On Tuesday, July 22, 2003, at 04:03 PM, Alex Fraser wrote:
All very well and good on expanding gases and what not. Very interesting discussion.
Would a glued low pressure tank work? And what skills and technologies must you master to build one. Would gluing it be easier or better than using rivets? Why would gluing be better than welding?
Have you ever tried welding ~0.050" Aluminum? Everyone I've talked to says it's a task for a machine. The really nice thing about glue is that you can avoid stress risers (inevitable with rivets). Unfortunately glue and LOX don't mix (at least AFAIK - there may be glues that are still good at LOX temperatures which will bond to Al, but I'm guessing they are rather specialized, and therefore expensive). It's really too bad Aluminum can't be brazed easily.
Still, glued Al tanks would be worth a close look for HTP, though for HTP it might be lighter to use blown plastic tanks. The hassle would likely be on the same order as gluing up gores of thin aluminum.
......Andrew
-- Dr. Andrew Case, PhD. Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park "It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." - David Hume
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