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 faults of Luvax Ltd. shock absorbers, including analysis of oil viscosity and leakage.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 28\1\ Scan263 | |
| Date | 11th August 1931 guessed | |
| Messrs. Luvax Ltd. Acton, W.3. -3- Curves 11 and 12 show that under these conditions the performance of the shock absorber is much improved by using thin oil. The compressor oil mentioned in the test has a time of efflux Redwood No.1 viscometer of 1,000 seconds at 10°C. and 600 seconds at 20°C. Curves 13 and 14, 15 and 16, show the effect of using this thin oil over the longer strokes and emphasise that such a procedure almost halves the effective maximum load given at low temperature owing to the increased leakage round the rotor. Summarising the tests briefly, we should say that the leakage factor of these shock absorbers is too high, which means that even with the Luvax oil their effectiveness falls off at temperatures which we should expect to be attained when driving over Continental roads under atmospheric conditions of 30°C. Until this leakage factor can be reduced, we consider the shock absorber too susceptible to temperature variations. With regard to the small stroke ineffectiveness under normal temperatures and the large stroke ineffectiveness under high loads. We think this trouble might be completely eliminated by increasing the effectiveness of the replenishing system. Luvax Shock Absorber type L.C. Diagrams A, B, C and D show the faults of the shock absorber under the normal loads supplied. Whilst such loads are not of much interest to us, they indicate that the high pressure side is suffering from insufficient venting. The amount of pressure on the high pressure side is only about half what it ought to be over the 4" stroke. | ||