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Nuclear engineer glued broken submarine bolts back together
Posted: January 31st, 2023, 8:54 pm
by ReformedCharacter
A nuclear engineer glued broken submarine bolts back together in an “unforgivable” error. The unsatisfactory repairs to HMS Vanguard’s cooling pipes were discovered after a bolt fell off whilst being tightened during checks inside the reactor chamber. It is understood that the bolts, which were providing insulation onto elements of the pipework, snapped off after being over-tightened and were then glued back on by staff at Babcock, a defence contractor.
However, Navy sources criticised the nuclear engineering company for a lack of “transparency” for having reported an issue, but failing to disclose all the details. They said: “Nuclear engineering is meticulously managed and while the effect of this failure is insignificant, the actual act is unforgivable. “Instead of replacing the bolt, they glued it back on and that’s not right,” they said.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/0 ... -together/
RC
Re: Nuclear engineer glued broken submarine bolts back together
Posted: January 31st, 2023, 9:49 pm
by UncleEbenezer
Goes to show.
The Great British Workman isn't just a stereotype!
Re: Nuclear engineer glued broken submarine bolts back together
Posted: January 31st, 2023, 11:43 pm
by monabri
The article is from The Telegraph....
"It is understood that the bolts, which were providing insulation onto elements of the pipework, snapped off after being over-tightened"
Since when are bolts used to provide insulation? A bolt is used to bolt something to something else. Sounds like the bolts were used to hold insulation panels in place.
Re: Nuclear engineer glued broken submarine bolts back together
Posted: February 1st, 2023, 12:16 am
by Mike4
Quite.
"Flawed workmanship revealed during checks"
Monstrous.
Re: Nuclear engineer glued broken submarine bolts back together
Posted: February 1st, 2023, 7:18 am
by Urbandreamer
monabri wrote:The article is from The Telegraph....
"It is understood that the bolts, which were providing insulation onto elements of the pipework, snapped off after being over-tightened"
Since when are bolts used to provide insulation? A bolt is used to bolt something to something else. Sounds like the bolts were used to hold insulation panels in place.
I can't comment about these bolts, but have used both plastic and copper alloy bolts in the past.
Plastic bolts when there would be an issue if the bolt provided an electrically conductive path.
"Brass" when there would be a problem if there were not.
"Plastic"
https://www.nbk1560.com/en/products/spe ... anguage=en
"Brass"
https://insights.globalspec.com/article ... -fasteners
Neither bolts nor "glue" are as simple as popular belief. Though of course that doesn't excuse these actions. Anymore than using a "brass" bolt when you need the force that only a steel bolt will provide.
Ps, both plastic and brass bolts are usually very bad at providing force and very easy to over-tighten.
Re: Nuclear engineer glued broken submarine bolts back together
Posted: February 5th, 2023, 7:53 pm
by SimonS
Urbandreamer wrote:monabri wrote:The article is from The Telegraph....
"It is understood that the bolts, which were providing insulation onto elements of the pipework, snapped off after being over-tightened"
--------
Neither bolts nor "glue" are as simple as popular belief. Though of course that doesn't excuse these actions. Anymore than using a "brass" bolt when you need the force that only a steel bolt will provide.
Ps, both plastic and brass bolts are usually very bad at providing force and very easy to over-tighten.
It depends entirely what the approved repair schedule for these bolts and the insulation panels was. In some cases it is perfectly legitimate to use adhesive, after all it seems very effective in holding airbus wing skins on, and the Australian Airforce repaired holes on their F111's and in the UK we repair Lightning 2s ( the F35 jet) with adhesive in certain areas.
The Telegraph never let the truth get in the way of a story though, so one would need to verify the story through reliable sources, not some unnamed 'source' (ie possibly a junior rate in the engineering Branch) and even then take it with a big pinch of salt.