Posted by kanavas on May 08, 2000 at 23:38:06:
In Reply to: Re: AXLE PLAN! Maybe not... posted by john on May 08, 2000 at 21:53:55:
John, you know I had my '48's axles out one month ago to out/in the differential I had Bob Stahl rebuild. I didn't study them, just stuck them back in. (Figures, as the topic comes up now...) I do recall marveling at the small diameter and that the surface finish was rough. Heck, the surface finish almost looked like a casting. I don't recall if the span or splines were heat treated. If they were, it would likely have been a thru heat by salt bath back then versus an induction job. I suspect that this is true, as others have reported radial fracturing at the spline/span juncture. If I was energetic, I could pull a shaft and do some NDT on it, such as a microhardness test.
Another approach that may be cost effective:
A. Machine the flange out of a hockey puck of the correct alloy.
B. Pre machine the splines on a straight shaft of the same stuff. Heck, we could even run the raw bar stock through a centerless grinder first to give it a nice fine ~ #100 finish.
C. Spin weld the two together. The latest spin technology makes a perfect amorphous joint per a scanning electron microsope.
D. Machine the scarf off.
E. Do a localized anneal on the weld joint to lose any residual tensile stresses and perhaps any precipitation hardening from the spin weld.
F. Take a trunk load over to the heat treater and scan harden it from tip to root, and do the furnace temper.
Instant complete axle! Seems this might be cheaper.
Think I'll visit my customer at American Friction Welding and hammer him on technology and weld pricing. It's 2 miles from me. I sold him the localized anealing equipment. He owes me about 700 favors.
sak