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).
Letter from Ethyl Export Corporation regarding the properties and analysis of a new valve steel, Silchrome XCR.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 150\1\ scan0256 | |
| Date | 12th December 1936 | |
| CABLEGRAMS: ETHYLPORT, LONDON. TELEGRAMS: ETHYLPORT, SOWEST. Handwritten: Poles 1282 ETHYL EXPORT CORPORATION incorporated in the State of Delaware, U.S.A. with limited liability. THAMES HOUSE, MILLBANK LONDON, S.W.1 Telephone: VICTORIA 1441 Copy to Mr. H. {Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} Smith. Head Office: 135 EAST 42ND STREET NEW YORK, U.S.A 12th December, 1936. W. A. {Mr Adams} Robotham Esq., Experimental Department, Messrs. Rolls-Royce Ltd., Nightingale Road, DERBY. Handwritten: Swcll. Send Banks drawing of our latest exhaust valve. Rm {William Robotham - Chief Engineer} Dear Rm. {William Robotham - Chief Engineer} , We have received information from the States that the new Silchrome XCR steel is being pushed quite extensively and has been adopted as a standard valve steel by Graham Paige and Oldsmobile. It is optional in the Buick, and about one-quarter of their production is equipped with XCR valves. The approximate analysis is - Chrome 24% Nickel 5% Molybdenum 3% There is also something less than 1% of manganese and silicon. Thompson Products, of Cleveland, who are the principal sponsors of this steel, make the following remarks regarding it:- "The steel is peculiar in that it has a ferritic property of hardenability with the austenitic property of high strength at heat. It falls definitely in neither class." Our laboratory have run some corrosion resistant tests on XCR and find it to be as good as the best austenitic steels. The co-efficient of expansion is only about 25% greater than that of Silchrome No.1. Finished valves are hardened all over to Scleroscope 55. Our own laboratory remark that this steel is interesting because it is approximately as good as the more expensive austenitic steels, plus the advantage of hardness and lower co-efficient of expansion, and it can be sold at a slightly lower cost than K.E.965. All the tests so far done look to be good, although there is really not enough information available yet to know just exactly how good the steel is. It is supposed to be highly satisfactory so far as leaded fuels are concerned. I thought you might like to have this information because, should you wish to test some valves from this steel, you could either write | ||