Forums > General Discussion   Shooting the breeze...

Carbon versus aluminium

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Created by warwickl > 9 months ago, 14 Jun 2021
warwickl
NSW, 2357 posts
14 Jun 2021 6:05PM
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I have a mix of aluminium and carbon with no corrosion issues due to occasional checks and greasing.
There are a lot of comments about full carbon completely preventing corrosion.
I am interested to know what the stainless steel screws/bolts are screwed into, surely not carbon which would still be an issue.

decrepit
WA, 12789 posts
14 Jun 2021 4:14PM
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Stainless doesn't seem to have any where near as much electrolysis as aluminium, to the point it's not really worth worrying about.

airsail
QLD, 1565 posts
14 Jun 2021 7:17PM
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It's all to do with the Galvanic table, the further apart the two materials are on the table, the more one will corrode the other. Titanium and carbon (graphite) are very close so don't react, 316 stainless is good too, but aluminium alloys are way up the list so very reactive and will get eaten quickly when in close contact with carbon unless insulated with a barrier such as grease or resin.


Subsonic
WA, 3374 posts
14 Jun 2021 6:05PM
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Select to expand quote
warwickl said..
I have a mix of aluminium and carbon with no corrosion issues due to occasional checks and greasing.
There are a lot of comments about full carbon completely preventing corrosion.
I am interested to know what the stainless steel screws/bolts are screwed into, surely not carbon which would still be an issue.


They still tend to use stainless or bronze (im guessing a high grade) barrel nuts for connections on full carbon foils.

As said above, 316 stainless is close enough to carbon to avoid a nasty level of corrosion, but carbon is too brittle to hold onto bolt threads. Especially ones under high load.

Kamikuza
QLD, 6493 posts
14 Jun 2021 8:23PM
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Select to expand quote
airsail said..
... will get eaten quickly when in close contact with carbon unless insulated with a barrier such as grease or resin.


That'll be why some brands have fiberglass at the mounting point for carbon wings and aluminum fuselage.

cauncy
WA, 8407 posts
14 Jun 2021 7:10PM
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Sand and cement work well

hilly
WA, 7953 posts
14 Jun 2021 8:04PM
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You know you want an Armstrong the Moses stuff just corrodes
Titanium is the go with stainless bolts.

Gorgo
VIC, 5108 posts
14 Jun 2021 11:27PM
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My J Shapes has stainless steel barrel nuts. The GoFoils have stainless steel helicoils glued into the carbon.

I believe Mike's Lab has brass or bronze barrel nuts.

I have been using the J Shapes mast since 2016. The threads are perfect. Zero corrosion. Zero maintenance. Zero repairs. Never washed.

No problem with the GoFoils yet. They've only got about 100 hours on them.



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Forums > General Discussion   Shooting the breeze...


"Carbon versus aluminium" started by warwickl