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| *Vultures Knob>>>Mountain Bike |
Does sanding a weld on a mountain bike weaken the weld? |
Companies like Cannondale sand the welds on their mountain bikes. It seems to me that this would weaken the weld and, by extension, the frame overall. Is this true? I know Cannondale's triangle has been shown to be extraordinarily strong, but I'm more concerned with the weak point in the system. Sanding any heat treated metal would take off a finite measure of the surface hardness, when a metal is heat treated there will always be slight fluctuations in its mechanical properties throughout the guage of the metal due to heat transfer, therefore, it depends on where the optimum strength point in the thickness of the tube is (inside or on the very outside) as to how much sanding the metal would affect the strength. This of course, depends on the actual treatment process. As for welds, I don't know whether they can be tempered to match the frame afterwards, but I don't think they ever are [if possible]. This means that sanding a weld will not affect it's mechanical strength properties as they will be the same throughout. The material around the weld is the weakest point as the high heat used to weld aluminium conducts quickly through the metal, damaging, to an extent, the finish created by the tempering process (a good mfr - like Cannondale, will be able to limit the damage to only a small level). Because of this, Cannondale sand their welds to create a smooth finish as this removes any stress risers (angles, dips/undulations, dents e.t.c. found in a normal overlapped weld) that are the start points for critical failiure, either through heavy impact or fatigue. This means that their frames are stronger, and more durable at the joins; allowing for lighter frame materials and removing the need for ugly reinforcing gussets at the joins (headtube, disc mount areas e.t.c.). A Cannondale frame is a more superior frame! Source(s): I studied engineering at college and own a Cannondale chase. No, you would have to sand pretty darn deep to have an impact on the strength of a weld. Especially a robotic weld which is so precise. only if you grind into the metal I think they test their product enough that you shouldn't have to worry about it. otherwise, eventually, people would stop buying their bikes. I woulldn't sand it yourself though, if that's what you're getting at. The weld is 3 times thicker than the frame.Weld is melted metal. Removing some isn't going to hurt anything If they are just sanding off the extra solder from the weld, there is no problem. If they begin to sand away solder that is actually inbetween the weld, then it starts to weaken it. Most likely, the type of sanding they do does not effect the strength of the weld. |
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