. The Locomotive. st and thus prevented the governor from functioningproperly, finally disrupting it. With no counteracting force, the gov-ernor spring immediately opened the regulating valve and allowedthe turhine to speed to destruction. Figure I shows howthe unit looked afterthe accident when thedehris had been clearedaway and the rotor re-placed in the governor end ofthe shaft, shown inFig. 2, broke off justbeyond the bearing,and the other end ofthe turbine shaft wasbent to an angle ofapproximately 45 de-grees. Both bearings, which had been cast integral with the casing,were bro
. The Locomotive. st and thus prevented the governor from functioningproperly, finally disrupting it. With no counteracting force, the gov-ernor spring immediately opened the regulating valve and allowedthe turhine to speed to destruction. Figure I shows howthe unit looked afterthe accident when thedehris had been clearedaway and the rotor re-placed in the governor end ofthe shaft, shown inFig. 2, broke off justbeyond the bearing,and the other end ofthe turbine shaft wasbent to an angle ofapproximately 45 de-grees. Both bearings, which had been cast integral with the casing,were broken off, the top half of the casing shattered, and the nozzlestorn out of the lower half of the casing. In fact, the turbine wascompletely wrecked. In addition the flexible coupling burst and con-siderable damage was also done to the pump, including the bendingof the shaft. This accident would very likely have been avoided or at least thedamage would have been very slight had there been an emergencystop Fig. 2. A Steam Pipe Explosion. PRESSURE-COXTAIXERS (boilers, tanks, and pipes) that areon the point of failure often give evidences of it which are visibleto trained eyes, or which can be detected in other ways by expertengineers or inspectors. When these symptoms are discovered itis sometimes possible to make satisfactory repairs that will insuresafety, at least temporarily; and if repairs are not practicable, thewarning that has been received makes timely replacement possible. It speaks well for the methods and materials used by pipe manu-facturers, that pipe failures do not occur oftener. The manufactureof pipe is not an exact science, however, and once in a while alength which has withstood the pressure-test that is universally appliedby the makers, and has been installed in the belief that it is of the 238 THE LOCOMOTIVE. [October, usual good quality and strength, has failed under operating condi-tions, where the pressure has been materially less. Subsequent ex
Size: 1974px × 1266px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorhartfordsteamboilerin, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860
