As with most machinery you do not necessarily need a license to operate a powered pallet truck as the company who are requiring you to use the pallet truck will provide the necessary training. If the company fails to offer such training then you are at risk of hurting yourself or another person in which the company is liable. Although it is not required some companies with their training of powered pallet trucks give certificates to show competence of the machine, whereas other companies usually smaller companies do not give out certificates and only provide the training.

So what kind of training do you need to operate a powered pallet truck?

If you are working in a job where using a powered pallet truck is necessary you will receive training. A general training regime may look a little like this:

• An Introduction
• Theory and Video
• Operators Safety Code
• Responsibility under the HSE act 1974
• Battery Charging
• Truck Stability
• Motive and Hydraulic Controls
• Pre-shift checks recording

Once the candidate has gone through the proper training a few tests will be performed that the candidate will be required to pass. In the event that the candidate fails the tests, he or she will need to sit through the training again and re-take the tests.

The candidate will be required to pass:

• A theoretical test
• Pre-use checks
• A practical test

Always remember to never operate a powered pallet truck, or any type of machinery, without the proper training as this can result in injury and accidents which you personally could be held responsible for.

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The previous article in our Roush F-150 project truck series covered the Roushcharger intercooled supercharger installation article. Before and after power gains were left out and I'm sure many of you are dying to know the bottom line results. We did a series of dyno pulls before and after the supercharger installation in order to get a picture of the power gains. Graphs alone don't tell all the data unless I present some additional information with each graph.

You'll notice the graphs do not start at idle speeds. When you go from idle to full throttle on these trucks there is a sudden shock of power through the torque converter. With manual trannies you'll generally see numbers generated lower in the RPM range. The more power from the start, the higher the RPMs before the dyno's drum sampling settles enough to get good numbers. This power surge is even more apparent with the supercharger.

In the above graph you see stock horsepower and torque. There are a couple of things to note here, or the Roushcharger graphs persented later won't make sense. First, you'll see that this chart plots the truck's power all the way to 5800 rpm. This will not happen in real life driving. The 5.4L 3-valve V8 has shift points around 4800-4900 RPM so the graph in real-world usage would suddenly drop around 4900 rpm. Second, the abrupt drop-off at 5800 RPM is due to the factory RPM rev limiter.

In this chart you see the Roushcharger horsepower and torque. Again, there are a few things of interest here that help make sense of the plot lines. First, you'll see horsepower and torque drop off quickly at about 5400 RPM but it doesn't on the stop graph. This doesn't mean there is a power loss here. What is happening is the computer is kicking in the boost-dump to prevent over-boosting the engine. This happens at (according to the raw data from the dyno) exactly 5316 RPM. This does not impact the truck at all in real-world conditions with the standard Roush tune because the shift occurs at 4900 RPM, well before the boost-dump kicks in.
Here you see the graphs overlayed. The total power increase was 121.26 HP and 118.22 ft/lbs. torque. Based on the graph trends it looks like peak torque with the Roushcharger is actually much higher in the lower RPM ranges than this chart reveals (this truck will launch hard from a standstill). These numbers, for "at the wheel numbers" are impressive and well within Roush specs when you consider drive-line loses on a 4x4 truck with 20 inch wheels. The torque peaks very early meaning the truck starts up quick, and stay nearly flat across the entire rpm range, with horse-power increasing throughout the chart. What does this all mean? Basically, not only does the truck come off the line fast but it keeps gain speed very quickly without falling off in power like you'll typically see in natually aspirated engines. Unlike a Mustang GT, which takes time to get into its peak torque area, a Roushcharger equipped F150 is almost at peak torque right off the line. With proper launching for traction, most Mustangs don't stand a chance even against the much heavier F150.

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On-site Metallurgy

As one of many services, FORCE Technology offers
metallurgical analysis of fully operational components
or of stationary or non-removable machine
parts, which we can analyse on-site, even without
having to cut samples.
On-site analysis of a material’s properties makes it
possible to target further analyses, repairs and countermeasures
in order to get the system back into
operation again faster and at lower costs.

Materials Properties
We look at properties such as:
• Microstructure
• Crack type
• Defect types in the material
• Hardness (for tensile strength estimation)
• Type of alloy (possibly using PMI techniques).

Metallurgical Testing
Using a relatively small number of tests, we can
check components on receipt to determine, whether
they meet the requirements and provide you with a
detailed description of the metal’s quality, its heat
treatment, actual final structure and strength level.
Materials defects that can be typed and classified
on-site as insignificant are often accepted, thus
avoiding expensive repairs and delays. On the other
hand, materials defects or structural changes that
are erroneously classified as harmless, but which are
actually critical, may have wide-ranging consequences
such as shorter component lifetime or system
failure.

In our experience, on-site metallurgical methods -
unlike traditional NDT methods - can predict many
structural failures long before they happen, failures
that can be avoided by making limited repairs or
changing operational procedures.

Inspection
Too little or no inspection of metal components is
often the cause for systems failing or extremely inconvenient
repairs having to be made. Any metallurgical
inspection has to be based on fundamental
knowledge of relevant failure mechanisms and correction
of conditions for failure if unforeseen damage
should occur. This involves identification of the defect
causing the damage — identification based either
on experience with the system or on detailed
examination of the damage.
The cause of damage can be determined by on-site
non-destructive test methods. Cracks, for example,
can be identified as fatigue cracking, creep, stress
corrosion cracking or hydrogen embrittlement, or as
pre-existing defects in the material. Information on
the type of damage will then be used to determine
changes to be made in operating conditions or materials
selection so that recurrence of such damage is
avoided.

High temperature operation or unintended exposure
to heat can result in gradual weakening in the metal
strength due to structural changes that can be revealed
and monitored by on-site microstructural
analysis and hardness testing. Data from these test
methods and from service logging can then be used
to determine remaining lifetime of the material. The
advantage is savings from planned repairs and replacement
rather than waiting for failure to occur.
This kind of testing is routine at many power and
chemical plants.
After a fire structural integrity is a key issue. On-site
metallurgical testing can reveal which components
are actually damaged and must be replaced, and
which components can be put back into operation
again without risk.

Replica Techniques
At FORCE Technology we have worked with replica
over the last 25 years. In our work we apply both
the replica technique using thin acetate foils as well
as the replica technique using a two-component
polymer silicone rubber.

- On smooth and prepared surfaces:
A material’s microstructure can be determined by
directly examining a polished and etched surface
using portable microscopes. In most cases, however,
even better results can be had by making a copy or
replication of a prepared surface for subsequent
laboratory analysis.
A replica of the surface is made by applying a softened
plastic foil to the surface. This foil moulds
itself to the metal surface when pressed. After its
removal from the metal, the plastic replica provides
an exact copy of the etched surface microstructure,
which can then be examined under our laboratory’s
high-quality and very high-resolution microscopes.

Such replicas can be stored for decades and subsequently
used in comparative analyses. The replica
technique can also be employed to determine types
and causes of cracking, or to reveal whether cracks
are propagating. An expensive repair of an insignificant
defect will often be avoided this way.
The replica technique is widely used on hightemperature
components in power stations and
chemical plants; it enables inspection of the most
critical parts of a plant during short shutdowns. The
technique can also reveal whether an austenitic
stainless steel has microstructural changes that
could induce lower corrosion resistance than required.

- On complex and rough surfaces:
FORCE Technology also offers replica inspection
using high-resolution silicone rubbers. This method
allows the replication of rough, uneven surfaces
even at elevated temperatures whether it be for
metallurgical examination or documenting surface
appearances. It opens the possibility of accessing
remote and difficult-to-access-locations in applications
such as boilers, engines, gearboxes, reaction
vessels, pipes, tubes, dies, internal cavities, boltholes
and a multitude of similar situations. Moreover,
silicone rubber replicas are also applicable in sub-sea
environments and in nuclear reactor installations.
After removal from test site the silicon rubber replicas
are used for metallographic microstructure assessment,
crack characterisation and for surface
finish and profile measurements of for instance machine
components.

Hardness Testing
Hardness testing provides indirect but vital information
as to the tensile strength or wear-resisting properties
of a material, information that would otherwise
have to be gained from testing large specimens,
cut out of the metal to be tested.
We have portable equipment for standardised tests
such as Vickers, Brinell and Rockwell C, as well as
more flexible equipment for Equotip and UCI testing.
Hardness measurements used to test high-strength
construction steel ensure optimum properties. If the
steel hardness in the heat affected zone is too high,
the steel may be vulnerable to hydrogen embrittlement,
which can lead to serious failures. Hardness
testing can also reveal insufficient heat treatment or
changes in strength properties, e.g. after a fire or
equipment overheating.
If the metals used in a structure or machine have
characteristics different than what is required, the
consequences are often shorter lifetimes, expensive
unscheduled shutdowns, or serious system failures.
On-site testing of these materials can reveal any
changes in properties or non-compliance with specifications
and thus help keep repair an maintenance
costs down.


Other services
Among other related testing services performed by
FORCE Technology are:
• Roughness measurements
• Stress measurements
• Coating thickness measurements
• Measurement of stainless steels’ ferrite content
• Chemical composition analysis.

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