Norman de Bruyne | |
---|---|
Born | Norman Adrian de Bruyne 8 November 1904 |
Died | 7 March 1997 92) Duxford | (aged
Nationality | British |
Occupation(s) | Aircraft engineer, scientist, industrialist |
Known for | Pioneer in structural adhesive bonding |
Spouse | Elma Marsh (b. 1907) |
Parent(s) | Father: Pieter Adriaan De Bruyne, Dutch, Livestock Trader (Son of Job Kosten de Bruyne and Judith E. Hober), Mother: Maud Mattock, English (daughter of William Mattock, port pilot and Sabina Maria Eyer) [1] |
Notes | |
de Bruyne also helped develop a bone-conduction hearing device which he himself used after he became deaf. |
Norman Adrian de Bruyne FRS [2] was born in Punta Arenas Chile on 8 November 1904, and baptised on 19 March 1905 at the Anglican St. James Church, by the Rev. Edwin Aspinall. His father was Dutch and his mother English. He grew up in England, studied science at the University of Cambridge and became a physics researcher. Around 1930, he became interested in aviation. de Bruyne was the first student of the new flying school which Arthur Marshall established in Cambridge in 1931.
Norman de Bruyne was educated at Lancing and Trinity College, Cambridge from October 1923, reading Natural Sciences and obtaining a First in 1927. On or before graduating in 1927, he climbed the side of the Great Gate to place a broken furniture leg in the right hand of the statue of Henry VIII. He became a Fellow at Trinity in 1928 to research atomic physics under Rutherford at the Cavendish Laboratory. In 1928 de Bruyne published his findings in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. He also wrote up his research as a thesis for the Trinity Fellowship and in September 1928 was duly elected a Prize Fellow of Trinity College. He took his MA and PhD degrees in 1930. He continued to work at the Cavendish until 1931.
de Bruyne developed other "plastics". A laminate of flax roving and paper soaked with liquid phenolic resin and cured under pressure was called Gordon Aerolite. This type of reinforcement was suggested by Malcolm Gordon as a result of the publication of de Bruyne's lecture to the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1937. [3] Malcolm Gordon was a student of de Bruyne, and Gordon's family had connections to a Belfast linen business which supplied de Bruyne with flax after an American glassfibre manufacturer had refused to provide its product to him. The reply to his enquiry, in January 1937, for glass "silk" went as follows: " . . . I have to say that we see no prospect of glass 'silk' being suitable for molded plastics . . . Our reluctance to supply it for any purpose where it is possibly going to be a failure . . ." as they did not see "any prospect for glass 'silk' being suitable for molded plastics" and did not want to be associated with potential failure. [4]
de Bruyne's Aero Research company continued to expand. The company made Miles Magister tailplanes for the Air Ministry. During this time, de Havilland's chief engineer began spending time at Aero Research discussing the concept of wood sandwich construction with balsa core. This eventually led to the production of the Mosquito bomber. As war broke out, the company began to grow and developed the strip heating process to speed the assembly of wood parts. Morris Motors used Aerolite and strip heating to assembly Horsa gliders, as did de Havilland on the Mosquito as well as on other aircraft and in naval launches and patrol boats. Other adhesives were developed; Redux (for REsearch at DUXford – de Bruyne with George Newell) was developed to bond aluminium sheet to a balsa core. Fomvar was an early film adhesive. Aerodux was a resorcinol which to this day remains one of the company's most popular glues. At the end of the war, the company's first efforts to market their products was to the Finnish Plywood Association who ordered 100 tons of Aerolite. This order was a turning point for Aero Research, which spent the next five years working on a plan and financing for truly large-scale low-cost production of urea-formaldehyde resins. In the end, Aero Research was taken over by the Swiss Ciba organisation, a large multinational group of chemical companies that wanted to expand into England.
The Ladybird was designed by de Bruyne and completed by Johan Nicolaas ('Hans') Maas. It was sold to Maas, and completed by him, before his return to the Netherlands. The De Bruyne-Maas Ladybird, was a shoulder-wing monoplane with a tricycle undercarriage, and the design incorporated various items of near-bakelite construction. The trailing edge of each of the main undercarriage trousers could be turned to provide airbraking surface. R.G. Doig carried out the initial test-flying both with the original Scott engine and with the Bristol Cherub. [5]
de Bruyne was a Member of the Fellowship of Engineering, Fellow of the Institute of Physics and Royal Aeronautical Society, and in 1967 was elected Fellow of the Royal Society.
On a roughly triennial basis, the Society of Adhesion and Adhesives, Huntsman Advanced Materials and TWI honour a worker in the field of adhesion and adhesives with the award of the de Bruyne Medal. [6] It is presented in recognition of the recipient's personal contribution to innovation in the field of adhesives and related technology and recognises novel technical achievements which have been shown to be technically and economically viable. Huntsman Advanced Materials (formerly Ciba Speciality Chemicals (UK) Ltd.) sponsored this award initially. The award is currently sponsored by Hexcel Composites Ltd, manufacturer of composites and Redux adhesives, which is based on the Duxford site founded by de Bruyne in 1934.
Norman de Bruyne had a meeting, on 9 April 1936, with de Havilland Aircraft and received a cheque for £1000 and a consultancy to research into reinforced phenol-formaldehyde resins for use in propeller manufacture. This decision by De Havilland Propellers division turned out to be one of considerable importance as it led directly to the acceptance and use of structural adhesive bonding in many, if not all, aircraft from the mid-1940s to the present day.
Starting in the mid-1930s, de Bruyne concentrated on the development of glues. Conventional "casein" (milk-based) glues could not withstand heat and humidity very well, but were widely used for wooden aircraft. De Bruyne invented a new type of synthetic glue, one which was much more effective at bonding wood to wood, wood to metal, and metal to metal. De Bruyne's new "Redux" [7] adhesive came into wide use in aircraft, and played a big part in bringing legitimacy to the use of glue for high-stress jobs. In 1937 the company introduced Aerolite, an adhesive based on urea formaldehyde resins. In 1948 he sold control of the company to Ciba (now Ciba-Geigy) but remained as managing director until 1960.
de Bruyne launched a new company in 1948 – Techne Limited - to design and produce laboratory instruments. The company established a site in Princeton, New Jersey in 1961, to service the rapidly growing North American market. The company remained in the control of the de Bruyne family until 1971, when de Bruyne transferred the company holdings to a family trust. The trust later sold the firm. Techne is a manufacturer of temperature control equipment and related laboratory products, including thermal cyclers, hybridisation ovens, temperature-controlled waterbaths, dri-block heaters, cell culture equipment and temperature controlled calibrators. [8]
Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation.
Bakelite, formally polyoxybenzylmethyleneglycolanhydride, is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed by Leo Baekeland in Yonkers, New York, in 1907, and patented on December 7, 1909.
Plywood is a composite material manufactured from thin layers, or "plies", of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers, having their wood grain rotated up to 90° to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards, which include medium-density fibreboard (MDF), oriented strand board (OSB), and particle board.
Lamination is the technique/process of manufacturing a material in multiple layers, so that the composite material achieves improved strength, stability, sound insulation, appearance, or other properties from the use of the differing materials, such as plastic. A laminate is a permanently assembled object created using heat, pressure, welding, or adhesives. Various coating machines, machine presses and calendering equipment are used.
Glued laminated timber, commonly referred to as glulam, is a type of structural engineered wood product constituted by layers of dimensional lumber bonded together with durable, moisture-resistant structural adhesives so that all of the grain runs parallel to the longitudinal axis. In North America, the material providing the laminations is termed laminating stock or lamstock.
Araldite is a registered trademark of Huntsman Advanced Materials referring to their range of engineering and structural epoxy, acrylic, and polyurethane adhesives. Swiss manufacturers originally launched Araldite DIY adhesive products in 1946. The first batches of Araldite epoxy resins, for which the brand is best known, were made in Duxford, England in 1950.
Polyoxymethylene (POM), also known as acetal, polyacetal, and polyformaldehyde, is an engineering thermoplastic used in precision parts requiring high stiffness, low friction, and excellent dimensional stability. As with many other synthetic polymers, it is produced by different chemical firms with slightly different formulas and sold variously by such names as Delrin, Kocetal, Ultraform, Celcon, Ramtal, Duracon, Kepital, Polypenco, Tenac and Hostaform.
Urea-formaldehyde (UF), also known as urea-methanal, so named for its common synthesis pathway and overall structure, is a nontransparent thermosetting resin or polymer. It is produced from urea and formaldehyde. These resins are used in adhesives, plywood, particle board, medium-density fibreboard (MDF), and molded objects. In agriculture, urea-formaldehyde compounds are one of the most commonly used types of slow-release fertilizer.
Wood glue is an adhesive used to tightly bond pieces of wood together. Many substances have been used as glues. Traditionally animal proteins like casein from milk or collagen from animal hides and bones were boiled down to make early glues. They worked by solidifying as they dried. Later, glues were made from plant starches like flour or potato starch. When combined with water and heated, the starch gelatinizes and forms a sticky paste as it dries. Plant-based glues were common for books and paper products, though they can break down more easily over time compared to animal-based glues. Examples of modern wood glues include polyvinyl acetate (PVA) and epoxy resins. Some resins used in producing composite wood products may contain formaldehyde. As of 2021, “the wood panel industry uses almost 95% of synthetic petroleum-derived thermosetting adhesives, mainly based on urea, phenol, and melamine, among others”.
The de Havilland DH.104 Dove is a British short-haul airliner developed and manufactured by de Havilland. The design, which was a monoplane successor to the pre-war Dragon Rapide biplane, came about from the Brabazon Committee report which, amongst other aircraft types, called for a British-designed short-haul feeder for airlines.
Redux is the generic name of a family of phenol–formaldehyde/polyvinyl–formal adhesives developed by Aero Research Limited (ARL) at Duxford, UK, in the 1940s, subsequently produced by Ciba (ARL). The brand name is now also used for a range of epoxy and bismaleimide adhesives manufactured by Hexcel. The name is a contraction of REsearch at DUXford.
Aero Research Limited (ARL) was a British company that pioneered several new adhesives, intended initially for the aeronautical industry.
Aerolite is a urea-formaldehyde gap filling adhesive which is water- and heat-resistant. It is used in large quantities by the chipboard industry and also by wooden boat builders for its high strength and durability. It is also used in joinery, veneering and general woodwork assembly. Aerolite has also been used for wooden aircraft construction, and a properly made Aerolite joint is said to be three times stronger than spruce wood.
A thermoset polymer matrix is a synthetic polymer reinforcement where polymers act as binder or matrix to secure in place incorporated particulates, fibres or other reinforcements. They were first developed for structural applications, such as glass-reinforced plastic radar domes on aircraft and graphite-epoxy payload bay doors on the Space Shuttle.
Hordern-Richmond was a British aeronautical engineering company that traded between 1937 and c. 1990.
de Havilland Propellers was established in 1935, as a division of the de Havilland Aircraft company when that company acquired a licence from the Hamilton Standard company of America for the manufacture of variable-pitch propellers at a cost of about £20,000. Licence negotiations were completed in June 1934.
Tego film is an adhesive sheet used in the manufacture of waterproof plywood. It is applied dry and cured by heat, which allows for high-quality laminates that are free from internal voids and warping. Tego film plywood products were used in aircraft manufacture in Germany during World War II, and the loss of the plant during a 1943 bombing raid was a serious blow to several aircraft projects. Tego film was an invention of the Essen, Germany, firm of Th. Goldschmidt AG later Evonik Industries ).
Duramold is a composite material process developed by Virginius E. Clark. Birch or poplar plies are impregnated with phenolic resin and laminated together in a mold under heat and pressure for use as a lightweight structural material. Similar to plywood, Duramold and other lightweight composite materials like the similar Haskelite were considered critical during periods of material shortage in World War II, replacing scarce materials such as aluminum alloys and steel.
Mark Gillachrist Marlborough Pryor was a British biologist, who was Senior Tutor and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Formvar refers to any of several thermoplastic resins that are polyvinyl formals, which are polymers formed from polyvinyl alcohol and formaldehyde as copolymers with polyvinyl acetate. They are typically used as coatings, adhesives, and molding materials.
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