Ford Tough? F-Series Trucks Moving To Aluminum Body Panels

heheh, this means the F150 will have aluminum panels just like the F458, and many Ferrari's before it.

I wonder if Ferrari will throw a fit about how Ford is now piggy backing on Ferrari's success? LOL

Why is there a question mark next to "Ford Tough"?. Are you implying that the use of steel somehow questions ford's toughness? Wow! You do realize that Aluminum is as strong as steel (and some Aluminum alloys are even stronger than steel)? Guess not. LOL!!

I meant to ask if the use of Aluminum somehow questions ford's toughness? Not steel.

009 doesn't have a clue about metals. He thought that the use of Aluminum meant less strength. Hence the pic with the pepsi can. Automotive site run by the clueless. LOL!!

Lexsucks... you think aluminum is as strong as steel... very "cheap" mild steel has a yield strength of about 44ksi, whereas aircraft grade 6061-t6 has a yield strength of 35ksi. If you start getting into more expensive and stronger steel alloys you'll notice that strength bump and over 200ksi.

up and over*

Joe_Limon,

What's the yield strength of aluminum?

6061-T6 is a heat treated aluminum alloy so it's 26ksi, the kind they use in airplanes and many other industries that require light weight parts. If you went with the pure element aluminum, the yield strength would be about 1.6ksi.

sorry, 35ksi not 26ksi

What is that sample comparison is based on? volume? weight? Because pound for pound Aluminum is stronger than steel. inch for inch is different

From the interwebs: http://www.kastenmarine.com/alumVSsteel.htm

Inch for Inch:
Again, for the sake of an easy to follow comparison, we might say that "one inch" of steel plate will yield beyond its ability to recover its original shape at approximately 36k psi, and will fail at approximately 60k psi.

A "strength-equivalent" aluminum structure, having used deflection (stiffness) as the design criteria, will have been built using roughly 50% greater plate thickness. We might then say that this strength-equivalent "one and a half inch" thick aluminum plate will yield at around 51k per square inch of surface area (around 29% greater yield strength than the "equivalent" region of steel plate), and will fail at around 67.5k psi (around 12.5% greater ultimate strength than the "equivalent" region of steel plate).

Of course these broad generalizations are intended only as a way of illustrating the approximate relative strengths of the materials. However, from these considerations we can see that the aluminum vessel will have a greater overall strength than the steel vessel per square area of plate. The reason for this is that the aluminum plate will, for the sake of stiffness, be 150% the size of the steel plate.

Aluminum is better than steel in regards to Automotive applications. Motorcycles went from steel frames to aluminum decades ago. Automotive wheels are aluminum not steel. I'm not sure what your point is joe?

Yield strength is independent of mass. Even pound for pound, a heat treated alloy steel may weigh 3x as much as a good aluminum alloy, but it will also have about 6x as much strength. Meaning pound for pound high strength steel alloys are superior. Saying aluminum is stronger then steel would be akin to saying some foam boards are stronger then steel.

"Yield strength is independent of mass. Even pound for pound, a heat treated alloy steel may weigh 3x as much as a good aluminum alloy, but it will also have about 6x as much strength."

- If the steel weighs "3x" as much as the aluminum alloy then that isn't a pound for pound comparison.


"Meaning pound for pound high strength steel alloys are superior.”

- Wrong. Not it doesn't. Not when the steel weighs "3x" more than the aluminum you are comparing it to. Did you even read the link and the excerpts I provided? Or are you saying that the author is incorrect?


"Saying aluminum is stronger than steel would be akin to saying some foam boards are stronger then steel."

- Pound for Pound Aluminum is stronger than steel. Show me any web link or anything that states otherwise. How haven't provided any links or anything. Show me something that is credible that says that pound for pound steel is stronger than aluminum.

Are you bad at math? If something is 6x stronger but 3x heavier it has a better strength to weight ratio.

http://www.cineventions.com/steel_aluminum.html

"One of the most widely used high-strength aluminum alloys is alloy 6061 with T6 temper. Pound for pound, 6061-T6 is stronger than some steel alloys, but not as strong as others. The fact is, for any given high-strength aluminum alloy, there are higher-strength steels that outperform aluminum in strength-to-weight."

So the only steels that aluminum isn't stronger than, are the higher strength steels that are too expensive to be used for automotive applications? So it takes super expensive steel to beat out plain old cheap 6061?

"Are you bad at math? If something is 6x stronger but 3x heavier it has a better strength to weight ratio."

- Are you incapable of setting up accurate pound for pound comparison scenarios? Meaning that both examples have to weigh the same.

Oh you want to incorporate price into the equation?

Lets compare similar strength/weight ratio materials.

6061-T6 35ksi/(0.0975lb/in^3)=359
A514 110ksi/(0.284lb/in^3)=387

6061-T6 Price~=$2/lb
A514 Price~=$0.7-1.1/lb

A514 for example has a slightly better strength/weight ratio and a far superior price.

If you go to a more modern Domex steel, it will have similar properties to the A514 and cost roughly $0.40/lb

7075-T6=70ksi/(0.102lb/in^3)=686
D2 Tool Steel=239-319ksi/(0.277b/in^3)=862-1152

7075-T6~=$5.50/lb
D2 Tool Steel~=$4/lb or less

Then why doesn't Ford use the better steel if its lighter cheaper and stronger than aluminum? I'm lost.

Because people such as yourself are stuck believing aluminum is the future and the best thing on the market. If Ford released the truck saying that they lowered the weight using high strength steel alloys, or that they lowered the weight using aluminum. Which do you think would have a stronger mental impact? At the end of the day, Ford is simply trying to capture market share and the "market" demands aluminum trucks.