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).
Oil leakage issues and experimental testing on hydraulic shock absorbers.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 68\2\ scan0132 | |
| Date | 1st March 1926 | |
| To DA.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} from Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rn.{Mr Robinson} X8520 Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rn{Mr Robinson}1/LG1.3.26. RR. HYDRAULIC SHOCK ABSORBERS. X235 With reference to DAA/M24.2.26. We have not tried the means of trapping oil as it comes out of the gland and running it back into the main chamber - (a) because we consider that if there is any tendency to make the oil come out of the main chamber it would be just as likely to blow it out through this connection as drain it away - (b) that the highest level which could then exist in the reservoir would then be reduced to the level of the bottom of the gland. There is no doubt that the change in the viscosity of the oil is causing the leakage because after running 12 hrs. and water cooling the shock absorbers, we only lost 18 c.c., while with uncooled shock absorbers, 100 c.c. was lost in under 1 hr. We are trying the vent in the reservoir as you suggest. Removing the top cover and observing the behaviour of the oil does not indicate very much. There is no violent splashing but just the turbulence one would expect. We are carrying out some experiments to determine whether all the oil is coming through the gland or whether, when the oil is hot, it is working through the casting from the high pressure side of the pistons. At the present time it is very difficult to say, because the whole of the shock absorber gets covered with oil owing to the rate at which this comes out and the vibration of the bumping rig. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rn{Mr Robinson} | ||