non - developable surface in aluminum

[lbh110]

Hey, I'm new to the forums and have tried searching a bit on the topic but can't find anything of significance....

I'm intending to design a boat to be built with aluminum, however I would like to use alot of flare with the fewest number of sheets of aluminum for ease of construction.

I am asking if anyone has any guidlines or rules of thumb for compound curves in aluminum, I have found many tables of bend radius for developable surfaces but not Guassian curvature.

If anyone could help with some advice on these compound curves it would be really appriciated

Anthony

[yipster]

if you mean convex and concave than metal surfaces are rolled out to fit

[PAR]

Unlike other sheets goods (plywood, steel etc.), aluminum doesn't have to be conically or other wise "developed", because it shapes very easily. The real tricks with aluminum construction are to control weld distortion and maintain panel stiffness, which are major design considerations that should be best handled by someone familiar with the material. It can't be used like plywood and typically needs much more support. I designed an aluminum ketch a while back and have since developed a plywood version of the same boat. The plywood version has 2/3's fewer pieces then the aluminum, primarily from the inherent panel stiffness.

To directly answer your question, there is virtually no limit to the amount of compound curvature you can work into aluminum. I've seen flat disks of aluminum plate worked into elaborate compound curve containers, literally in minutes.