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).
Performance tests of a fabric material, including resistance to various elements and specific gravity.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 144\2\ scan0058 | |
| Date | 1st December 1939 guessed | |
| "Resistance to Sea Water. Tests were carried out in tanks in which a 3 per cent. solution of common salt was agitated. Alterations in surface, weight, and strength were studied. There was no alteration in surface of the fabric material after eight months; strength tests after eight months immersion showed that the original strength of the fabric after drying had suffered no loss. "Heat and Fire Resistance. Commercial synthetic resins are generally guaranteed up to 150°C; at 200°C. fabric material after a long time only changed slightly in colour. "Weathering Tests - After 15 months it was observed that some of the specimens (not fabric) had become bleached somewhat by the action of strong sunlight....The strength reduction of these specimens (due chiefly to the mechanical action of dust and rain) amounted to 14 per cent - in the case of thick fabric filled boards there was hardly any reduction in strength. By repeated bending of several of the test pieces it was shown that the flexibility of the material had in no way been impaired by the weathering process." It may be deduced that in the case of this fabric, reinforced with high tensile strength wire, there would be no loss of strength Specific Gravity. Report of S.G. tests made of the reinforced fabric and of aluminium, dural and elektron, by the Research Association of British Rubber Manufacturers - "Specific gravity was determined by weighing in air and in water, and the results were as follows:- Metal reinforced fabric ... ... 1.68. Elektron (a generic name for alloys of Magnesium) ... (just below) 2.00. Aluminium ... ... 2.70. Duralumin ... ... 2.79. (Sgd) W.H. Willott. J.H. Scott. Acting Director of Research. The advantage of saving in weight over metal where metal has been used is obvious. .3. | ||