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).
Fracture on an American crankshaft and defending the suitability of the steel used.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 38\6\ Scan047 | |
| Date | 21th December 1918 | |
| X 2387 ROLLS-ROYCE, LIMITED WORKS OFFICE IN U.S.A. 220 UNION BLDG., EUCLID AVE., CLEVELAND, O.{Mr Oldham} TO: Mr. Hives FROM: Na{Mr Nadin} SUBJECT: FRACTURE ON AN AMERICAN CRANKSHAFT. DATE: December 21, 1918. REFERENCE: Na{Mr Nadin}1/K211218. With reference to yours of December 4th reference EH2/Lu4.12.18 re the above subject, the photograph referred to was not attached to the copy of your memo received here, and I am therefore unable to judge the fracture. I would however, like to offer the following criticism regarding your remarks concerning the suitability of the steel:- You say that you do not consider the steel very suitable because of its low nickel content and because it is necessary to heat the shaft to a fairly high temperature in order to obtain the requisite hardness. I do not think from any of the figures you give, that there is any reason for making the statement that the steel is unsuitable. If the fracture is due to a hairline, incorrect heat treatment or a snowflake, then it would be wrong to condemn the steel for the reason you state. We have found the steel when properly heat treated ( and this is not a difficult matter ) to give better average results on a stanton machine than those given by firth's crankshafts. Mr. Olley is on his way to England at the present time and is taking with him, some fractures of steel containing faults which we have named snowflakes. This may help in deciding the cause of the fracture in the case you mention. Perhaps you will allow Mr. Olley to inspect the shaft reported on with a view to throwing some more light on the cause. Na{Mr Nadin}/K | ||