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Carbon versus aluminium

Created by warwickl warwickl  > 9 months ago, 14 Jun 2021
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warwickl
warwickl

NSW

2357 posts

14 Jun 2021 6:05pm
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
decrepit

WA

12802 posts

14 Jun 2021 4:14pm
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
airsail

QLD

1570 posts

14 Jun 2021 7:17pm
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
Subsonic

WA

3384 posts

14 Jun 2021 6:05pm
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
Kamikuza

QLD

6493 posts

14 Jun 2021 8:23pm


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
cauncy

WA

8407 posts

14 Jun 2021 7:10pm
Sand and cement work well
hilly
hilly

WA

7979 posts

14 Jun 2021 8:04pm
You know you want an Armstrong the Moses stuff just corrodes
Titanium is the go with stainless bolts.
Gorgo
Gorgo

VIC

5108 posts

14 Jun 2021 11:27pm
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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