Curved Aluminum Tubes
Curved Aluminum Tubes
(OP)
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
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






RE: Curved Aluminum Tubes
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 ?
RE: Curved Aluminum Tubes
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
RE: Curved Aluminum Tubes
RE: Curved Aluminum Tubes