Tool Tested as a Bomb ‘Can Opener’
Fri, Dec 2, 1960 – The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) · Newspapers.com
NORWOOD — An “ultrasonic can opener” for opening steel-encased unexploded bombs without generating excessive heat is being studied by engineers at its commercial apparatus and systems division plant in Norwood, the Raytheon Co. announced this week.
The engineers are experimenting with what is called a “silent sound” tool under a contract from the U.S. Navy’s Bureau of Weapons.
Ultrasonic impact grinders now widely used in industry to cut hard and brittle materials. A tool tip, moving up and down 25,000 times a second, drives an abrasive liquid against the work to be cut. Although the tool itself never touches the work, the tiny particles in the liquid cut the work to an accuracy of two 10,000ths of an inch.