[NSRCA-discussion] Titanium vs steel...

[Ed White]

The Young's modulus (stiffness) of titanium is about 60% of steel. Over a 12 inch length you will definitely be able to feel that difference.  The bending deflection under a constant load is linear with modulus, but varies with the length cubed.  

So for horns that are much shorter, it will be pretty stiff.  Cut off the length of your horn.  You may still be able to feel some difference from the steel, but probably not much.

As for strength in bending - load to permanently bend it, that depends greatly on the alloy and heat treat of either Ti or steel.  Did they tell you what alloy it is?  Until recently the typical titanium alloy in use in aerospace has been Ti-6-4 (6% aluminum-4% vanadium).  Strength of Ti-6-4 is comparable to most common steels (other than high strength stainless).  

In the end you're going to just have to try it.  But I wouldn't be too concerned.  If you're really worried I guess a simple test is thread a length into a block or base of some kind, set up a servo to pull on it and see if the servo can bend it before it stalls.  Don't try this for long, the servo will pull lots of amps and get hot quickly.

Ed




----- Original Message ----
From: JShup <jshulman at cfl.rr.com>
To: General pattern discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Sent: Sat, May 22, 2010 3:35:49 PM
Subject: [NSRCA-discussion] Titanium vs steel...

So I bit the bullet and bought some titanium threaded rod (6/32) and a 12" piece weighs 9g. But as I'm holding and flexing it I noticed it seems kinda flexible. Did I just buy some nice light rods that I shouldn't be using as rud/elv horns? It's all pull pull.

Thanks,
Jason
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