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).
Analysis of engine materials and weight reduction strategies for the crankcase.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 3\3\ 03-page065 | |
| Date | 10th June 1912 guessed | |
| tests as no data is to hand as to how far the metal is subject to fatigue & how far its strength is impaired by a rise in temperature. Alexandria Metal has been used experimentally with some success for the purpose of obtaining light pistons but its suitability for this purpose does not seem to have been established. With reference to the removal or reduction in thickness of metal, this method could best be pursued by a systematic examination of all parts used on the engine. On examination of the crankcase top half has been made, & the following suggestion might be considered with a view to reducing its weight. It is undoubtedly most important that the engine should have a stiff crankcase to resist the bending stress set up by the couples in the front half of the engine due to pistons, con rods & cranks, balancing the couples in the rear half. The transverse webs of the engine however, contribute very little to the strength of the case in this respect, their chief duty being to act as struts & lateral stiffeners to the main shell & distance pieces between cylinders & crankshaft. They transmit the stresses to the main shell. Without incapacitating them from performing this | ||