Proposal for testing connecting rods of various materials and heat treatments following a failure.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 42\2\ Scan008 | |
| Date | 26th March 1918 | |
| To R. {Sir Henry Royce} from EH. c. to CJ. c. to E. {Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} c. to BY. {R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} X 3280 EHL/LG26.3.18. 26th. March. 1918. CONNECTING RODS† X.2750. X.3280. With reference to Mr. Royce's telegram re, the above, we have no conclusive evidence that it has been the rods which have failed first on the engine on test, although we think it is probable that they did. We agree it will be an excellent idea to test a set of rods made of what we know to be inferior material to see how long they will stand. We have consulted Mr. Hall; he considers there might be some delay in getting the steel asked for by Mr. Royce, but we suggest making the set of rods as follows:- (1) 2 pair of rods to be made of mild steel. (2) 2 pair of rods to be made of nickel steel. These should be purposely over-heated in the forging say to 1100°C and heat treated as usual to 302 brinell. (3) 2 pair of rods made of nickel steel. These should be forged under normal conditions and then heat treated to 880°C in oil and tempered as usual. We should then have on test two rods in mild steel, two rods which have been over-heated but not normalized and two nickel steel rods which have been taken too high on the first quench, it is assumed that 880°C is the maximum it would be taken to in error. We think these should give us useful information because the analysis on the rods which have failed show that the composition was satisfactory. The forgings on our connecting rods leave ample | ||
From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).