner or th e like. A r emov~ble 1nsulatmg cover (not shown) of standard pattern is
prov1ded for _encl~sing the te rminals of the three pins. The
s hank of ~he hve pm A and, of course, the other line pin between
the termmal B and the plug base is surrounded by a. short
bus!l. D of insulating material, the bush being clamped in
po>utlon nround the shank of the pin A between th e base C and
N\'516,482
MARCH
J16,142. Juno 21st, 1038.-I NDtJC'TIVE H.t:ATI:-10 AT LO\\
FnEQU£l':CY, Alexander Frederic Feket<', of 212.<\, H ampden
Way, London, N.l4.
T his invention rel at~s to inductive ht>ating at low frequency,
that is to say I 00 cycles p<'r second or le88, and is particularly
concerned with tbe provision of apparatus capable of operating
efficiently at the frequency of the nonnal supply mains. I t is
t he object of the invention to make more efficient use of the
hel\t generated in the exciting winding. Referring to Fig. l, a
helirally wound coil A carrying a current has developed in the
conductor thereof n flux which is represented by the parts
0 D and G H of the curve. T hus t he flux rises from zero
at the outside to a m aximum at the inside. lf there is no
condut:ting material within the coil, the flux is constant over
this space as indicated by the straight line hetween points D and
.G. When conducting material is introduced into the space
the flux is distributed approximately accordin~ to a parabo)jc
law as indicated by the <'Ut'Ye K , the flux hemg a. minimum
at the centre. The material to be h llated is p referably nrran_g~d
n~::ar to the inner surface of the conductor of a coil since the
edd~ current in this part of th~ conductor is much greo.I>Pr than
-='----,L--~=H
F•g I
a metal washer E . Around this bush D are-placed a perforated
disc F of insulating material a dj acent to the metal washer E, a
second m etal washer G between which and the first m etal
washer E the p erforated disc F lies, an apertur ed biCick H of
carborundum and between this block H , a nd the base a strip J
o f metal connecting the side of the block H remote from the spark
gap formed by t he perforated disc F and the m etal washers E
and G with the earth pin of the plug. Th us between the Jive
pin A of t he plug and the earth pin there is arranged a spo.rk
gap conn e_cted in eerie~ wi~h a hig~ resistance. In t he operation
of the devtce, the plug 1s w1red up m the normal manner and may
then be plugged mto the socket adapted to provide the power
for the electrical apparatus associated with t he plug. If,
now, a'ny surges or excessive voltages occur in t he supply leads
to the apparatus, due to lightning or other causes, the spark
gaps in the plug break down, the surges or excessive voltages
a re earthed and t he apparatus is p rotected agai ns t u amag~.­
,Jnnuary 3rd, 1940.
Fig.2
t hat near the outer surface where t-he fiiLx is low. ln Fig. 2
t here is shown a crucible A having mat<lrial B to be heated
within it. An exciting coil C is pro' ided a round the crucible.
The outside of t he coil is surrounded by a heat insulating casing
D. It is arranged that heat can readily be transferred from
the coil C to the material B within the crucible through the
crucible walls whereas the loss of heat through the outer walls
of casing D is small. To tbis case h eating of the material B
may be arranged to take place partly from the coil C itself and
partly fr om the materia] B or the crucible A or both acting as
eddy current carriers. The coil C may be of electrically conducting or semi-conducting material. I n some cases o. semiconductor such as carbon or graphite can be used, for example.
The coil is shown connected between two phases of a th ree
phase su~ply. I n F ig. 3 the coil cond uctor A, wbich may be
solid or l1quid, is acommodated within a heat insulating casing
MEASURING AND TESTI NG I NSTRUMENTS B and is separated by a p artition C from the mater ial D to b e
heated which is cHsposed alongside of t he coil conductor and
I> I !!,036. July 8th, 1938.-1\'h;:ASU.RlNO ARRANG EMENTS FOR which may be any liquid material to be heated such as water
HloH FnEQl.'ENOY CuRRENTS, Siemens unrl Halskl:' Aktien- or molten lead for example. \ \ h ere the cond uctor of the exGesellscho.ft.
citing me ans il'l o. liquid it is preferably a m etallic li•1uirl such as
This invention relates to m easuring nrrangeml:'nts for hif,!;h molten lead for example.-Deumber 22nd, 1939.
frequency electric currents and is concl'rned with arrangements
for measuring hjgh-freq uency curren ts in which th~ current to
be mPflsured is fed through a dry rectifier to a di rect current
measm·ing instrument. I n order to meaeure the hjgh-freq uency
current in a conductor A, a sinj!;le-conduc:tor current transformer
is pro\-ided in the usual manner, the secondary winding of which
is d esigna ted by R. A measuring rectiiler C, a ser ies resistance
D indep endent of temperature, and a direct current measuring
Secrel.ariu of Imtitutiom, Societiu, &:c., duirol.UI of having
instrument F. a re connected in series to the secondary windlng B .
A conden ser F is nlso provided to shunt the alternating current noticu of tMetings imerted in this column, are requuted to note
component Rowing owing to tho capacit.y of the r ectifier C.
A compensating or balancin~ resiatance G is connected in parallel tluJt, in order to make sure of its imertion, the necusary information
with the r ectifier C, this res1stance being responsive to tempera- should reach this office on, or before, the morning of the Monday
ture in the aamo sense as the rectifier, but indep<'ndent of th e of the week preceding the tMetings. In all casu the TiliiE aud
strength of t he current flowing t hrough it. I t is known thllt PLAC~ at which the rMeting is to be held slwuld be clearly stated.
n ormal dry rectifier~ have considerahlo capacitative conductivity
a t high frequenC\y in addition to the ohmic conductivity d ep endent upon current, so t hat, in addition to the direct cut·rent
Air Raid Protection I nstitute
measured by the instrument E, an a lternating current of
considera ble magnitude also flows through the rectifier. If, for Tuuday, March 12th.- Royal Society of Arts, John Street,
Adelphi, \V .C.2. " The Factory a nd A. R.P., " S. A. ~1itchell.
e xample, the temperaturE' falls, the ohmic reAistance of I ho
1:1. p.m.
~
Forthcoming Engagements
1'1"516.036
B
A
G
tJ
rectifier increaseR, while the capacitative resiEOtance remains
unchanged. Consequen tly, the current measured by the
instr ument E decr~ases. If th e resistance G is connected in
parallel with the rectifier C, a part l g of the total alt-ernAting
current I flows t hrough the rectifier and another part Ir flows
through the compensating reaillt ance. As the resistance G
increases in value with decreasing temperature, the value Cif the
a lternating curr~nt comp onent of the rectifier current I~~:
increnses relatively to the value of t he a lternating current
Rowing through t h e resistance G bec-ause the capacity of the
rectiiler does not alter with temperature. However, the
increase in the alternating cutTent component oflg also produces
an int:rease in the direct current componen t of tho rectifier.
lf the compensating resistance i11 suite hly dimensioned, the
reduction in t h e direct current. du~ to the decrease in the rectifier tem.Perature can be more or less accurately compensated
by the tncrease in the direct current owing to the increase in
vnlue of the re!listance G so that the direct current measured
by the instrument E is n ot appreciably a lten:-d by vAriations in
temperat ure. T his compensation is assisted by reason of the
fact that the increaee in the value of the compensating r!'sistence
G, the resistance D remaining con'3tent, causes an increase in
the proportion of the tota l pot~ntial acroa.'l the re<'tiner, this, in
tnrn, r eduring the ohmic resist ance of t.he rectifier owing to the
known d ep endence or this r esistance upon potentisi.- TJtcember
20th, 1939.
Institution of Engineers-in-Charge
ll'alruwday. March 13th.~'3t. Bride Inst itutE~. Bride Lanf',
Fl~et
Strl'el, KC.4. ·• Pai11ts, Varnishes, and their
I ngredients," A. E. Robinaon. 7 p.m.
Institution of Engineers and Sbipbuildera in Scotland
Tuclff}ay, March J 9th.-39, Elm bank Crescent, Glasgow, C.2.
" A Modern Approach to Building Technique,'' A. Miller.
6.30 p.m.
'l'uuday, March 26th .-39, Elmbank Crescent. Glasgow.
" Modem Steam Propelling Units and their Possibilities for
Cargo Steamers," J. B . 0 . Sneeden. 6.30 p.m.
Institute of Fuel
Thur8day, March 14th.-Connaught Rooms, Great Qu~en
Street, Kingsway, W.C.2. " .tlegeoerative Feed H eating
in Industrial P ower Plants,'' A. F. Webber. 6 p.m.
Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Friday, March. l6th.-Storey's Gate, Westminster, S.W. I.
L owe Gray Lecture, '' F ifty Years of Marine Engineering,"
A. L. Mellanby. 6 p .m.
Institution of Naval Architects
lJ';ot/nuday, Ma·rch 13th.- R oyal Society of Arls . .Tohn
Aflf'lphi, \V .C.2. Annual Meeting.
~treet.
I nstitution of Production Engineers
1'111'1/day, March l2th.- Birmingho.m Gradu ates. J ames \\'atf
Memorial Institute, B irmingham.
·• Modem Fabriration
by Arc Welding," H . W. H awkins. 7 p.m .
Saturday. March 16th.-- Yorkshire Section. Hotel Metropole,
Leeds. " Progress in Machine Tool Design," R. C. F enton.
2.30 p.m.
.
Manchester Association of Engineers
To-day, March 8th.-Grand Hotel (Jubilee Suite), Aytoun Street,
Manchester. D inner and Dance. 7 for 7.30 p.m.
•
0
8, 1940
Newcomen Society
Wednuday, March 13th.-Institution of Civil Engineers, Great
George Street, S.W. I. " Electrical In vention and ReInven tion," W. T . O'Dea, and" Amedee Bollee Pioneer of
Mechanical Road Locomotion,'' J. R. Nichols. 2.30 p .m.
North-East .Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders
'l'o-day, March Sth.-Mining I nstitute, Newcastle -upon-Tyne.
" Mean P itch D etermination of Variable Pitc h Propeller,''
E.V. T elfer . 6 p.m.
Wednuday, March J3th.-8tudent Section. B olbec Hall.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne. "Governing and Regulating o f
Land Turbines,'' P. J. Da~lish. 6.45 p.m.
Royal Institution of Great Britain
To-day, March 8th.-2 J, Albemarle Street., W . l. " Bxperiments from t he R esearch es of Sir J ames D ewar,'' Sir
Willia m Bragg. 5 p.m.
W ednesday, M arch 13th.-2 1, Albemarl e Street,
X-ray
Optics,'' W. L . Bragg. 5. 15 p.m.
R oyal Society of Arts
Wednuday, March 13th.-John Adam Street, Adelphi. \\'.C.2.
" Science and the Divining R od,'' J. C. Maby. 2.30 p.m.
W olverhampton and District Engineer ing Society
Monday, March l lth.- Victoria Ho tel. Wolverhampton.
•· Ventila t ing nnd Air Conditioning," E. Leach. 7.30 p.m.
"'.I. "
PERSONAL AND BUSINESS ANNOUNCEMENTS
SoLZER FRERES S.A ., of Winterthur, Switzerla nd, announces
that it has recently disposed of its Ludwigshafen works.
DAKELITE, Ltd., has acquired the works and business of
Warerite, Ltd .. of Wa re, H erts. \\"arerite, Ltd. has been
engaged in the manufacture of synthetic resin laminated s heet
materials.
THE BRUSH ELECTRJOAL ENClNEERlNO COMPANY, Ltd.,
Loughborough, has opened new local offices at Daimler H ouse,
Wilmslow R oad , Rusholme, Manchester, 14. The offices at
H aworth Buildings, Cross Street, Manch~Ater, have hef'n
VRC'atf'd.
CALENDARS AND DIARIES
B RITUH TnJKEN, Ltd., Aston, Birmingham. Monthly wall
calend ar.
Institution of Automobile Engineers
A. A. JoN~:s AND SHIPMAN, Ltd. , East P ark Road, T,eicester.
Tuuday, March 12th.-Coventry Centre. Kings H ead H otel, Wall calendar giving present, past, and next m onths.
Coventry. " Modern AppJjca.tions of Cast I ron in Automobile Construction," E. C. T oghill and R. Dowle. 7 p.m.
Luton Centre. George Hotel, Luton. "A Few Odd Notes
on Engines," A. Taub. 7.30 p.m.
CATALOGUES
11'ednuday, March 13th.-Manchester Centre. Engineers'
()Jub, Alber t Square, Manchester. " Alternative F uels
for C.I. Engines," W. Alien. 7. 15 p.m.
AKNO P ~;NKUH N, 6, Avenue C.:ardens, London, \r.3. Partiillomkl.y, March 18th. Glasgow Centre. Institution of Engin- cula rs of" Artus " milling r·ultt>r spacers of synthetic resin.
eeri:l and Shipbuilders. 39, Elmbank Crescent, Glasgow.
<l£OJW~~
Al".OUs ANO ('o.. Ltd., Newcastle-upon-Ty ne.
"E:xhaustSystems for F our and Six-cylinde•· Engines,'' J , C.
Gala l o~· ~~ No. 71Jf ll f31J. .. Huperangus · \ ' ' sect ion rope
Morrison. 7.30 p.m.
drives. '
Tu~l!day, M arch
19th .- Birmingham ('entre. .)a met~ \\'at t
DA\ v ANO l ' !".JTEO k: NUINEEkiNU l 'oMI'AN\' , L td .. .'beffield
l\Jem ~rial H a ll, Birmingham . Rymposium on .. Deep
Publicatton No. 88 des<'ript i\'t! of the prm<'ipal types of boilers
Drawmg Research." 7 p.m.
mude by t he firm.
ll'ednt<tday. March 20th.- Leeds C~ntre. l\Jetropole H otel,
TH..: GENERAL £u:CTitiC CoMPANY, Ltd ., Magnet H ouse,
Leeds. "'l'he Theory of Flexible Mounting~ for Tnt!'rnal
Kingsway, London. W.C.2. Catalogue of Industrial Lighting
Uombustion Engines," V. B. Jliffe. tJ p.m.
Fittings and Accesso•·ies.
I nstitution of Chemical Engineers
H ENRY WIOOIN AND eo .• Ltd., Thames H ouse, ~1illbank.
To-day, March Sth.- Geological Society's Rooms, Burlington London, S. W.l. Data Book on Nickel and Cobalt Oxides and
H ouse, Piccadilly, W. l. ·• Further Experiments on the 'alts, Selenium, and T ellurium.
Evaporation of \\' ater from Saturated Surfaces," R. \V.
T UNOUM SALES CoMPANY, Ltd .. Iddesleigh H ouse, Cax ton
Powell. and " H eat Transmission in Evapon1ti\'C CondenStreet, S. W . I. A brochure dealing in detail with Tungum a lloy,
sers, " A. K. G. Thomson. 5.15 p.rn.
i ts composition, forms, uses, working, &c.
I nstitution of Civil Engineers
BRITISH A r U11f1Nlmr Colll'ANY, Ltd.. Raven Hotel, Castle
'l'ueilda!f, March l9th.- Creat George Street, Westminster,
S. \\' . L. '" The Sewage Disposal of D elhi." .J. A. R. Street, Shrewsbury. A 200 page book illustrating a wide range
of the drawn and flxtruded sections in which aluminium and
· B romage . 6.30 p.m.
light aluminium alloys are produced for various industrial
Institution of Electrical Engineers
uses.
To-day, lolar('h 8th.-N .E. Students' Secticn. Newe H ouse
DAvro BROWN AND SONS (H ooo.). Ltd .. Huddersfield.
Pilgrim Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. ·• Electricity-it~ E 341.9 " Heavy Type Helical Gear Drives"; F 487.5 " 48 H our
R t>action on Human Affairs," J. \\' . Beauchamp. 7 p.m.
Service,'' dealing with R adicon worm reducing units, &c. ;
Monday, March llth.-Savoy Placo, Victori a Embankment F 213. 1 " The Hob B ook," a publication giving definitions of
W.C.2. Joint Meeting with I nst. C.E. and Inst. Mech. E: technical terms, design particulars, and detail dimensions, &<'.
"Emergency R epairs, with Special Reference to Welding."
6 p.m.
Friday, March 15th.-Savoy Place, Victoria E mbankment.
W.C.2. I nformal Discussions " Cathode-Ray and Duddell
Type Oscillographs," J. 1'. MacGregor Morris, and " What
ERRATUM.- Books Heceived. "Electrical Timekeeping":o.re the Practical Limits of Error in A.C. H ouse Service for Spencer-Jones-as author- read F . H ope Jones. Dr. H .
Meters and in Sub-Standard Watt Meters ? " A. J . Pitt. Spencer-Jones wrote the Foreword only. See review in THE
6 p.m.
ENOlNEER, Februat-y 2nd.