Aluminium and steel welding!

[var10]

Hola!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I am trying to build a closed trailer body with the left over steel shs beams I have. I have come up with a structural frame design, but I want to use al sheets to cover for obvious reasons. Fastening them to steel beams was my initial idea. Availability of al long sheets has made me re-consider how they are to be attached. There will be water entering between the gaps and I cant butt them. Any one know of any potting techniques to fill the gap ? or is arc welding possible? Not a welder but read some forums, mostly they say its impossible. There is one website though which says its possible through bi-metallic transition inserts? and coating dissimilar metals? Brazing?

V.

 

[TVP]

Brazing is a possibility, as is a potting compound/adhesive. Arc welding will not produce a good joint.

 

[ornerynorsk]

Can you form a lap joint of some sort? Very easy to caulk with sealant then.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[var10]

The structure beneath is 30mm shs and the panels have to be fixed to them. Al 3mm thick panels. So don't know if I can have lap joints and also don't want to increase the cost by adding a machining process. Bolt them and applying potting compound should stop leaks.

 

[var10]

It shall also be exposed to wind, rain and sun. So can the potting compound withstand external conditions? Another option is to bolt al sheets to s/s shs and weld adjacent al edges? But this will induce unnecessary strain in the material. The question still remains - how to seal gaps between panels?

 

[berkshire]

var10 (Mechanical)
When using stainless butt or lap straps under aluminum with stainless screws, this will work reasonably well if you are away from salt water.
If you are near a coast with salt spray around, the aluminum will corrode away from the stainless after a while.
If you use Aluminum pop rivets, eventually the rivets will corrode, but that is an easier repair. Monel rivets between the stainless and the Aluminum seem to give the best life.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.