Passing Comments
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Pity the Poor Driver E recent ruling by a Supervising a TRing's Bench Divisional Learner . . . Court that a qualified driver accompanying a learner may be considered as aiding and abetting the latter if the learner commits a traffic offence is a very rigid application of the law. It will render it extremely difficult for learners to obtain the help of supervisors, and make a somewhat unpleasant task even more difficult.
Valuable Research A,N extended investigation
Intb Crankshaft into the fatigue strength in Failure and Salvage . bending in the case of crank
shafts for compression-ignition engines is being carried out by the I.A.E. Research Department. The reason is that certain failures have been experienced in service. The information already obtained is, however, proving of value in the design of all types of crankshaft. Three machines to apply reversed bending moments to specimens are in use. The shafts are usually multi-throw and one throw is broken at a time. Deflection is applied through a variable-throw eccentric and is calibrated in terms of bending moments. Failure occurs across the web,
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the crack starting from a fillet,, and the nominal-stress figure is calculated from the modulus of the area of fracture. Fatigue limit is determined on a basis of 10,000,000 repetitions. Recently attention has been devoted especially to methods of surface hardening, including nitriding and chromium plating. A study is also .being made of the effect of certain processes, such as metal spraying, in the building up of crankshafts to meet the requirements of war-time salvage conditions.
Lights to Facilitate NAODIFICATIONS in the
Tractor Ploughing at ILighting Regulations have Night been made to facilitate the use of tractors for night ploughing. They come under paragraph 52 of the Order which came into force on January 22. Three lamps are allowed, two to show forward and one to the rear. Reflectors must be removed or covered with matt black paint. The aperture in each lamp must not exceed the area of a circle 3 ins, in diameter. Each must also be directed downwards and screened so that the ground is not illuminated in any direction to a greater distance than 20 yards. Minister Views and AST week the Houses Drives Battery-electric of Parliament were treated Vehicles to the sight of the Minister of Transport, Captain Euan Wallace, driving twice around Old Palace Yard in a battery-electric car. This was the first time he had controlled such a vehicle, which, incidentally, was a Wilson owned by Lord Saltoun. The Minister was only slightly peeved when we asked him if he had his provisional driving licence and third-party insurance. Of course, we knew that he was actually a driver of long experience. The occasion was a little exhibition of battery-electric vehicles staged by the Electric Vehicle Association of Great Britain, at which John Barker and Co., Ltd., the Borough of Hackney and West Ham Electricity Department staged vehicles of Metrovick, Electricar and Wilson makes respectively. Starlighting in WestHUNDREDS o f visitors minster Receives I 'assembled in London 'last Favourable Comments week to inspect the ' Synthetic starlight" public lighting in Westminster. The conclusion has been reached that an even illumination of 00025 ft-candles is the limit which can be safely provided without leaving too much • to aerial observation. The general opinion expressed, during a discussion which followed, was that, despite its weakness, this degree of permanent lighting had a definite value, but the question of cost was naturally difficult. The Government was not prepared to make any specific grant, but the Ministry of Health might be approached to sanction short-term loans, and this is now under consideration. It is important to remember that, even during an air raid, this lighting would not be extinguished.