Building with aluminum, Yay or Nay?

[charles mann]

As said, acft are mostly made of aluminum, and those acft, esp in the fixed wing world, the wings are under a lot of stress during flight and even more during turbulance. My dad used to work on and crew a B-52 and said the wings would flap 6', putting a great deal of stress at the connection points. The rotary wing industry isnt any different and we are constantly inspecting the acft, not for just cracking al skin, formers, beams and frames, but other parts that could have potentially  catastrophic failures. 

Aluminum does react bad with dissimilar metals, esp magnesium a d steel, but we apply either an epoxy primer or a sealant between the dissimilar metals. 

If you have the material and a way to fasten/weld it together, maybe try a smaller version in an all aluminum mill. 

[justallan1]

As said, acft are mostly made of aluminum, and those acft, esp in the fixed wing world, the wings are under a lot of stress during flight and even more during turbulance. My dad used to work on and crew a B-52 and said the wings would flap 6', putting a great deal of stress at the connection points. The rotary wing industry isnt any different and we are constantly inspecting the acft, not for just cracking al skin, formers, beams and frames, but other parts that could have potentially  catastrophic failures.

Aluminum does react bad with dissimilar metals, esp magnesium a d steel, but we apply either an epoxy primer or a sealant between the dissimilar metals.

If you have the material and a way to fasten/weld it together, maybe try a smaller version in an all aluminum mill.

I have no doubt that the aluminum I have is plenty stout enough for the carriage and probably work for tracks also, supported correctly. It's big enough that it's probably overkill for a carriage and would weigh far more than what is actually needed.
I may get a wild hair and do it anyway, who knows.
I already have tracks made of steel from my first mill that are 20' that I can widen up to the width I want.
My opinion at this point is that I'd be better to just save the aluminum contraption for another project or sell it and to use steel. Reality is that it's only a few hundred bucks for the steel I need and I probably have a good bit of it laying around already, I just have to find it. 8)

[scsmith42]

I fabricated my dedicated slabber from aluminum, and TIG welded it together.

What I've noticed is that some of the welds in the highest vibration areas tend to crack over time.  

If I was building a band mill, it would be out of steel.

[justallan1]

I fabricated my dedicated slabber from aluminum, and TIG welded it together.

What I've noticed is that some of the welds in the highest vibration areas tend to crack over time.  

If I was building a band mill, it would be out of steel.

I agree with that 100%
Although I think the aluminum is big enough, I know for fact that aluminum forms stress cracks from getting slammed around. I've used Featherlite stock trailers for years and the majority of them are just fine, but the jarring from washboard roads beats the heck out of critical points in the mainframe.

[Tacotodd]

Aluminum is more likely to succumb to metal fatigue problems than steel is any day.

[ajsawyer]

I fabricated my dedicated slabber from aluminum, and TIG welded it together.

What I've noticed is that some of the welds in the highest vibration areas tend to crack over time.  

If I was building a band mill, it would be out of steel.

I agree with that 100%
Although I think the aluminum is big enough, I know for fact that aluminum forms stress cracks from getting slammed around. I've used Featherlite stock trailers for years and the majority of them are just fine, but the jarring from washboard roads beats the heck out of critical points in the mainframe.

The biggest drawback with (weldable 6000 series) aluminum is that it transfers heat faster than steel and loses about 40% of its strength when welded.