Aluminum Panels

Tim Kay

Lifetime Supporter
What is the most common aluminum used for paneling the chassis front and rear.

Thickness\gauge
Grade or spec

I intend in polishing as well
 

Tim Kay

Lifetime Supporter
One reason I ask this is because I am removing some of my existing panels that were installed 10 years ago and needs replacing. They just don't 'feel' like the 6061 material I do have. It feels a bit stiffer even though the thickness is the same. BTW, it's not stainless, that I am sure.

I was curious if there is another type\grade aluminum alloy that is preferred over standard 6061 for our applications.
 
6061 T6 is as hard as it gets. If there is something harder it will not be easy to find. 5052 works a little easier and is not as brittle. If you use 6061 T6 in a brake, take it easy, it has a tendency to crack. .040 is not too bad but thicker will be. You can relieve some of the temper by heating it. It also has a "grain" to it and bends better in one direction than the other. Fran should know a little about this seeing as he is welding up aluminum tubs.
 
You should always bend 90'to the grain if possible. It will not crack as soon or easily. If you have multiple bends in different directions study it to work out the best possible
way before bending, such as if one bend isnt bent as sharp, position the part so the grain is parallel with that bend. The sheet metal takes less force to bend parallel with the grain, but this is not desired .Pay attention to bend allowances and set back of brake fingers , too little and this will cause the material to crack and make it hard to bend Hope this is helpful. Dan /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
Tim
I would use 6061, .063 (16ga.) for your panels. You can bend 6061 in T-6 hardness, just don't try a minumum radius on this stuff. Rule of thumb is the bend radius on harder materials should be 1 1/2 times the thickness, just set the blade back about 3/32 on your brake. In answer to your material removed from the vehicle feeling harder this is entirely normal. Most supply houses will not stock 6061 T-0 because it age hardens even when sitting in warehouse stock. I was told I needed to buy 1000 lbs. to get it in T-0, I am assuming this was mill direct. I would say that the ageing of the material was inevitable.
Most bending jobs I would use 5052 or 3003 but these alloys are not as strong as the 6061, and they cannot be hardened. If you go carefully with your bends and fit up your panels well you should have a great looking result.
You can polish this material also...really messy job!
Phil
 

Tim Kay

Lifetime Supporter
Thanks guys, this will be a great help.

When polishing, does one polish better (5052 vs 6061) than the other?

I've been told some aluminum polishes out with a brown hue while another has the prefered high luster.
 

Trevor Booth

Lifetime Supporter
Supporter
Tim,
The higher the aluminium content the brighter the shine.5083 & 5086 will give a brown hue when polished.
The post by Phil about 5052 and 3003 not being able to be hardened is not quite correct. These alloys are hardened in a different manner to 6061 by strain hardening rather than heat treating. Personally I would not use 3003 where it is being rivetted to steel, it is a little soft for this application and the rivets work loose in a shorter period of time than 5000 or 6000 series alloys. Whichever alloy you decide; keep the panels warm whilst rivetting start in the centre and work towards the edges.
 

Tim Kay

Lifetime Supporter
[ QUOTE ]
Whichever alloy you decide; keep the panels warm whilst rivetting start in the centre and work towards the edges.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the information Trevor but I'm not quite sure what you mean and purpose. I've never been told this process /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
It is common practice to heat and rivet in to out - it results in less wrinkles as the material cools it tightens...this process is used in airplane building by folks who want a nice smooth wrinkle free finish.

Mike
 

Chris Duncan

Supporter
6061 T6 is common and easy to find, and it's not hard to bend. 2024 T3 is quite a bit stronger although needs 6X thickness radius bends. 7075 T7 is the ultimate but can only be bent at very slight angles. 2024 and 7075 are hard to find and expensive.

I used .063 7075 on the floor and .056 2024 on all load bearing side areas and some .040 2024 then finished off with .025 6061 in some non stress areas like the second side of double walls with insulation sandwiched. Luckily Boeing surplus is nearby otherwise it might have all been 6061.
 

Tim Kay

Lifetime Supporter
Thanks for all the input guys. Good information.

5052 @ .040" is what I am going with. I polished a sample piece and it comes out with a real nice shine /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Sorry to dig up an ancient thread, but I thought I'd may as well keep the information together rather than start a new thread...

We're at the stage of panelling our car and I was searching what sort of Aluminium to get. Unfortunately, my local suppliers (I've rang several) don't seem to stock 5052 grade in 1.2mm (0.050"). I can get 5005 in any thickness or 5052 in 0.9 (0.035") or 1.6mm (0.060"). I'm thinking 1.6mm might be a bit thick to work with. Has anyone used 5005? I don't see any mention of it on this forum. From what I can tell it is not as strong or ductile as 5052, but is listed as ideal for general fabrication. What do you guys reckon? Do I got for 5052 in 0.9 or 1.6mm or do I got for the 5005 in 1.2mm?
 

Howard Jones

Supporter
When the piece is all set up in the brake. Use a hair drier and heat the point of bend and a 2 inch margin all the way across to a temp that is just about too hot to touch. Throw a towel on it to hold the heat in and then right away bend it slowly. Practice this a bit with some leftover material. Just for fun try a LO piece cold and too fast and then warm a slowly.

The .035 will be fine to act as a envelope panel, but I wouldn't expect it to take much of a load. It will bend well however, .060 is a bit thick to use for simple paneling but it will act as a better load panel IMHO. More weight, more money, greater bend radius on the .060.

I don't think I would be asking for the paneling to be acting as a loaded element on a space frame car unless the section in question has been designed for a panel instead of a triangulated cross brace. Then I would be using .125 6061 without bends and riveted to the square tubing flat. It might be better to use steel sheet and weld it anyway.

Here's some info on 5005, seams like it is used for panels where visual properties are of a high importance or it will be anodized.

http://www.suppliersonline.com/propertypages/5005.asp

https://www.saf.com/aluminum-sheet/why-5005-aluminum-sheet/

Aluminium Alloy 5005
 
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Thanks for your replies gents. We've added quite a lot of triangulation to our chassis, so I don't expect the panels to be taking much load.
 
Thanks everyone. I ordered a sheet of 3000x1200x1.2 today. That should keep me going for a while :)

The next thing to research is cutting methods/tools..
 
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