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> First, the mechanic wanted to replace the fasteners, but he did not have any. He also did not speak English very well. Allegedly, the mechanic asked one of th
by ovi256 5y ago
> First, the mechanic wanted to replace the fasteners, but he did not have any. He also did not speak English very well. Allegedly, the mechanic asked one of the boiler room personnel for new nuts and bolts, and was given permission to look through the boiler room's spare parts bins. He selected parts that he thought would work.
This makes it sound like the mechanic was out of his depth, if he didn't know about the importance of nut material in a high temperature application.
The subsequent failures in inspection are not excused, of course.
- londons_explore 5y agoDifferential expansion is well known to most mechanical engineers - it frequently is the cause of leaks or issues. However nuts and bolts suffering differential expansion so badly to cause a total failure I have never heard of. I would attribute at least half the blame to the original designer for not having enough dimensionality and/or strength margin on the threads. 600psi steam is only at a little over 225 degrees Celsius, which really isn't much thermal expansion for metals.