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This decade saw the greatest change in my career. After what seemed a lifetime with the firm, we parted company in 1995 and I was cast adrift on a turbulent sea to seek my own salvation. After six months of searching fruitlessly for a similar position, I came to the conclusion that I would have to leave the Northeast if I wanted to get a worthwhile job. This led me to (for a Geordie) the deep south, Hertfordshire. I joined Bio-Rad a Life-Sciences company to work for the semiconductor division. |
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In 1990 I bought my first new car, a Nissan Sunny. By the time I had passed it on to my son it had traveled the equivalent of seven times around the world—with no trouble! |
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A chronometer type of pocket watch. Many such watches were so highly decorated they became works of art. |
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Life in the Applied Physics Dept. was varied and interesting. There were the long term projects like developing optical sensors and these were interspersed with urgent programs to investigate any faults or problems which occurred with machines in the field.
Like the mechanical research department, the AP group was split into sections. One section was concerned with acoustics and conducted noise surveys around the turbines. Another section dealt with vibration which was an ever present problem with turbines and generators. Other sections concerned themselves with research into turbine generator development. It was one of these latter groups which I joined.
As a new boy I was posted to all of the teams in turn so that I could learn the ropes as it were. This was hugely enjoyable watching the team going about their business with no specific responsibility for myself. The most interesting times were with the vibration team. One of their regular tasks was to measure the vibrations on new and experimental turbine blades. These were usually low pressure wheels so could be up to twelve feet in diameter and, at 3000 RPM the tips of the blades would be travelling at 1285 MPH! The wheel had to be contained in a strong metal case (partly for safety but also because the wheel had to be spun in a vacuum).
While the test wheel was spinning and the engineers in the control room were monitoring the vibrations another test was usually made. This involved photographing the blade tips as they hurtled past at supersonic speed! As you might imagine this could not be done with an ordinary camera. What we used was a Polaroid camera (it was essential to see if the photograph was properly exposed before moving on to the next blade tip). The real trick was to illuminate the blade tip with a very bright (and very short) flash. In order to do this the team had constructed a special flash mechanism which was fired by a large box full of electronics. This was in the charge of old George Blaylock (of whom more later). I was seconded to help George photograph a new set of blades. I’ll never forget the respect he gave that box of electronics! It was earthed by several thick cables and he would not stand anywhere in the vicinity when it was fired. I gathered it was really lethal and probably would not be allowed under today’s H&S legislation! Lethal or not it worked fine and the pictures of the blade tips were well exposed and sharp. By comparing the pictures with similar ones taken when the wheel was stationary it was possible to measure how much the blade was twisting under centrifugal force. |
