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THE hostile conditions in a turbine place severe demands on its component parts and on the materials from which they are made. This applies particularly to those components exposed to the full effect of the hot gas stream and probably to none more so than the turbine blade itself.

This paper discusses research on machining and repairing of turbomachinery components which are generally complex geometries and made up of difficult to machine materials (nickel super alloys or titanium alloys).

The approaches, methods and methodologies used for machining and repairing of blades are reviewed as well as the comparisons between them are made.

Particularly, the most recent blade machining and repair techniques using high flexible machine tools and industrial robots, are mentioned.

The limitation of the approaches, methods and methodologies are given and supported by real practical application examples.

This paper presents a state of the art review of research in machining and repairing of turbomachinery components, which have been mainly done in the last decade. The paper act as a reference, gathering the works about turbomachinery components from a manufacturing point of view.

COMMERCIAL air transport is a major growth industry. This growth, although fundamentally due to economic and political trends, has been greatly accelerated by the technological advance of aero engines and airframes.

THE Treaty of Rome is one of the least publicised, yet potentially most important, international documents of our time. Under that treaty the six signatory powers began on the first day of this year that process of tariff reductions which will, over the next twelve or fourteen years, reduce and ultimately abolish all tariffs and trade barriers between them. For all practical purposes six national economies will be welded into a single supranational authority, with a common trade and commercial policy. That is to re‐draw the economic map of Europe.

This paper gives a bibliographical review of the finite element methods (FEMs) applied to the analysis of ceramics and glass materials. The bibliography at the end of the paper contains references to papers, conference proceedings and theses/dissertations on the subject that were published between 1977‐1998. The following topics are included: ceramics – material and mechanical properties in general, ceramic coatings and joining problems, ceramic composites, ferrites, piezoceramics, ceramic tools and machining, material processing simulations, fracture mechanics and damage, applications of ceramic/composites in engineering; glass – material and mechanical properties in general, glass fiber composites, material processing simulations, fracture mechanics and damage, and applications of glasses in engineering.

TO say that the Twenty‐fourth S.B.A.C. Show was an unqualified success is perhaps to gild the lily. True there were disappointments— the delay which kept the TSR‐2 on the ground until well after the Show being one—but on the whole the British industry was well pleased with Farnborough week and if future sales could be related to the number of visitors then the order books would be full for many years to come. The total attendance at the Show was well over 400,000—this figure including just under 300,000 members of the public who paid to enter on the last three days of the Show. Those who argued in favour of allowing a two‐year interval between the 1962 Show and this one seem to be fully vindicated, for these attendance figures are an all‐time record. This augurs well for the future for it would appear that potential customers from overseas are still anxious to attend the Farnborough Show, while the public attendance figures indicate that Britain is still air‐minded to a very healthy degree. It is difficult to pick out any one feature or even one aircraft as being really outstanding at Farnborough, but certainly the range of rear‐engined civil jets (HS. 125, BAC One‐Eleven, Trident and VCIQ) served as a re‐minder that British aeronautical engineering prowess is without parallel, while the number of rotorcraft to be seen in the flying display empha‐sized the growing importance of the helicopter in both civil and military operations. As far as the value of Farnborough is concerned, it is certainly a most useful shop window for British aerospace products, and if few new orders are actually received at Farnborough, a very large number are announced— as our ’Orders and Contracts' column on page 332 bears witness. It is not possible to cover every exhibit displayed at the Farnborough Show but the following report describes a wide cross‐section beginning with the exhibits of the major airframe and engine companies.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of finishing robot technology and its applications.

The paper initially considers the development of automated finishing technologies and then discusses robotic systems. The uses of robotic finishing are illustrated through reference to a range of applications and case histories and a final section summarises the key benefits of the technology.

The paper shows that robotic finishing is being adopted by a range of industries including the aerospace, automotive, medical and household goods sectors. The technology has been shown to yield significant benefits, notably improved productivity, cost reductions, more consistent quality and reduced reject levels.

The paper provides a useful insight into robotic finishing and illustrates the key applications and benefits of the technology.

Improvements in Engine and Power Plant including Reduction in Fuel Consumption, Mechanical Design, Blade Cooling, Lower Vibration, Foreign Object Damage, Oil Consumption, and Reduction in Overhaul Life, all of which can Contribute in Significant Manner to Lower Operating Costs. Recent engine improvements to reduce operating costs are discussed, including examples of features ensuring low vibration level, low metal temperatures of hot end parts, etc. It is predicted that modern techniques will make more major components capable of lasting the whole life span of the engine, facilitating the replacement of present overhaul procedure by sectional overhaul. A possible way to reduce power plant weight is referred to. It is concluded that further advances towards higher engine performance will be accompanied by economies in many other areas of the power unit.

IT is nearly fifteen years since the introduction into civil operations of the Dart turboprop in the Vickers Viscount and the Ghost turbojet in the dc Havilland Comet. For many years it was thought that the turboprop would remain dominant in the short and medium haul classes, but the continued demand for higher cruising speeds and the passenger appeal of the jet have been largely responsible for the turboprop aircraft being superseded by the new generation of turbofan aircraft.