[Amps] Aluminum alloys for panels?

[Will Matney]

You don't have to use a thick plate either. you can get by with something like 0.06" thick. What you can do is add stiffners made from aluminum angle like L 3/4", etc. Just run them across the full length of the plate on each side of the transformer. The one flange makes a rib stiffner which will be stronger that 1/8" thick material, and weigh a lot less. The best thing to do is look at the way commercial amps are made like Henry, Alpha, QRO, etc. They don't use either hard or very thick material. the use stiffeners like I'm speaking of. It's all in the layout and design of the chassis. I've designed a bunch of them and used to do this for a living (IE: engineering).

Best,

Will

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 11/15/05 at 6:01 PM Bill Coleman wrote:

>On Nov 14, 2005, at 11:47 PM, Jim Kearman wrote:
>
>>  need to make two panels and a baseplate for an amp. I could cut  
>> down 19" panels but would like to find a cheaper way. Does anyone  
>> know what alloy of aluminum is used for rack panels? I was thinking  
>> it was 6061 but I can't find it in .125-inch thickness.
>
>I would guess that most are 2024-T3. 0.125 inch ought to be plenty  
>strong for many applications. Even better if you can find 2024  
>Alclad. Seems like the 5000 series aluminum is typically softer than  
>2024. If you aren't intending to weld to the sheet, would recommend  
>2024 over 5000 or 3000 series alloys.
>
>6061-T6 is probably the most common structural alloy. Most aluminum  
>tubes are of this alloy.
>
>Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
>Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
>             -- Wilbur Wright, 1901
>
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