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).
Visit to the Dunlop Rubber Company regarding tyre design, focusing on the 'Silent Tread' tyre's safety and adhesion.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\T\2July1929-December1929\ Scan159 | |
| Date | 6th November 1929 | |
| To R.{Sir Henry Royce} from Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/ c. Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} c. Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} c. Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} ORIGINAL Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/AHL6.11.29. X4050. VISIT TO THE DUNLOP RUBBER CO. We paid a visit to the Dunlop Rubber Co. to discuss the question of tyres. We have been somewhat concerned because the Silent Tread tyre is now universally used on chassis leaving the Works. When this was introduced we rather felt that it would be a supplementary tyre to the Triple stud. Since, however, it is now the universal Rolls-Royce tyre, we feel that we may have rather sacrificed too much safety for silence. The general trend of tyre design is to increase the area of tread in contact with the road. This is in order to cope with the reduction in wheel sizes and increased acceleration in the modern car. The tyre people are always more interested in tread wear than any other feature of the tyre because the customer can, in this respect, hold them entirely responsible for the results obtained. Lack of road adhesion can always be attributed to the car or the road surface. As the area of contact between the tyre and the road is increased the unit pressure is decreased, and consequently the film of water or mud between the rubber and the road has less tendency to be squeezed out. We have come to the conclusion that this is of considerable importance in road adhesion. | ||