Aluminium plate protection 1

[Pina87]

Hi,
can someone help me? I'm looking for the maximum protection of an aluminium plate (EN- AW 5083, 600x300x15) against wear like scratches, that appear for example when a person slides over the plate with some stones on his shoes.

Can the upper surface of the plate be protected with some kind of a very hard layer? What kind of layer could prevent such scratches?

 

[IRstuff]

For how long? Fow how much? For how often?

TTFN
faq731-376

 

[dgallup]

Hard anodizing is the traditional surface treatment for aluminum.

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The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows.

 

[EdStainless]

But remember that the hard surface is only supported by the rather soft Al. Local loading will still damage the surface.

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Plymouth Tube

 

[dgallup]

He's only talking a stone between someone's relatively soft (rubber?) shoe sole and the aluminum. It's not going to put much of a load on the surface. I had an anodized aluminum skate board about 35 years ago and it held up just fine under my shoes. The bottom wore through from grinding on curbs.

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The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows.

 

[Pina87]

Ok. Hard anodizing did not work as it should, so I am thinking about protecting the aluminium plate's top surface (300x600x15mm) with an stainless steel cover of 3mm thickness.
The problem is that the upper surface of the stainless cover needs to be free of any holes, so fasteners are not an option. I heard that there is a way of joining the two surfaces with rubber vulcanization. Is this true? Has anyone have any information about this?

Any other suggestions about joining the two surfaces?

 

[TVP]

Conventional adhesive bonding with epoxy, etc.?

 

[asimpson]

Talk to someone lipe these:

http://www.pioneermetal.com

 

[1gibson]

The question is still so vague that it seems anything goes.

Just make the 600x300x15 plate out of stainless steel instead of aluminum.

Remove all stones from the vicinity of the plate, and post a sign and floor mat next to the plate, expressly prohibiting people from walking on the plate with stones stuck in their shoes.

Or forget the stone removal and sign; glue the floor mat on top of the plate. Wasn't there a reply (appears to have been deleted) that suggested using carpet?

 

[Pina87]

Heh, you do know that aluminium is three times lighter than steel? The plate must be light enough to carry it around.

 

[1gibson]

Aluminum lighter than steel, yes I knew that.

The fact that the plate must be portable, nope. I can say with relative confidence that until now, you were the only one that knew that. What else does this thing have to do and not do? I give up.

Heh, do you know sometimes you can reduce the thickness of a part when going from aluminum to stainless? Why is it 15mm, thick?

 

[SnTMan]

Get it det-clad:

http://www.dynamicmaterials.com/home

Regards,

Mike

 

[MikeHalloran]

Or make the aluminum slightly undersize, and wrap the top, sides, and part of the bottom in stainless steel, which is available even in foil form down to .002" thick.

I don't recommend working with the foil, which can be cut with sturdy scissors, because the cut edges also cut hands, but stainless around 1mm thick can be mitered and folded nicely by a sheet metal shop. TIG weld the corners and it should look real nice.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[Pina87]

Yup, we have already tried this, but the adhesive betwen the inox and aluminium did not hold for long.

 

[kingnero]

because of temp issues? not cleaned properly? wrong adhesive?
I can think of at least one family of adhesives that WILL hold up for long time, if applied correctly and used in a certain temp range.

If you "envelope" the stainless sheet like MikeH suggested, I don't see the need for an adhesive at all.

 

[Pina87]

Ok, could you please tell me which adhesives would work?
It is very important that there is always a full contact between the two surfaces. Any space between them would cause error in the measurement data.

 

[kingnero]

Although I don't like this guessing game (new conditions show up everytime you post something and you don't seem to be answering any questions), I'd say MS polymers.

 

[Higgler]

After looking around on my street. Chewing gum never gets worn off a surface.

 

[Pina87]

Heh, that's funny