On Aug 4, 2005, at 02:51, Joseph A. Orsini wrote:
>
> Just a note if chrome moly tubing is not welded properly it can be
> deadly
> (at least in stock cars) Might be ok for a buggy if welded properly but
> Sleepy Gomez is dead set against it for race cars and a couple of
> books I
> read on build ups were usually against it, can't remember why but will
> look
> it up if someone wants the answer. Had something to do with guys
> trying to
> weld it up like regular steel tubing and the welds breaking under very
> little stress.
chromo is more sensitive to heating and rapid cooling than mild steel.
has to do with the low carbon content.
if the welds are not "strain relieved" the material is far more brittle
than it would otherwise be in the heat affected zone, and can crack at
the edge of the head affected zone relatively easily.
this year's car was my team's first attempt at chromo and we used the
proper filler rod with our TIG but did not heat treat the welds in any
way. So far so good, but it's definitely a good idea to do so, it will
make the car more resilient to stress and strain.
Most race cages are made of mild steel to avoid the brittleness issue
of chromoley tube. In our case when limited to a 10hp spec engine,
weight is pretty much everything so as long as it's legal, chromo it
is.
-- Michael Maskalans <http://mike.tepidcola.com/> mobile.612.618.4652 home.585.935.7129
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