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).
Feasibility and risks of making balance weights solid with the crankshaft, referencing balance weight failure on a Bentley engine.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 103\3\ scan0181 | |
| Date | 1st September 1933 | |
| COPY. To Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} from E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} c. Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} Sft.{Mr Swift} E.4/HP.1.9.33. [Handwritten: X150 X217] Balance Weights. Referring to your memo Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}11/MJ.31.8.33. I am generally in agreement with your suggestion to make balance weights solid with the shaft. We have looked into this before but we understand that from the production point of view it is somewhat difficult to arrange on these small crankshafts owing to the big forging draw necessary restricting the amount of journal available for twisting and also the flow lines are not satisfactory. The aspect of this balance weight failure that causes most anxiety is that we are running this Bentley engine under conditions where it does flap its weights off sideways with a fixing which is satisfactory on our other car engines, and having improved the weights, one cannot but anticipate that there may be serious failures of other parts with such a violent state of fluctuation going on. We should like to know at what actual engine speed these weight failures occurred so as to refer them to the modified floating speed for the valve gear. E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} | ||