One of the more interesting products that Vulcan spent a great deal of time on but was not able to actively pursue was the concrete pile cutter. The technology for the cutter was developed by two Soviet institutes: VNIIstroidormash in Moscow and Dalniis in Vladivostok. How Vulcan obtained the rights to the patent was an … Continue reading Concrete Pile Cutter SP-88 Operations Manual
Yu. V. Dmitrevich, VNIIstroidormash L.V. Erofeev, Stroifundamentservice V.A. Nifontov, Stroifundamentservice D.C. Warrington, Vulcan Iron Works Inc. This article was originally published in 1993 or 1994. The graphic above shows a 9 kJ unit mounted on an excavator. Introduction Hydraulic demolition hammers mounted on hydraulically powered excavators are becoming increasingly widespread in world practice. They allow … Continue reading Russian Hydraulic Demolition Hammers
In his assessment of the prospects of US-China relations, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd makes the following suggestion to resolve intellectual property (IP) issues: Intellectual-property protection, however, is deeply problematic. Previous agreements reached under US president Barack Obama’s administration could be reconstituted. But the jurisdictional enforcement of breaches is still hopeless. One possible mechanism … Continue reading An Old Idea Comes Back: China-US Arbitration in a Neutral Country
On this site I have posted several articles on Soviet (and after that Russian) pile driving equipment, such as diesel hammers, concrete pile cutters, and vibratory and impact-vibration hammers. These are very specialised topics, even by construction industry standards; here I want to present some photos of more general interest to you heavy equipment fans. … Continue reading NPO VNIIstroidormash: Soviet Construction Equipment Technology
In early 1994 I went to Russia for the purpose of visiting a factory in Bryansk, which is located at the meeting point of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. This was not a factory producing high tech military hardware, but something more prosaic but important for our modern world: diesel pile driving equipment, used in the … Continue reading Half a Million Roubles. Is it Enough?
Our family business' first trip to the then Soviet Union was an interesting experience. Our objective was to sell the Soviets (as they were called then) our offshore pile driving equipment for their offshore oil production work. Their idea was to get us to sell their diesel pile driving equipment and other Soviet technology in … Continue reading Who’s this idiot? That’s me!
One of the most complicated transactions I have ever been involved in during my years at Vulcan was the purchase of the patent rights for a Russian concrete pile cutter (shown at left.) The patent had around a dozen inventors and two research institutes, spread out from Moscow to Vladivostok. The sheer logistics of getting … Continue reading He is Prepared to Sign Anything
In 1988, during Vulcan's first trip to the then Soviet Union, my brother Pem and I were given the chance to visit the Monastery of Trinity-St. Sergius, which was the administrative centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. This is located in the town of Sergeiev Posad, which was called Zagorsk during Soviet times. The trip … Continue reading Visit to Zagorsk
The introduction to this series is here. The first installment of the calculations is here. Calculations of Main Details (Strength Calculations) Strength calculations assume that the inertial forces during impact are 150 times those of the weight. Rotor Shaft We checked the rotor shaft strength in the optimal mode, i.e., when the impacting force direction … Continue reading Soviet S-834 Impact-Vibration Hammer: Calculations, Part II
The introduction to this series is here. Moscow, 1963 Head of the Vibrating Machine Department L. Petrunkin Head of Vibration Machine Construction: I. Friedman Compiler: V. Morgailo and Krakinovskii Specification The impact-vibration hammer is intended for driving heavy sheet piles up to 30 cm in diameter as well as concrete piles 25 cm square up … Continue reading Soviet S-834 Impact-Vibration Hammer: Calculations, Part I
