COPO

7000 aluminum is not really realistic for a case because of costs. It would be cool thou. As for the batwing being used from the d44, that could not be answered now. Hence the reason the bolt pattern of the viper being different.

skunklookingcar

You're right, 7050 is still susceptible to SCC but much less than 7075 (I've never seen 7050 fail a SCC test, but have seen 7075 fail). I am aware of all the large presses in the world like at VSMPO, Wyman Gordon, Albert Duvall, Alcoa Cleveland (isn't it still broken?) ect. Also, we weren't really making the grains make any sudden turns in a rectangle so I'm not too sure the point of a long neck flange versus a short neck flange. I'm guessing you're bringing it up because SCC happens through the ST grain direction and with a tighter transition, there is more of a possibility of the grain to break the surface of the flange whereas a long neck flange would have a smoother transition insuring the grain follows the general contour of the part.

Regardless, I think this would be really cool project to undertake. And if we are really going to do it, we should really do it. Lets make some dies!

AKS Racing

Cleveland will be back up by end of year. It was taken down in late '09 for PM when some cracks were found. VSMPO pales in comparison to SMZ or KUMZ, yet KUMZ is still focused on soft alloy. W-G is traditionally focused on other metals.

This can be done, and I think we should investigate before determining it is too expensive. You might be surprised at costs from the right people.

skunklookingcar

I've heard stories of VSMPO. When you are going on a tour, they give you rubber boots and jackets in addition to the regular PPE like hard hats and glasses. Apparently there are so many leaks on their large press that there are streams of hydraulic fluid that squirt out of it under tonnage. you can't make this up.

skunklookingcar

AKS is right. The cost of the 7000 material isn't giong to be the determining factor. Any alloy in a 14x14x17 size is going to be expensive ie going to a 6061 alloy isn't going to make a project like this make sense from a raw material point of view. The cost of machining is going to be the largest portion of the budget. That said, I stand by my original assessment of going with a 7050 alloy (for reduced SCC) in an annealed condition, then having it rough machined before heat treatment to get thinner cross sections before final machining is the way to go. I am in the forging industry and have thought about doing this myself. The part that I haven't been able to figure out is the machining side. I need engineering for the final machined configuration.

That said, it seems overkill to get a forged D44 case made. AKS has made 9 second passes on his D44 rear end. He mentioned some sort of bracing to help it old up but pictures of his solution would be helpful.

yedister

Try doing 60 MPH on the highway then punch it and hearing a sound that was not expected and finding the passenger side half shaft has left a scare in the passenger side rear compartment.