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 to Leyland Motors discussing bearing materials and the use of cast crankshafts.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 116\3\ scan0032 | |
| Date | 3rd September 1937 | |
| 1020a Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}1/R.{Sir Henry Royce} 3rd Sept., 1937. H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} Spurrier, Esq., Jnr.{Charles L. Jenner}, Leyland Motors Limited, LEYLAND, Lancs. Dear Mr. Spurrier, Thank you for your letter of August 28th. We, too, have done a small amount of work on "Satco", but perhaps we have been unfortunate because our results show that it is not even as good as Hoyt's Z.3 white metal. Of course, the R.R. big-end bearing metal, when properly lubricated, has about 30 times the life of white metal when subjected to loads of 2,000 per square inch or higher. I am sure it is just the stuff for heavy work on big-ends, particularly Diesels where the shock load is very great. I see that Devereux has written to you, and I hope that we shall be able to fix you up with some bearing material before long. We are getting interested in cast crankshafts for our 12-cylinder unit where the stresses are very low. We believe that you have done about nine months experimental work on these shafts. Do you consider that they show promise, and is the overall cost reduction of the finished crankshaft appreciably reduced ? We are in the unhappy position at present of buying 180 lbs of forging to get 70 lbs of finished crankshaft. Yours faithfully, | ||