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 design and testing of front road springs, comparing different leaf thicknesses.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\L\2July1924-September1924\ Scan67 | |
| Date | 5th September 1924 | |
| ~~TO BY.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer}~~ FROM R.{Sir Henry Royce} SECRET R1/M5.9.24. Copy to - WHW RAE FHF HS.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} E.A.C. 111. FRONT ROAD SPRINGS. 49410 I consider tests in France should proceed with the old thickness of top leaf, .3125, as we considered this best. I suggest we prove if the newly proposed thinner top leaf is superior on the dynamometer bump test before putting it on the road. The top leaf has other duties than vertical bending which might demand a thicker leaf, hence nothing but road experience will settle what thickness initial set is best. There are one or two points requiring careful watching. They are:- (1) Use leaves under the top plate arranged to make the top plate bend uniformly. (Firths scheme failed.) (2) Let the under plates be large enough in number, and thin enough to ensure (1) and also themselves not break, and arranged very carefully to length, and tapered in thickness at the ends. The spring indicated above will contain a little more weight of steel in the under plates which should not break and should give more area for wear at the ends. The rear springs were very much improved in many ways by going back to my old scheme of many thin plates. R.{Sir Henry Royce} | ||