REFLECTOR: Nosegear Forks

KeithHallsten KeithHallsten at quiknet.com
Sun Jul 4 20:48:28 CDT 2004


Darrell,

Grinding and sanding with some emery cloth is the first step, but that
should be followed by polishing, not sandblasting.  Sandblasting will result
in pitting and silicon (not silicone) inclusions in the surface, to the
detriment of the fatigue life of the part.  Generally plating shops are set
up to do polishing efficiently, so that may be an attractive alternative to
doing the polishing yourself.

There is a "blasting" type of treatment which may have some positive effect,
known as "shot peening", which induces compressive stresses in the surface
of a part and is beneficial.  The landing gear components of commercial and
military aircraft are routinely shot peened during manufacture and overhaul.
Probably most Velocities will never see enough landing cycles for this
anti-fatigue treatment to be worthwhile.  I'm also unsure of the benefits in
cast aluminum components.  Shot peening is generally applied to forged and
machined steel components.

Keith Hallsten


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kufalk" <kufalk at wi.rr.com>
To: "Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list" <reflector at tvbf.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 04, 2004 4:40 PM
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Nosegear Forks


> Could someone please describe how to stress relieve the nose wheel fork.
I
> was just going to go at it with some 100 or 150 grit emery cloth to round
> the corners and remove any high/low spots and then maybe sandblast it.  Is
> this all there is to it, or should I do something else?
>
> Darrell Kufalk
> Building an XLRG in Waukesha WI
>
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