In the instance before us, the two 3-inch cylinders already alluded to in
the proving-frame took the place of the larger cylinder of the ordinary
apparatus; and they were connected with the forcing-pump by a strong metal
tube. When a girder had been fixed in the frame for proving, the force-pump
was worked till the pistons underneath the girder carried it off its lower
bearings and pressed it upwards against the "shoulders," by which it was
firmly held, and the pressure was then continued until the amount
previously fixed upon as necessary for proof had been obtained. This was
ascertained by means of a self-adjusting apparatus attached to the
hydraulic press.
An iron cylinder 1½ inches diameter was placed in communication with the
pipe connecting the pump and the press, so that the pressure obtained in it
was, in proportion to its diameter, the same as that in the large cylinder;
and it was fitted with a piston-rod, working in a vertical direction. This
piston-rod was connected with a lever, from the end of which a scale-pan
was suspended, at a distance from the fulcrum ten times greater than that
of the point of attachment of the piston from the same. The weight of the
scale-pan and lever were balanced by a large mass of iron at the other end.
In the scale-pan a certain weight was placed, proportioned to the proof
desired to be obtained; and the action of the pump was continued until the
water, rising in the iron cylinder just described, forced up the lever, and
with it the weight attached; and thus indicated that the pressure to which
it was desired to subject the girder had been reached. The weight to be
placed in the scale-pan was thus determined: the diameter of the lever
cylinder being 1½ inches, and that of each of those in the proving-frame
three inches, the pistons or "rams" in the latter presented together eight
times the surface of that in the lever cylinder; which being multiplied by
the difference of length of the two parts of the lever, determines the
weight for the scale-pan to be one-eightieth of that to which it was
desired to prove the girder.
The ordinary gallery girders were tested with a pressure equivalent to a
weight of fifteen tons; but it was calculated that, when fixed, the
greatest weight they would have to sustain would be seven-and-a-half tons.
In one instance, for the sake of experiment, the pressure was continued
beyond the proof weight of fifteen tons, to see what amount of strain the
girders would bear without fracture, and it was found that a strain of
thirty tons produced no injurious effect; but the girder broke with an
additional weight of half a ton.
Roof of Transept.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
The Crystal Palace : $b its architectural history and constructive marvels — John Shaqi
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