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).
Letter to Borg & Beck Co. Ltd. regarding the failure of two clutch pressure plates during testing.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 130\3\ scan0096 | |
| Date | 30th June 1939 | |
| To By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} To HPS{Horace Percy Smith - Experimental Factory Mgr}/WSC.{W. S. Cassel} EXPERIMENTAL DEPARTMENT. Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/NRC.{N. R. Chandler}17/JH. 30th. June, 1939. Messrs. Borg & Beck Co.Ltd., Tachbrook Road, LEAMINGTON SPA. re 11" Clutches. Dear Sirs, In confirmation of our 'phone conversation of yesterday afternoon with Mr. Armitage, we regret to inform you that two pressure plates have burst within the last two days. They were used on a 4 1/4 litre engine on the test bed, and at no time had the revs. exceeded 4250, the testers are emphatic on this point. The first one, which failed on 28th. is marked 252-M-8, and was replaced by a new clutch taken from stock, and this failed on the following day. In both cases, the plate broke in five places, in exactly the same way. We are sending you two parcels containing the broken pieces, the parts of 252-M-8 are complete, but we have retained two of the five pieces of 252-C-8 for test and analysis. We appreciate that these clutches were made in 1938, but judging by the amount of wear on the first, it had done but little work, and the second was a quite new one, and neither bears any evidence of having been subjected to heat. We are very concerned about these failures which are the first we have experienced for a considerable time. Will you please make tests of the material and let us have your report, and we will report to you our test results. Cont'd.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} | ||