Industrial Research 



333 



larger field, is the study of factory inethods and proc- 

 esses and the design of new equipment based on the 

 findings of these studies"; "the research activities of 

 our mechanical-engineering staff include the develop- 

 ment of new production equipment and methods and 

 the design of original tools to improve quality, speed up 

 production, and reduce manufacturing cost." 



An excellent example of cooperative research on proc- 

 esses is the cottonseed research program, which was 

 set up in 1932 "to study the mechanical problems in- 

 volved in storing, conditioning, and cooking cottonseed," 

 in the coiu^e of which it has been discovered "that 

 cottonseed can be successfully cooked under pressure 

 conditions at temperatures formerly thought "destruc- 

 tive," with lowered costs, reduced losses, and greatly 

 improved control. Progress is also reported on im- 

 proving methods of separating the kernels of cotton- 

 seed without loss of absorbed oil in the hulls and of 

 extracting the oil from the cottonseed meats with a 

 minimimi waste of oil left in the cake. 



A locomotive builder "is devoting considerable 

 attention to the development and extension of fusion 

 welding, both in its apphcation to locomotive construc- 

 tion and in other general fabrication work. In this 

 connection recent extensive fatigue tests have been 

 made to establish the value of fillet welds in locomotive 

 tender tank construction." 



A manufacturer of photographic materials lists eight 

 "items of research work performed by mechanical 

 engineers in [his] organization, either solely or with the 

 collaboration of physicists or chemists," all of which 

 concern process unprovement, ranging from "investi- 

 gation of heat transfer coefficients under conditions 

 not usually encountered in industiy," through "uivesti- 

 gations of atmospheric impurities and means for theii' 

 removal," to "investigation and development of special 

 methods of preventing and controlling fires, explosions, 

 decompositions, etc." 



Fundamental research in the chemical industries is, 

 of course, primarily in the hands of chemists and 

 chemical engineers, but here, as elsewhere, mechanical 

 engineers play a large part in process improvement. 

 Thus a pharmaceutical house reports "a great deal of 

 work on the distillation of aqueous and alcoholic solu- 

 tions at low temperatures," on "the properties of gela- 

 tin and the manufacturing of gelatin capsules," and 

 on "stainless-steel welding and finishing applications 

 as affecting pharmaceutical products" as done by 

 mechanical engineers. One of the largest chemical 

 organizations in the country reports that "the research 

 functions performed by mechanical engineers in this 

 company are for the two main purposes of developing 

 useful design information for new equipment and 

 processes and for use in improving yields and cutting 

 costs on old ones," and lists some 25 specific problems 



"along strictly mechanical lines" in which their indus- 

 trial research groups are interested. In another large 

 chemical organization, a "division specializing in the 

 production of fine organic chemicals and synthetic 

 coating resins utilizes engineering research in the 

 development of (1) special heating equipment for 

 sensitive reactions, (2) highly specialized apparatus 

 for catalytic reactions, (3) more effective devices for 

 agitation, and (4) automatic process control." A 

 third large chemical organization lists 10 "major types" 

 of research items about evenly divided between process 

 and product research, and adds: "From the above it is 

 evident that the mechanical engineers in our organiza- 

 tion are engaged in research in many of the fundamen- 

 tal branches of mechanical engineering. Production 

 methods, machine design, handling of liquids and gases 

 with special reference to heat transfer, and the cutting 

 and shaping of metals are among the most important 

 of these." 



In the electrical manufacturing industries, mechanical 

 engineers play an important part. One of the largest 

 companies in tliis field "pioneered in the development 

 of large electric furnaces for use in copper brazing parts 

 for [its] own production," developed "several very 

 ingenious balancing machines" which "have made 

 possible the present day large steam turbine," and con- 

 ducted "researches in welding [which] have led to the 

 substitution of fabricated parts in the frames of larger 

 motors," to name but three of many significant re- 

 searches. Sunilar studies of the possibility of "substi- 

 tuting fabricated steel for castings, utilization of die 

 castings, plastics, etc." are reported from a variety of 

 other manufacturing establishments. Another elec- 

 trical concern reports "a large amomit of work to de- 

 velop improved equipment for observations of the 

 vibrations in large machines," work on "the determina- 

 tion of stress concentrations" by photoelastic methods, 

 and work on "mechanical problems in building and 

 operating transformers," again to name but three of 

 many examples. One of the somewhat smaller com- 

 panies writes: "Our mechanical engineering research 

 activities are confined to developments incident to 

 products we manufacture and to the solution of manu- 

 facturing problems, such as design of suitable auto- 

 matic machinery which is not otherwise available for 

 economic and accurate production of our products." 

 And another smaller company has a mechanical engi- 

 neering group "which designs equipment for the manu- 

 facture of radio receiving tubes" and another which 

 "designs equipment for the manufacture of incandes- 

 cent and fluorescent lamps." 



Important as are the process researches of mechan- 

 ical engineers in all these various industries, it is prob- 

 ably in the metal industries, particularly iron and 

 steel, that engineers are most indispensable m laying 



