aluminum vs. steel

[Ron_Burgandy]

When you factor in the endurance limit, Al doesn't always come out lighter.

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[FABRICATOR]

...non ferrous means it does not contain iron as an alloying element...

Correct. FWIW, whether magnetic or not, stainless steels are not even close to being non-ferrous. This includes those from Egypt.

[therail]

Correct. FWIW, whether magnetic or not, stainless steels are not even close to being non-ferrous. This includes those from Egypt.

I was actually just wondering about this the other day. Thanks.

[la2baja]

Here is some uneducated input but I am curious to what the answer is. What about an Aluminum monococh (sp?) chasis. Military and civilian aircraft (massive weight) land on aluminum monococh arms. I know this design has been used successfully in the mountain bike industry as well. Could be way off and not sure how the application would work in our cars but.... Maybe the wisdom of others here can make something out of this.

[philofab]

Aluminum is actually used on some golf cart frames... but they break all the time . I know of a certian plane that wasn't engineered correctly and the wings would break off and it would turn into a giant popsickle stick... and they dont fly so well. Aluminum is kind of funny, if you ever get near it's strength potential it becomes weakened and that potential is reduced. Steel does not act this way... it wont fatigue unless you surpass it's strength potential, and that will break any material.

[amr126]

what do you guys think of this? Try not to think of the price involved if one were to use this...

http://www.crptechnology.com/sito/im...alloy_2007.pdf

[philofab]

Is this Aluminum weldable? It dosen't say. The main cage would still have to be a ferrious material for safety reasons.

[DUMP!]

Here is some uneducated input but I am curious to what the answer is. What about an Aluminum monococh (sp?) chasis. Military and civilian aircraft (massive weight) land on aluminum monococh arms. I know this design has been used successfully in the mountain bike industry as well. Could be way off and not sure how the application would work in our cars but.... Maybe the wisdom of others here can make something out of this.

I'm not sure how it would work?? It would be interesting to try a monocoque type of construction. But I think if it was made of aluminum it would losen or pound out at the rivit joints. Your better bet would be to construct it of all composit but then the cost would be threw the roof. In either case as Philofab said you would still need to attach the main cage that was made of some kind of ferrous metal.

Dump

[amr126]

yes, it is weldable. I saw it in an issue of RACECAR ENGINEERING being used on some type of road car for the main chassis in Japan. Obviously, road vs. off road is a story in itself, but it would be interesting to see if the main chassis (minus the roll cage) would have any use for the material. Also, beyond the bring your own tig welder to the dezert problems issue.

[FABRICATOR]

Here is some uneducated input but I am curious to what the answer is. What about an Aluminum monococh (sp?) chasis. Military and civilian aircraft (massive weight) land on aluminum monococh arms. I know this design has been used successfully in the mountain bike industry as well. Could be way off and not sure how the application would work in our cars but.... Maybe the wisdom of others here can make something out of this.

It could certainly work. The question is: could it work better and is it worth it? Current steel chassis are safe, durable, repairable, fairly easy and inexpensive to construct, and have good strength to weight ratios. There are many practical and basic things besides the chassis that can be refined with good results.