§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of Stare for Defence if he will give details of the civil applications of work done by the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment on explosive forming for the development of pressure vessels.
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§ Mr. MasonR.A.R.D.E. and R.O.F. Radway Green have been in direct collaboration with most of the leading firms engaged in the manufacture of pressure vessels and have shown how the explosive forming techniques can be applied to a number of different metals. The work has included explosive welding and also a technique for fixing tubes into end plates by the use of explosives. Information has been given to firms on factors relating to the economics of applying these techniques.
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give details of civil applications for ultra-high strength steels by the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment.
§ Mr. MasonA R.A.R.D.E. steel is in use for exhaust valve springs in helicopter engines and an extensive evaluation programme is in progress which could lead to wide use of the steels and techniques developed by R.A.R.D.E. in the manufacture of heavy duty engineering equipment, vehicles for road and rail transport, aero engines (both piston and gas turbine), etc. The other high strength steels and methods of processing are covered by patents and are available for exploitation by the N.R.D.C.
R.A.R.D.E. has pioneered a process of thermal mechanical treatment known as ausforming by which the properties of high strength steels can be further improved, and has made available to the foundry industry their television-X-ray fluoroscopy technique for studying the pouring and solidification of materials.