United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

Charles Fraser Old

Michael George Nicholas

Christopher Brian Scruby

Brian Wilfred Howlett, Deceased

An apparatus and a method are provided for detecting and monitoring flow of a fluid through an injector, such as a fuel injector (10) of a diesel engine. Ultrasonic waves are detected by a transducer (12), and signals passed through a filter (20), so as to observe broadband signals of frequency above 100 kHz. Such signals are due to turbulent flow through the injector orifice (38), and so enable the flow itself to be detected.

Flow monitoring

Bearings including a layer of a bearing metal, e.g. a lead/tin alloy, in which continuous or discontinuous carbon fibres are incorporated and are concentrated at or near the bearing surface. The proportion of carbon fibres at or near the bearing surface is from 2 to 60 .sup.v /o. A method of making shell bearings of this type comprises providing a trough of a backing material for the bearing carrying a continuous longitudinal tow of carbon fibres, pouring into the trough a molten bearing metal at a temperature at which it wets the carbon fibres, and cooling and solidifying the bearing metal with the carbon fibres incorporated therein. The carbon fibres may be coated, e.g. with copper, to enable them to be more readily wetted by the molten bearing metal.

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Wantage, United Kingdom

Charles Fraser Old