mast straightening

Posted By: Mark Worden
Date: 1/28/09 11:02a.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: I've heard of people doing it (Jenny, Harpoon 5.2)

I too have a bent mast. I am also an aerospace stress engineer with access to more analytical tools than the average person. The trick is too get the bending to occur where you want it, and not too much,i.e. enough to go past yield and cause permanent set, but not so much as to bend it the wrong way or worse, kink it. I am running the beam calcs assuming multiple supports with appropriate fixturing (long 2x12") and applying load at specific points using 5 gal buckets of water(variable mass)until things line up. The mast is 6061-T6 Aluminum, Allowables (A abd B basis) used in aircraft industry can be found in MIL-HDBK-5 and with appropriate statistics, a typical value can be calculated for material properties, then knowing the target yield, and whatsupport sytem you gan gen up, you do the stress calcs to get to or just past yield at the point wher ethe bend is, without crushing the mast or kinking it. I Will do this in spring and let you all know how it comes out.