Curved Aluminum Tubes

[csd72]

Does anyone have any experience with curved aluminum tubes?
I have a 6x6x1/4" tube to be used for the Top and bottom chords of a truss that is to be curved in plan to a 10' radius.

Can they even be curved?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

csd

 

[rb1957]

i'd suggest 6061, being about the softest structural Al.

I guess you'd make a fixture with two rollers, say 1' apart, and a jack between them, and use the jack to plastically deform the tube, I figure about 5/32".

Obviously you'd have to be careful not to buckle the side of the tube (heating would reduce to load required, support the tube by filling it with liquid or sand) ...

How structural do you want the finished product to be ?

 

[csd72]

rb1957,

Thanks, I was really looking for it to be done by a professional bending company, but I wanted to know what the pitfalls were before I specified it.

I know with steel there is a minimum wall thickness that would be recommended for bending to certain radiuses, not sure for aluminum though.

csd

 

[rb1957]

minimum bend radius is something more related to bending flat sheet into angles (3t)

 

[civilperson]

The fab shops can easily bend the radius you require. Whether the square tube can deform without kinks or squashing is a matter of the method used. Why not use channels with the flanges vertical?