Designers of airplanes vs automotive are of different class of designers
Plus they have to understand and deal with 'air planes falling out of the sky'
issues within their designs and down stream...mainly maintenance...that
automotive designers NEVER have to deal with
DITTO longevity...air planes are kept in service for decades vs just
a few years for automotive (except for semi's and the like)
Not to say air plane designers don't screw up...they do
The only reason for aluminum in automotive is weight savings. All or
all that I know of, end up being compromises in reference to steel
ALU does naturally self heal with an oxide that is one of the hardest
materials known (sandpaper employs it as the grit)...but it is easily
attacked by chemicals like salt and scarficial to most other metals
There are three main metals used as galvanic anodes: magnesium,
aluminium and zinc. Why mixing ALU in contact with iron/steel is a
very bad design flaw
Current leader in Alu body IP is Audi and take note that they are
made up of both STEEL and ALUMINUM for the monocoque. No direct contact
between steel and aluminum because they have proprietary glued (epoxy
and other cool stuff) together joints...but....few know that epoxy
never stops 'curing'...AKA getting harder and more brittle
Anyone know how Ford managed this on their pickups?....all it takes
is ONE steel screw to get it's plating scratched/etc to then start
rotting out the ALU
