Light Metals Fight Back
Page 28
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THE development of welding is likely to play a significant part in the defence of aluminium as a bodybuilding material in competition with plastics. The main disadvantage of light alloys— their high cost—is minimized by welding, which eliminates flanges and reduces the cost of the metal required. Welding, is also cheaper than riveting in quantity 'production.
By welding instead of riveting, the weight and cost of an aluminium midshiphouse of a ship were reduced by 20 per cent. The benefits in commercial-vehicle bodybuilding will probably be similar.
Aluminium bodies to be fabricated by welding must be designed for the purpose, but there are no special difficulties in doing so, provided that a few simple rules are observed. Butt welds must be reduced to a minimum, but unfortunately it is not possible to obtain plate wider than about 6 ft., whereas a width of 8 ft. is often required in commercial bodybuilding. Butt welds are, conse quently, unavoidable, but their disadvantage can be overcome by careful design.
Valuable advice on the subject was given in a paper read on Tuesday to the British Commonwealth Welding Conference. The authors confidently predicted the growing use of platform bodies, lorries of integral construction that could be built to an unladen weight of 31 tons for a gross load of 14 tons, tankers and tippers, all fabricated from aluminium by welding.
They also forecast the development of the selfadjusting arc process to facilitate the welding of material thinner than in. (the present limit), so that this technique could be applied to lighter forms of construction. It is clear that the supporters of light-metal bodywork have not capitulated to the makers of plastics and that they are determined to conquer fresh ground. The ultimate losers will probably be the producers of traditional metals, such as steel.