high-pressure hydraulic press
Datecirca 1924
Inventory Number1997-1-1819d
ClassificationHydraulic Press
Subject
Maker
Percy Williams Bridgman
1882 - 1961
Maker
Charles Chase
Cultural Region
Place of Origin
Dimensions108 x 25.5 x 15 cm (42 1/2 x 10 1/16 x 5 7/8 in.)
Material
Accessorieshigh-pressure compressing chamber
DescriptionThis device is made of an hydraulic press (upper section) and a lower cylinder, in which pressure is produced by the descent of the piston and plunger connected to the hydraulic press. The actual high-pressure experiment is made under this device, in another cylinder linked to this device.
The lower cylinder under the hydraulic press contains two important attachment points. Near the upper end there is a side connection to an auxiliary pressure generator (the hand-pumps #1997-1-1819b and c) by which an initial pressure of 2,000 or 3,000 atms is produced before the high-pressure piston from the press starts to descent. The function of the initial pressure is to permit the attainment of the maximum pressure in a single stroke. The second attachment point is for the pressure-measuring gauge, which is attached near the lower end of the cylinder (missing). The outside diameter of this cylinder is 4.5 inches; the inside diameter, where pressure is set, is 0.5 inch. It is made of chromium-vanadium steel.
The main piston of the hydraulic press is 2.5 inches in diameter with a plunger of 0.5 inch in diameter. The plunger is made of a completely different grade of steel from the rest of the apparatus. The piston is put in motion by another hand pump.
(Described from Bridgman, Physics of High Pressure, 43-48.)
The lower cylinder under the hydraulic press contains two important attachment points. Near the upper end there is a side connection to an auxiliary pressure generator (the hand-pumps #1997-1-1819b and c) by which an initial pressure of 2,000 or 3,000 atms is produced before the high-pressure piston from the press starts to descent. The function of the initial pressure is to permit the attainment of the maximum pressure in a single stroke. The second attachment point is for the pressure-measuring gauge, which is attached near the lower end of the cylinder (missing). The outside diameter of this cylinder is 4.5 inches; the inside diameter, where pressure is set, is 0.5 inch. It is made of chromium-vanadium steel.
The main piston of the hydraulic press is 2.5 inches in diameter with a plunger of 0.5 inch in diameter. The plunger is made of a completely different grade of steel from the rest of the apparatus. The piston is put in motion by another hand pump.
(Described from Bridgman, Physics of High Pressure, 43-48.)
Signedunsigned
Curatorial RemarksBoth black and white images are taken from Bridgman's <i>Physics of High Pressure</i>.
FunctionThis hydraulic press was used with two hand-pumps: one to create an initial pressure and a second one to move the piston and plunger, producing the very high pressure with which experiments were made. Bridgman, for instance, measured compressibilities, electrical resistances, viscosities and later, with the higher pressure apparatuses, the effect of pressure on the mechanical strength and ductility of these substances (which were very large).
Bridgman conducted high-pressure experiments in the 1920s and early 1930s that ranged between 12,000 and 20,000 atmospheres (12,000-20,000 kg/cm²). This hydraulic press was central to the early production of the experimental data that would later earn Bridgman a Nobel Prize in physics.
Bridgman conducted high-pressure experiments in the 1920s and early 1930s that ranged between 12,000 and 20,000 atmospheres (12,000-20,000 kg/cm²). This hydraulic press was central to the early production of the experimental data that would later earn Bridgman a Nobel Prize in physics.
ProvenanceJefferson Physics Laboratory, Harvard University
Historical AttributesThe CHSI also has many samples produced by Bridgman's high pressure experiments with apparatuses like this one.
Percy Williams Bridgman
Date: circa 1938
Accessories: one bolt protector; one attachment; two large bolts, black and white photographs (C6-G1). Parts can be found in drawer B11-I8. Bridgman Press Manual (copy) in instrument file folder
Object number: 1997-1-1819a
Percy Williams Bridgman
Date: 1924-1937
Accessories: pressure-broken metal samples; parts for hydraulic press
Object number: 1997-1-1819c
Percy Williams Bridgman
Date: 1924-1937
Accessories: 4 wrenches; 1 oil pan
Object number: 1997-1-1819b
Percy Williams Bridgman
Date: 1924-1937
Accessories: cardboard box of spare parts; rubber tube; yellow hand pump; metal wire; torque wrench; wrenches (3); 1 CD; 1 audio cassette; 1 user's manual; 1 graph
Object number: 2004-1-0404
Percy Williams Bridgman
Date: 1924-1937
Object number: 2004-1-0404.1
Percy Williams Bridgman
Date: 1924-1937
Object number: 2004-1-0404.2
Percy Williams Bridgman
Date: 1924-1937
Accessories: two boxes of parts/tools for bridgman press (.1 & .2)
Object number: 2004-1-0404.3
![various pieces and samples from high pressure apparatus[?]](/internal/media/dispatcher/19928/postagestamp)
Percy Williams Bridgman
Date: ca. 1920-1945
Object number: 2008-1-0138
Taylor Instrument Companies
Date: circa 1925
Accessories: stored within the case: paper recording chart, a length of flexible hose, a bulb and glass container with red recording ink
Object number: 2010-1-0020
Ashcroft Gauge Division of Manning, Maxwell, & Moore, Inc.
Date: circa 1930
Accessories: six weights ranging from 1/4 lbs to 4 lbs; instruction plate nailed into inside upper lid of box (copy in instrument's file); certificate of accuracy signed by Manning, Maxwell, & Moore's Chief Inspector, TM Perkins, Feb 27, 1963 (in instrument's file)
Object number: 1999-1-0061
