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).
By F.H. Royce discussing the testing of forgings and steering gear to develop a lighter, stronger chassis.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 20\2\ Scan015 | |
| Date | 18th April 1912 guessed | |
| (3) system of testing forgings which may be adopted by us if found to be of any utility. It can be performed during the heat treatment, and consists of examination by a responsible inspector of the important parts such as steering forgings while hot, in which case cracks, cold shuts and defective welds show a difference of luminosity when looking at the heated forgings. It is a system that is applied to lifting chains periodically by, I believe, most railway companies. It would be necessary to get hold of some defective pieces and examine them, and see whether it is worth the trouble of adopting. It might also be as well to consider the advisability of testing the breakdown strength of the steering gear of our competitor's chassis. This might be done by a wire rope apparatus suggested for our general test. I should like the judges to bear in mind that any elasticity on the part of the steering gear is really a source of strength, and rigidity a source of weakness, and irreversibility allows extra heavy stresses on the steering gear in the case of rough roads, or the road wheels striking the kerb. It is in all cases much better to find if possible the load that breaks/parts or the value in ft. lbs of the blows, and the number of blows. I shall from time to time try to extend this system of breakdown tests on parts with a view of getting a lighter and stronger chassis. F.H.Royce | ||