Table of contents

Report on Practical metallic composites, 22-25 March 1974 at Palma, Majorca.

Report on Conservation of materials, 26-27 March at AERE, Harwell.

Report on Industrial robot technology conference on 27-29 March 1974 at the University of Birmingham.

Report on Carbon fibres - their place in modern technology, 19-20 February 1974 at the Plastics Institute, London.

Report on Trends in structural mechanics, 24 January 1974 at the Institution of Civil Engineers, London.

The aspirations of manufacturers engaged in rolling bearing research are indicated with emphasis on the resultant need for the use of improved mathematical models. Fundamental mathematical tools are discussed covering the Hertz theory of contacting elastic bodies; rolling bearing fatigue and the Weibull distribution; and load distribution among rolling elements. Finally, some current research problems in the areas of generalized shaft-bearing situations and elastohydrodynamic lubrication are outlined.

Progress in the study of deformation and strength in plastics has been strongly bound to a scientific framework, although much technological advance has succeeded by regular excursions from this base. Deformation theories have passed through linear elasticity to linear viscoelasticity and at present dwell in nonlinear viscoelasticity, but many practical problems remain unresolved by formal methods. The prediction of stiffness in practical mouldings through the adoption of traditional science is often too cumbersome. However ad hoc methods can be very successful, for example in the case of sandwich foam mouldings. Also fatigue strength in plastics relies heavily on empiricism. The authors believe that ad hoc methods will further the exploitation and perhaps understanding of deformation and strength properties in plastics

The factors that have lead to the current widespread use of ion beam etching are described. A brief description of the physical processes involved in the removal of material from the surface being etched is followed by a discussion of several ion etching equipments that are commercially available. The etching characteristics of one of these systems which was developed in the authors' laboratories are described in some detail. The applications of ion beam etching are then reviewed and the uses of this technique in the production of active devices, VHF quartz oscillator crystals, surface wave and integrated optical circuits, and the preparation of specimens for electron microscopy are described. Finally the place that ion beam etching will take in future technology is forecast