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 development and performance of an aluminium tin bearing alloy.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 160\3\ scan0092 | |
| Date | 1st November 1936 guessed | |
| As a result of these tests it was decided to embark upon the development of the R.R. aluminium tin bearing alloy. After many hundreds of hours Test Bed work, a satisfactory material was evolved, and this is now being used on the big-end bearings of the whole range of Rolls-Royce Automobile products. The progress which it represents can be demonstrated by the fact that on over load tests carried out by Rolls-Royce Ltd. it has shown many times the life of babbit. In one particular engine, where the load carrying capacity of the white metal was definitely insufficient for the job it had to do, a useful life of 25 hours full throttle test bench running was established. When the R.R. bearing was substituted, 250 hours were completed without trouble. From the very commencement of its career the R.R. bearing alloy has been brought up in a hard school. Its first public appearance in competition work, was in the Tourist Trophy Race on the Ards circuit. On this occasion Mr. E.R.Hall's privately owned car completed the race at an average speed of 80.81 m.p.h., which is a record for any car, supercharged or unsupercharged, that has ever competed since the race has been run in Ireland. At the conclusion of the race the bearings were in perfect condition. | ||