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).
The comparative test of standard nickel chrome and air hardened axle shafts for the Goshawk car.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\I\June1922\ Scan30 | |
| Date | 6th June 1922 | |
| To R.{Sir Henry Royce} from Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. to CJ. c. to E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} c. to Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c. to HY.{Tom Haldenby - Plant Engineer} ORIGINAL. Hal/LG16.6.22. GOSHAWK 11. TESTS ON AXLE SHAFT AND DIFFERENTIAL. X 4256 We have made a comparative test between the standard nickel chrome axle shafts and the air hardened axle shafts. A Goshawk car was run on the dynamometer with one wheel having an 880 X 120 tyre fitted, the other wheel having a 33 X 5 tyre fitted The difference in diameters was 35" and 32". The car was run for 2 hours on first speed full power at 3000 revs. and 10 hours on top speed at 2000 revs. Examination of each axle after this run showed that the bevel wheels on the nickel chrome shaft had worn very badly, whereas, with the air hardened shafts, there was not the least sign of wear. The teeth were in perfect condition. We also tried with the air hardened shafts, letting in the clutch on first gear suddenly a number of times to see whether we could twist the shaft. We could not measure any twist on the shaft when it was examined; the shafts were made to the original design. We recommend that the air hardened steel is used for the rear axle shafts because this should definitely overcome all wear on the differential gears and give us a strong axle shaft. Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} | ||