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).
Failure of experimental aluminium brake drums and axle jaggers on Mr. Raymond Mays' 4¼ litre Bentley.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 85\1\ scan0096 | |
| Date | 6th June 1936 | |
| x206 To Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} from Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}7/KW.6.6.36. Mr. Raymond Mays' 4¼ litre Bentley. With reference to Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD}1/E.5.6.36. x261 The aluminium brake drums were modified by the Design Dept. from the experimental drums which we have been testing, and one of them burst on its initial road test. It is too early to blame the design because it may have been due to faulty material: this we are at present investigating. The other point is that the stiff aluminium drums make axle jaggers worse, and we found experimentally that by a certain arrangement of the brake linkage we could eliminate these jaggers. However, the experimental linkage was not suitable for production and so the design scheme was produced. On initial tests, however, jaggers are still there. We therefore still have two problems to solve experimentally before we can put aluminium drums on any car - (1) Why the new design of aluminium drum burst. (2) How to make the scheme to eliminate axle jaggers function as well as the experimental mock-up. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} | ||