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dwranda

Well Known Member
This may be a stupid question, but one I have thought of a few times so here goes. Does temperature matter when dimpling the skin? I don't know anything really about how temps affect how metal reacts when deformed. If it's really cold out when dimpling could that give a greater chance of cracks? Temps I was thinking were from like in the 30's on the cold side vs 70's on up.
Pardon this newbie question. Hoping a metallurgy guy might chime in with a little lesson.
 
I am not a metallurgy guy.

Years ago, (more than 20-years) I was told that warming the aluminum skins with a heat lamp will make a smoother skin. I used a heat lamp on one assembly. I found it to be more trouble than it was worth and could see NO difference in the finished result.

Extra work, longer time to build, and NO improvement in quality.
 
I have an ATI Heated Dimpling Machine.

Heating can assist in dimpling, depending on the alloy and material and what you are installing (rivets vs Dzus Fasteners, for example) . Not generally necessary for 1/8" flush rivets in 2024 and 6061.

From memory, 7075 and Magnesium required heated dimplers.

mjb
 
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