Where health and safety count for nothing
In “Engineering abroad – India” (PE May) the opening photo is of an Indian welder exemplified as typical of local ‘manufacturing expertise’ (read manufacturing competition). Contrast this with the inset photograph of a similar British welder on page 40 of the same issue and it becomes immediately apparent why such low-cost centres are, indeed, low cost.
The stark contrast in the significant differences in occupational health and safety (lack of protective equipment, damaged electrical welding cable, operator contact with live workpiece…) is startling.
Such working conditions and practices uncovered in UK establishments would be immediately ‘stopped’ by the Health and Safety Executive, with the credibility of the organisation’s health, safety and environment management system questioned, and they would not be allowed to resume until the requirements of a potential provisional improvement notice had been met.
As justifiable as this is (and should be), the costs of exercising a duty of care to worker welfare add to western manufacturing costs. The overt lack of similar workforce welfare requirements in other cultures continues to be exploited by a segment of the global engineering business community as a cost advantage. There is also a moral question here but that is for another argument.
Mick Hibbert, Epsom, Surrey
Outsourcing is an outrage
I read the article “Engineering abroad – India” (PE May). The photograph heading the article, of an Indian worker shown electric-arc welding a small fabrication, was an affront to common-sense safety at work for operators.
Anecdotally, I visited China 18 months ago to witness shop tests of four 1.5m by 4.5m cast-iron sluice gates for New York City. I insisted that all of our staff involved in the tests wear appropriate clothing, hard hats and steel-capped boots, etc. Also I insisted that the area for the test be controlled. Apparently, this had never been demanded before, but was finally agreed after a few email exchanges.
All other staff at the facility were seen to have to work in similar circumstances to those in the photo of the Indian worker, except that all the machine tools were brand-new German CNC multi-axis units. I watched one employee wearing flip-flops walk-roll a 1.5m high by 250mm diameter gas cylinder (indeterminate contents but was probably acetylene) 100m across the yard, where it was lifted by hand on to a truck.
Women wearing normal attire and shoes were employed for cleaning and painting the machined castings in an area covered with swarf, foundry sand and dust.
It is an outrage that jobs from European and American companies are being outsourced to firms in developing nations to save what is often a small amount of money. The labour cost element of production in a modern well-organised and equipped workshop is often only 10% of the total.
Apart from the poor working conditions at these inadequate factories and workshops, the quality of production is often inferior to that obtained in developed countries, the quality control is poor and often has to be imposed by the customer or third-party inspection bureaus. Shipping costs are high and can take months. For a tight schedule project, this can result in inadequate goods that are discovered on receipt being accepted and reworked at the receiving country’s factories at extra cost and dislocation.
The UK’s manufacturing expertise is being dismantled by the senior managers of our own companies who falsely believe that lower costs are being achieved. In reality, the extra quality control inspection, extra inventory, poor latent quality, rework, and schedule slippage cause hidden or retrospective costs that equal or exceed any so-called savings.
Yet senior managers and politicians with poor understanding of manufacturing processes continue to destroy our engineering infrastructure to the point where strategically the UK is now vulnerable in all areas, excepting automotive and defence. Our accounting and tax regimes exacerbate these conditions.
Ian A Crossley, Exmouth
Complicating factors
The “My bright idea” engine proposal (PE May) seems to be basically a two-stroke without some of the disadvantages of a conventional two-stroke and as such should have a good power-to-weight ratio, at least at fairly low rotational speed.
However, where a high power-to-weight ratio is a real advantage, such as in cars, motorcycles or aircraft, also needed is the ability to start easily and to accelerate and decelerate and change power levels rapidly. This ‘controllability’ aspect would need to be demonstrated together with matching the equivalent normal four-stroke in respect of fuel efficiency and emissions.
The following random thoughts would seem to need some investigation. For starting, it would seem that a means of pre-charging the reservoir would be needed, certainly with a diesel and perhaps also with a spark ignition engine. This would necessitate an electric compressor and introduce a delay in the starting procedure after any significant shutdown period. Retaining reservoir pressure when stopped would be near impossible with all the potential leakage paths.
It would also seem that the reservoir would have to be quite large to maintain the pressure (in the order of the proposed 109psi) fairly constant throughout each inlet valve open phase. Use of a small reservoir with a higher maximum reservoir pressure to ensure cylinder filling at high speed would waste energy and risk an excessive overall compression ratio if the engine was suddenly decelerated.
In any case cylinder filling and thus compression ratio would tend to reduce with increasing engine speed because of the shorter inlet open time and the constant filling pressure. Also inlet valve lift would be very restricted to keep valve acceleration within established satisfactory levels with the short opening period again reducing compression ratio at high speed.
An intercooler between the compressor and the reservoir would help by increasing the air mass per stroke.
Some sort of control system would also be needed to match the compressor delivery to engine demand and avoid blowing off any excess compressed air, wasting the work done in compression. A blow-off valve would be needed on the reservoir in case of backfire and to ensure against the overall compression ratio becoming too high.
The use of excess air to purge the remaining exhaust gas would not help efficiency as the work done in compressing the excess air would be wasted. A turbocharger would help in recouping some exhaust energy and reducing the main compressor work but would add to the complication of the compressor control system.
No doubt there are many other aspects to be considered but the simple concept is beginning to look a bit more complicated.
John Hardaker, Skipton, North Yorkshire
Pricey patents
Putting ‘bright ideas’ into the journal is a good idea (PE May). I took out a provisional patent in 1992 of an all ball-bearing worm-gear drive. It is the only worm gear that can be used in both directions because of the low friction forces.
Even SKF thought it a good idea and stated that they would provide free of charge all the ball bearings and races if I could find a manufacturer. Unfortunately I couldn’t find anyone to produce it.
As a full patent with all the searches required would have cost me over £5,000 I couldn’t see the sense in paying all that money when I couldn’t see a return on it so I dropped it as it had already cost me £300 for a patent agent. The idea at the time was to use it in large windmills which are slow rotating. It is not a gear for high speed.
I also have a new engine design that is a lot different from standard engines but it should give great efficiencies. I wish to take the engine forward to patent it but unfortunately now I have been retired over 27 years I know of no one that could do it for me. It looks as if I will have to get back onto my drawing board once more.
Bernard Poulten, Basingstoke
Off the starting grid
Michael Tucker is rightly very proud of the achievements of Cooper in the 1950s and 1960s (Letters, PE June). However I would contend that the 1923 Benz (pictured above) beat them to it to race a mid-engined car in a Grand Prix. This Benz car started and finished in the Italian (European) Grand Prix at Monza in that year.
Then in the 1930s the Auto Unions were pretty competitive with their cars, which were effectively descendants of the Benz. Cooper were absolutely fantastic, but not first.
Colin Warburton, Yarm, Stockton-on-Tees
Image problem
I do wonder about your plans to increase diversity in engineering as I see that women are very ill represented in your magazine. In the June issue, apart from the Atkins ad, there is not one image of a woman.
There are however, not including ads, six pictures of trains, nine pictures of planes and seven pictures of bikes. This represents a lack of diversity somewhat.
Dawn Bonfield, Women’s Engineering Society, Stevenage, Hertfordshire
Wake up to reality
I feel the need to express my concerns after reading Soundbites (PE May). The question was “Should we still be looking to access such reserves of fossil fuel [those beneath Sussex] in a world under threat of climate change?” Although many of the people who wrote in made great arguments for both sides, I found it quite disturbing to see that there were a number who were arguing that climate change is not an issue.
There is a need for clear communications about climate change. Ninety-seven per cent of experts on climate change agree that the warming of the planet is caused by human activity. There is clear evidence that global temperatures are rising, greenhouse gas content in the atmosphere is rising and that this trend will continue if we do not significantly reduce our emissions.
Any sceptics have failed to provide scientific evidence to disprove the consensus but are succeeding in giving the impression to the public that there is no general consensus amongst climate change experts.
Is it not the responsibility of bodies such as the IMechE, who are full of well-informed and well-educated people, to support the scientific evidence? It is no wonder that politicians are not prioritising action to ensure the reduction of carbon emissions if even engineers do not unanimously agree that climate change is a serious risk to our planet. If we as engineers are not convinced, how can we expect the politicians to be?
Christos Dimitroulas, Heysham, Lancaster
Weight problem
I wish to comment on the “bicycle front gearbox” (“The best of engineering on the web,” PE May). Looking at the website for the gearbox, I note the extra mass, about 400g, which is not inconsiderable for a racing bike. Too heavy!
Also claimed is that the single chainwheel will improve chain line. Not so. Using the usual three chainwheels allows the chain to be more lined up to the 10 cogs at the back wheel.
I was fascinated with the gear ratios, correctly reported in your article. My guess is there are two epicyclic gear trains. A rethink to use the scheme used in three-speed hubs might reduce the weight.
Jack Moore, Perth, Australia
Show us some respect
The lowly status of chartered engineers in the UK is often aired in PE. I was reminded of this topic again when, now living in Canada, I was asked to complete a Life Certificate for the UK Pensions Service.
The certificate needs signature of an “approved agency”. The agencies listed are: financial, legal, medical, local government, magistrate, justice of the peace, police officer, minister of religion, and care home/nursing home manager. Not a single professional engineer, or architect even. The list of agencies who can authenticate applications for UK passport renewal has similar titles; again engineers were omitted.
In Canada the title and profession of engineer are regulated by law. The US has a somewhat similar regulatory structure. I have frequently signed profession-specific and general regulatory and legal documents; often chosen in preference to other agencies.
From the age of 16 to 44, I lived and worked happily in engineering in the UK. After emigration I was briefly challenged to get my PEng in Canada; since then I have again been successful in my work as an engineer both here and internationally. Remuneration and promotion apart, it is rewarding to live in a society that respects professional engineering as a senior regulated profession equal to and in many cases more highly regarded than many in the above listing.
Unlike in the UK, in Canada when I identify myself as an engineer it is not anticipated that maybe I run a lathe, repair washing machines or drive a train. People here recognise that such necessary tasks are fulfilled by skilled technicians and craftsmen, not engineers.
If you can’t wait for the UK to notice its engineers you can always emigrate.
Michael Davies, Canada