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).
The performance and manufacturing of different bearing alloys, including cadmium and copper-lead.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 114\2\ scan0119 | |
| Date | 23th February 1935 guessed | |
| (3) By using this deoxidizing material you will be able to rework all your scrap. We have made excellent bearings with 50% remelt and 100% remelt. When the bearings were placed on test in our regular testing machine we could find no difference in their performance. The oxygen content was probably a little bit lower with 100% remelt than with 50% remelt. Our regular charge consists of copper pennies punched out of our spark plug gaskets and 45% of lead,S.F.R.E. grade No.2. The copper lead mixture, based on a 55-45 content of copper and lead respectively, costs us about 7 ¢ per pound. We will materially reduce the cost of our bearings by using the remelt bronze." Extract of communication from the Cleveland Graphite Bronze Co., Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. who deal with Lead Bronze Cadmium Silver Copper and Cadmium Nickel Bearings. With reference to Cadmium Bearing Alloys. There has been some activity along that line in this country during the past year. There are now two such alloys in production. The Pontiac Division of General Motors Corporation is using an alloy of Cadmium-Silver-Copper for both Connecting Rods and Main Bearings. A few small automobile manufacturers are also using bearings of this same alloy. We and two other companies are in production on the Pontiac requirements, and I am happy to say that the Pontiac people feel that we are furnishing a better bond and a better grain structure than the other two companies. This brings us to the fact that, entirely apart from the question as to the value of any bearing metal "per se", the processes used in the manufacture of the bearings themselves are also involved. Proper practices must be developed as to any type of bearing metal. Otherwise, subsequent failures might be attributed to the bearing-metal itself, instead of to improper manufacturing methods. There has also been considerable work done on a cadmium-nickel alloy and we are now furnishing Ford Motor Company fifty (50) sets per day (400 pieces) of Connecting Rod Bearings made of this alloy. This is the result of dynamometer tests made on bearings of this character furnished by us and the showing was such as to justify, in their opinion, trying it out in a small way. Of course, 400 pieces per day must be compared with the 35,000 pieces per day of copper-lead connecting rod bearings we are now furnishing Ford. As to the ultimate value of any cadmium bearing alloy, it is our position that too little is known about it as yet. It has been our experience, in the past, that dynamometer tests, proving-ground tests and even cross-country tests, conducted by the automobile manufacturers, have frequently failed to develop characteristics which were subsequently proven by wide-spread use throughout all the different parts of the country by automobile owners. continued. | ||