Re: [ATM] Carbon Fiber and aluminum

["Roger Chisholm-Batten" <rogecb@tiscali.co.uk>]

Back to the drawing board...  

But how do (or did) the shuttle wings manage?

Roger

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <artbianconi@blast.net>
To: <atm@atmlist.net>
Sent: Sunday, August 08, 2004 10:01 AM
Subject: [ATM] Carbon Fiber and aluminum


> I've been away from hands-on fabrication of composite parts using 
> Carbon Fiber. A lot can happen in two years so I did some 
> homework. I discovered that the threaded aluminum inserts in my 
> carbon fiber truss tubes don't get along with carbon fiber at 
> all! Galvanic erosion will attack the aluminum at the interface 
> of the two materials and turn it to dust. And, if there is any 
> water present, the destruction of the mechanical bond will be 
> rapid.
> 
> I bounced this discovery off a few aerospace engineers I know and 
> they confirmed my worst fears. One wrote back:
> 
> "Carbon Fiber does indeed attack aluminum 
> VORACIOUSLY if any hint of moisture gets into 
> the matrix.  All the metal parts on the F-16 fighter that
> contact CF are Stainless Steel,  Passivated too if I am not 
> mistaken to more closely match the electronegativity value of the 
> two materials."
> 
> If you propose to develop an OTA using carbon fiber, be certain 
> that your choices of metals and fasteners are CF tolerant,  or 
> insulate them first from direct contact with an intermediary 
> layer of fiberglass
> 
> Art Bianconi
> 
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> 
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