This may not be of any use just yet, but the following may be of interest in
general terms. A New Zealand company has recently developed a new anodising
process that can be applied to magnesium alloy without affecting the mechanical
properties of the metal. The process also doesn't produce chrome fluoride or
heavy metal waste products that some other treatments do. As magnesium has the
same strength as aluminium, but is much lighter, there is quite a bit of
international interest in this process. Already Mercedes are making seat parts
for their S-class cars from this material. Hopefully there will soon be
spin-offs for aviation products and we can look forward to lighter components
and maybe even engines.
Rob Waters
nigelcharles wrote:
> Message text written by INTERNET:TroyMaynor@aol.com
> >I was contemplating the best way to coat the exposed aluminum pieces on
> the
> aircraft. Particularly the LG02 swing arm and the flaps and outrigger
> parts.
> I couldn't find the previous discussion of this. So, what about anodizing?<
>
> The only type of anodising that is acceptable for structural aluminium
> parts is chromic anodising. Apparantly this is the only process which
> doesn't weaken the metal. Some of the other types can weaken the material
> markedly.
>
> Nigel Charles
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