CLAD IN STAINLESS STEEL AT ALUMINIUM WEIGHT
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DEVELOPED by Firth-Vickers Stainless Steels Ltd., Sheffield, in co-operation with Drawn and Rolled Sections Ltd., a new horizontally-ribbed type of commercial vehicle cladding is based on the steel company's Staybright 17/7 18 g. stainless-steel sheet and is rolledformed into 11 in. strips to any convenient length ready for assembly.
Because of the work-hardening property of the steel, roll-forming the ribs increases its ultimate tensile stress from 17 tons p.s.i. to 30 tons psi. and this enables the weight of the cladding to be reduced to that of equivalent aluminium sheet.
The steel is highly corrosion-resistant, provides an attractive finish in the unpainted condition and has a heat-reflective property that enhances its value when applied to an insulated vehicle. Moreover the ribbing virtually eliminates dazzle.
The cost of the cladding is 3s. 7d./3s. 10d. per lineal foot and while this increases the cost of application to the body of, say, a 32 ft. articulated outfit by some £66 compared with aluminium, the saving in painting costs it provides (over the life of the vehicle) should more than compensate for the. increase. Weatherproof interlocking joints are of the slide-in type and because the strips are arranged horizontally they are easy to assemble and replace, with a consequent reduction in maintenance costs.
As the type number implies, the steel is 17 per cent chromium and 7 per cent nickel, and it is notable that roll-forming enables complex sections to be produced to precision standards. It has a high impact strength and is less easily dented than aluminium. Penetration of the surface has no effect on its corrosion resistance.
If required plain sheet can be used for sheathing frame members of another material, including .aluminium and mild steel. Although applications have so far been restricted to cladding bodies having conventional forms of framing, sections are being developed with integral stiffening members that will provide for fully-stressed space-frame construction.
At a demonstration in London last week, a number of vehicles were shown clad in the material, one of which has been operated by Harris Haulage (Grays) Ltd. for eight months and has covered 60,000 miles. Panelled on the inside and insulated with conventional materials, the van was built by Bonallack and Sons Ltd. and is based on a Crane Fruehauf tandem-axle trailer. An additional two vehicles with stainless-steel cladding have been ordered by the company.
Built by P. W. Watson Ltd., another insulated van on display is operated by Matthes Ltd., the East Anglian bakers, and is also based on a tandem-axle semi-trailer. Of the non-insulated type the two remaining exhibits comprised a van, built by Tiverton Body and Container Co. Ltd. for Whitton's Transport Ltd., and a Dayson Overlander, built for Hotpoint Ltd. for the bulk transport of general goods, both of which are mounted on single-axle semi-trailers.
P.A.C.B.