cylinder material

[michael burton 1Participant @michaelburton1]

hi can a steam cylinder be made out of aluminium i would be using a bronze liner obv car and bike engines are made out of aluminium but i was worried as to slide valve surface being ally and what type of meterial i should use for said valve.

im going to the metal supplie shop tomorow and was gunna try to pick up some of the material i need the reason for using ally was i need a block 3.5'' square and it was the cheapest route

cheers for any help

[michael burton 1Participant @michaelburton1]

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Is this for your traction engine?

If so I would tend to say no, if just for a little stationary engine then yes

I'd go for a block of cast iron, cost about £5 more than aluminium but you would save on the cost of the bronze liner.

Edited By JasonB on 07/10/2013 20:55:27

[michael burton 1Participant @michaelburton1]

hi yes it for the traction engine the only reason i was going to use the liner mainly was because on the plans for the smaller version that i have scaled up used a wastited cylinder linder around the outside to direct the steam up in to the regulator chest i supose tho with abit of thinking i could redsign it to do away with this part and reposition the steam ports

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Its more a problem of corrosion that I was thinking of.

If your design is steam jacketed then you can still do it with a CI block and CI liner which will still be cheaper than ali/bronze. This one of mine is an iron casting with a liner cut from iron bar. You can do it by drilling two steam passages to get around the cylinder but the heating effect of the jacket is helpful.

[Geoff RogersParticipant @geoffrogers81118]

as JasonB says, corrosion would also be my main worry. Some aircraft grades of aluminium may be ok, others most definitely not.

Steam can be a very demanding fluid.

[nigel jones 5Participant @nigeljones5]

to be frank – yes, no problems. Sure it will oxidise, but do you realy intend on running it for the next 120 years…thought not. Having said that, i would opt for cast!

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

By corrosion I was thinking more along the lines of galvanic/catalitic attack being bolted to a copper boiler with bronze fixings all in a damp warm enviroment, rather than surface oxidation

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