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Author: Subject: can you use seamless tube to make an anti roll bar?
smart51

posted on 27/6/13 at 07:15 PM Reply With Quote
can you use seamless tube to make an anti roll bar?

The anti roll bar on my 3 wheeler isn't stiff enough for the job and there's no simple way to modifying it, so I'm thinking of making one. 25mm tube with a 3mm wall is 80% stiffer than the 17.5mm solid bar I currently have and also a bit lighter. If I buy a bit of seamless tube from the shop and weld arms to it, will it be OK or do I need special steel for the job?






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minitici

posted on 27/6/13 at 07:31 PM Reply With Quote
Worth a try - so long as the tube is not the annealed gas pipe version.
It should act as a spring if you do not get near the yield point.

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coozer

posted on 27/6/13 at 07:42 PM Reply With Quote
Ant roll bars are solid bars acting as torsion bars, tube is no good for that.





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britishtrident

posted on 27/6/13 at 08:01 PM Reply With Quote
Without doing the maths I would guess a 25mm hollow bar is more than 80% stiffer in torsion than 17.5mm bar.





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PhillipM

posted on 27/6/13 at 08:04 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
Ant roll bars are solid bars acting as torsion bars, tube is no good for that.


Tube is fine for that. And it's lighter.

It would need to be a pretty long bar for CDS tube to work, however, I've made a few out of T45 before. Saying that, you can buy EN24T in rod and just use that to make a solid bar anyway.
You do have to be careful with the joint design and welding if you weld arms on, as you'll soften the material at the sides of the welds, so it may just twist there.

[Edited on 27/6/13 by PhillipM]

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britishtrident

posted on 27/6/13 at 08:05 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
Ant roll bars are solid bars acting as torsion bars, tube is no good for that.


Tubes are fine as anti-roll bars common practice on racers. As long as the tube is thick enough to avoid local buckling no problem.





[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]

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britishtrident

posted on 27/6/13 at 08:09 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by PhillipM
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
Ant roll bars are solid bars acting as torsion bars, tube is no good for that.


Tube is fine for that. And it's lighter.

It would need to be a pretty long bar for CDS tube to work, however, I've made a few out of T45 before. Saying that, you can buy EN24T in rod and just use that to make a solid bar anyway.
You do have to be careful with the joint design and welding if you weld arms on, as you'll soften the material at the sides of the welds, so it may just twist there.

[Edited on 27/6/13 by PhillipM]



Some years back there was a guy in Scotland running a Formula Ford using a bit of electrcal conduit as an ARB ---- he maintained it worked fine, I just thought OMG!





[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
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PhillipM

posted on 27/6/13 at 08:20 PM Reply With Quote
I've seen people use allsorts of s**t over the years, including a bit of threaded rod, they all claim it works fine until you take it off and it's full of stress marks where it's been deforming instead of just flexing....

[Edited on 27/6/13 by PhillipM]

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liam.mccaffrey

posted on 27/6/13 at 08:47 PM Reply With Quote
Why not? Prop shafts don't seem to mind?

quote:
Originally posted by coozer
Ant roll bars are solid bars acting as torsion bars, tube is no good for that.






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mark chandler

posted on 27/6/13 at 08:52 PM Reply With Quote
Pick up a Caterham ARB, thick wall hollow tube, google "second moment of area", makes it better harder to twist so you can build smaller and lighter that's why gun drilled half shafts are better than solid, the materials are just more expensive or need more work.

Regards Mark

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CNHSS1

posted on 27/6/13 at 08:58 PM Reply With Quote
if you u2u me your email address, I will send a spreadheet of tube vs solid stiffness realitive to external diameter and weights





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Hector.Brocklebank

posted on 27/6/13 at 09:03 PM Reply With Quote
sorry cant resist.



That famous quote:


It's better to remain silent and only be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt









Some people can never handle the truth and always try to shoot the messenger instead of taking an honest look in the mirror (its always easier to blame another than to face reality), but secretly they wish they could grow a pair and be the messenger !!!

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PhillipM

posted on 27/6/13 at 09:04 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by mark chandler that's why gun drilled half shafts are better than solid, the materials are just more expensive or need more work.



Assuming stiffness is what you aim for in a half shaft, maybe....
Mine are solid, deliberately!

[Edited on 27/6/13 by PhillipM]

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smart51

posted on 27/6/13 at 09:16 PM Reply With Quote
If welding is a bad idea the next alternative is to get some 19mm bar, heat it with a blow torch and bend it in the vice. Would this be a better idea?






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mark chandler

posted on 27/6/13 at 09:33 PM Reply With Quote
My physics teacher must have been telling lies then, he explained it so well

Caterham ARB is still hollow tube never the less

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PhillipM

posted on 27/6/13 at 10:22 PM Reply With Quote
Nah, it's right for an arb where you want maximum stiffness/weight.

It's just for halfshafts, if you go with the lowest stiffness/strength you can get away with (usually that means solid shafts with very high strength material), the shaft will absorb a lot of the shock loadings that would otherwise go through the drivetrain.

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dhutch

posted on 28/6/13 at 03:35 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by PhillipM
Mine are solid, deliberately!

Because its cheaper, and they have to be fairly small diameter either way round?

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PhillipM

posted on 28/6/13 at 03:38 AM Reply With Quote
I wish they were cheap.
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nick205

posted on 28/6/13 at 06:20 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by PhillipM
I wish they were cheap.




Sorry to hi jack, but I like the buggy! Is it a custom build or designed for a race series? Where do you use it?






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britishtrident

posted on 28/6/13 at 06:52 AM Reply With Quote
Propshafts are hollow because a solid shaft would bring with it major vibration problems.





[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]

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Slimy38

posted on 28/6/13 at 07:38 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by smart51
If welding is a bad idea the next alternative is to get some 19mm bar, heat it with a blow torch and bend it in the vice. Would this be a better idea?


When I was looking at roll bars for my tin top, one of the top selling points was that they were cold drawn/mandrel bent or similar words that don't actually make sense but generally imply no heat was involved. Without actually knowing the physics behind it, wouldn't heating produce a similar effect to welding?

The other thought I had was that you could use some sort of mechanical fixing. Along the lines of the old Peugeot 205 suspension torsion bar, the end of the torsion bar was splined and the trailing arm fixed on it that way. Could you apply the same principle in a roll bar?

(Of course, I'm very conscious of Hector's post, so I'll say straightaway that these are just me thinking aloud and I have absolutely no idea whether they're actually true/helpful/safe/stupid/dangerous etc)

[Edited on 28/6/13 by Slimy38]

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nick205

posted on 28/6/13 at 08:12 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38
quote:
Originally posted by smart51
If welding is a bad idea the next alternative is to get some 19mm bar, heat it with a blow torch and bend it in the vice. Would this be a better idea?


When I was looking at roll bars for my tin top, one of the top selling points was that they were cold drawn/mandrel bent or similar words that don't actually make sense but generally imply no heat was involved. Without actually knowing the physics behind it, wouldn't heating produce a similar effect to welding?

The other thought I had was that you could use some sort of mechanical fixing. Along the lines of the old Peugeot 205 suspension torsion bar, the end of the torsion bar was splined and the trailing arm fixed on it that way. Could you apply the same principle in a roll bar?

(Of course, I'm very conscious of Hector's post, so I'll say straightaway that these are just me thinking aloud and I have absolutely no idea whether they're actually true/helpful/safe/stupid/dangerous etc)

[Edited on 28/6/13 by Slimy38]




Base 205s (and other Peugeots of the era) used individual torsion bars as the spring medium, acting on trailing arms. Higher spec models including GTIs also had an ARB, by means of a splined torsion bar running through the central tube linking the two trailing arms.



Quite effective and neatly packaged as well. It scaled up and down easily for different sized vehicles too.

Smart 51 - Not sure how your set up is packaged and how much in % terms you're looking to increase the roll stiffness, but could you double up on the existing ARB? i.e. fit a second one above/below the first and then link the two together?






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onenastyviper

posted on 28/6/13 at 10:29 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by mark chandler
Pick up a Caterham ARB, thick wall hollow tube, google "second moment of area", makes it better harder to twist so you can build smaller and lighter that's why gun drilled half shafts are better than solid, the materials are just more expensive or need more work.

Regards Mark


OK, for the same modulus and diameter material, which would have the greatest torsional rigidity, a tube or a solid bar?





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britishtrident

posted on 28/6/13 at 10:52 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by onenastyviper
quote:
Originally posted by mark chandler
Pick up a Caterham ARB, thick wall hollow tube, google "second moment of area", makes it better harder to twist so you can build smaller and lighter that's why gun drilled half shafts are better than solid, the materials are just more expensive or need more work.

Regards Mark


OK, for the same modulus and diameter material, which would have the greatest torsional rigidity, a tube or a solid bar?


Easy using the Principle of Super Position -- ie in the maths you take away the it that isn't there.

Using basic torsion formua to find the stiffness of the hollow shaft just work out the stiffness of the solid shaft minus the stiffness of the bit metal removed to make the hole.

Obviously it works out the hollow shaft is less stiff but there isn't any where near as big a difference in torsional stiffness as a lay person might expect, usually by going up a very small step in both diameters the hollow shaft can be made both stiffer and lighter..





[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]

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onenastyviper

posted on 28/6/13 at 11:39 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
quote:
Originally posted by onenastyviper
quote:
Originally posted by mark chandler
Pick up a Caterham ARB, thick wall hollow tube, google "second moment of area", makes it better harder to twist so you can build smaller and lighter that's why gun drilled half shafts are better than solid, the materials are just more expensive or need more work.

Regards Mark


OK, for the same modulus and diameter material, which would have the greatest torsional rigidity, a tube or a solid bar?


Easy using the Principle of Super Position -- ie in the maths you take away the it that isn't there.

Using basic torsion formua to find the stiffness of the hollow shaft just work out the stiffness of the solid shaft minus the stiffness of the bit metal removed to make the hole.

Obviously it works out the hollow shaft is less stiff but there isn't any where near as big a difference in torsional stiffness as a lay person might expect, usually by going up a very small step in both diameters the hollow shaft can be made both stiffer and lighter..


Thanks - I was getting a bit worried with my understanding. I have had this argument before with someone who suggested that a hollow tube is stronger than the equivalent solid tube.
I suppose, like anything in engineering, there is a compromise to be made between wall thickness, torsional strength and buckling.





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