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).
Issues with whitemetal bearings and proposals for new materials and testing methods.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 173\4\ img223 | |
| Date | 4th January 1936 | |
| USA To A.{Mr Adams} c. to H.or. c. to Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c. to Hy.{Tom Haldenby - Plant Engineer} c. to Hdy.{William Hardy} c. to RHC.{R. H. Coverley - Production Engineer} Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Gry.{Shadwell Grylls}E/K.{Mr Kilner} 4.1.36. WHITE METAL BEARINGS. Since we are in trouble with Ph.III big end bearings and not altogether satisfied with the mains, we think we should take advantage of the latest information from Hopkins at the Cleveland Graphite Bronze Co. He has given us the composition of the whitemetal recently found to make the best bearings. This metal should be centrifugally cast inside or outside and rapidly quenched; and in his opinion will be much better than our present bearings. Hopkins has evolved an interesting method of testing whitemetal and regards its fatigue strength as a criterion of its bearing qualities. Small samples, about 1" x 1/4" x .075" are subjected to a small alternating high frequency bending load. The metal which takes the longest time to break under this test has the best bearing qualities. We have already given RHC.{R. H. Coverley - Production Engineer} the whitemetal analysis, and suggest trying a set of bearings made in this manner in a spectreCodename for Phantom III engine. We have also handed RHC.{R. H. Coverley - Production Engineer} photographs of the Graphite Bronze Co's testing equipment evolved by the U.S. Research Laboratory. An interesting feature of this apparatus found while testing copper lead bearings was that the end bearings carrying half the load of the centre ones would hold before the centre ones. This was due to the greater angular deflection of the shaft at the end bearings, which is fatal to an Allison type copper lead bearing. Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}Gry.{Shadwell Grylls} | ||