Protective Material on 6061 Aluminum

[pwrslave86]

Hi everyone.

I've attached the picture of a part that's included in a design I'm involved in. It's a 6061 aluminum tube of 3.15in OD, and about 0.15in wall thickness. The cut that starts on one end and ends about halfway along the length of the tube (the tube is 21 in long) is approx. 0.2 in wide. I would like to apply some sort of coating on the sides of this cut (sides I've colored red in the attachment) so that when this tube is inserted on top of another aluminum part that has flukes sliding into those cuts they would make a close fit and could not hit against each other and make noise.

What material would be good for this and what is the cheapest/most practical way to apply it to aluminum?

Thanks.

 

[cloa]

What sort of quantities are going to be produced?

 

[pwrslave86]

Probably only a few prototypes initially. If my boss likes it and decides to go with it, we may be making 50 each of different sizes of this product yearly.

 

[swall]

Will this be a one time assembly event or will the mating parts be subject to repeated assembly/disassembly? Will they be in a corrosive environment?

 

[pwrslave86]

This assembly will be used to stow an aluminum anchor and be attached to stanchions on a boat. So yes corrosive environment for sure. This is why the body is 6061 aluminum.

 

[swall]

Why not plastic? Something like polyethylene or polypropylene would avoid the metal to metal rattling and would be corrosion resistant. These materials are readily available as pipe/tubing.

 

[pwrslave86]

Because the part that it is going to hold is aluminum. The aluminum will scratch the plastic inevitably and since this is a high-end marine product, customers will not want something that will start looking worn and torn after only a few uses.

 

[berkshire]

So are you pulling something like a fortress anchor into that sleeve?
I would suggest a plastic sleeve mostly hidden inside the tube.

As Swall suggests.

B.E.

The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them. Old professor

 

[dgallup]

Look into urethanes. Very tough, excellent wear. You're probably going to have to open up that notch so you can have some thickness to the urethane part if you want it to absorb some vibration.

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[pwrslave86]

@ Berkshire: It is indeed for a Fortress Anchor.

@ dgallup: How much minimum thickness would you recommend for the polyurethane insert? Does 0.1 in sound too thin?

 

[dgallup]

I think so.

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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.