POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Sectioned model of a beam engine

Object No. 8553

This rare, well-made model is representative of an important practice in engineering education, the elucidation of mechanism by revealing parts of machines. This practice rose to prominence in Germany in the nineteenth century with the work of Professors Ferdinand Redtenbacher and Franz Reuleaux, who analysed machines as chains of mechanism and applied mathematics to their study in the new discipline of kinematics. While these ideas can be elucidated today with video animations, the physical model is still a useful tool. Reuleaux in particular encouraged model-makers to produce copies of the models he developed, so that his ideas could spread widely. Model-makers such as the Schroder family of Darmstadt displayed examples of their work at International Exhibitions (including the one held in Sydney in 1879 which Reuleaux himself attended in an official capacity) and sold them to universities and museums. The model also represents six-column beam engines. The first commercially successful rotative steam engines, designed by James Watt and colleagues, were built into and supported by the buildings that housed them. Watt's team later developed the more compact free-standing six-column beam engine, incorporating Watt's separate condenser, parallel motion and centrifugal governor, and the D slide valve invented by Watt's assistant William Murdoch. These engines were also made by other manufacturers and were used in many industries around the world. Debbie Rudder, Curator, 2007

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Summary

Object Statement

Stationary steam engine model, sectioned six-column beam engine on plinth, metal / wood / stone / glass, made by J Schröder Actien-gesellschaft, Darmstadt, Germany, 1880-1884

Physical Description

Sectioned model of a six-column beam engine, made of metal and wood, with glass panels allowing views into the tank. It is mounted on a wooden plinth glued to a stone base. It is painted black, with red used to highlight sectioned parts. In the type of engine represented by the model, steam is admitted to the cylinder to set the piston in motion. This motion is transferred from the piston rod to the beam via a set of linkages called a parallel motion mechanism, and from the beam to the flywheel and output shaft via the connecting rod and crank. After working in the cylinder, steam is exhausted to the condenser, which is located in the tank surrounded by cooling water. The air pump is connected to the condenser by a flap valve, and the water that this pump draws out of the condenser is transferred to the hot well, from whence the feed pump transfers it to the (external) boiler. The pumps work off the beam, and the slide valve that admits steam to the cylinder is controlled by an eccentric on the output shaft. Speed is controlled by a centrifugal governor attached via a belt to a pulley on the output shaft; the governor turns a butterfly valve in the steam supply pipe. The large flywheel maintains momentum and smoothes out the motion of the engine. The cylinder, valves, steam supply pipe, condenser, pumps and hot well are sectioned, and the column that would obscure the slide valve is mostly cut away.

DIMENSIONS

Height

630 mm

Depth

220 mm

PRODUCTION

Notes

This model engine was made by J Schroder in Darmstadt, Germany, c 1884.

HISTORY

Notes

Purchased in 1884, this was the first engine model to have been acquired by the Museum after the Garden Palace fire in which most objects in the original collection were destroyed. Schroder had mounted a display of models at the 1879 Sydney International Exhibition, for which the Garden Palace was built.

SOURCE

Credit Line

Purchased 1884

Acquisition Date

29 December 1884

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