preview

Engineering Report the Bicycle

Good Essays

Engineering Report Recumbent Bicycle Reynolds 853 The Reynolds 853 is a steel alloy created by Reynolds Cycle Technology, a manufacturing company based in Birmingham, England. It is composed of several elements solely including iron, carbon, chrome and molybdenum but also includes silicon, copper and manganese. The Steel’s physical properties include a stiffness level similar to mild steel. With the addition of chrome and molybdenum the steel can be strong enough to butt or be thinned down in the middle, thus making the material lighter. It has an excellent strength to weight ratio obtained from heat-treatment used in its formation. The heat treatment used for this steel does not use quenching rather uses air cooling or air …show more content…

It is half as stiff as most steels though is half as dense making it 20% lighter than steel. For stiff titanium frames it is required to have a larger diameter, than comparable steels, though not as large as aluminum. The frame is also very corrosive resistant. With the addition of silicon the alloy can obtain significant grain refinement and it can be said that titanium alloys have a perfect balance of properties for frame building. Welding must be done carefully to avoid contamination and machining must be done precisely. Titanium is very reactive to atmospheric gases and can result in degradation in the material. Titanium is weldable in annealing conditions but provide limited weld ductility and heat affected zone ductility. It can also be significantly strengthened by cold working. Due to titanium being rather expensive it is rarely used for cycles. It is expensive not only because of the material costs, but also because of the care and time that must be put into the welding process. 7005 Aluminum Like the Reynolds X100, 7005 Aluminum is an aluminum alloy but consisting of Zinc and Magnesium. Due to its cost and inconvenience of heat treating, 7005 aluminum has gained considerable popularity with smaller companies. 7005 Aluminum has similar properties to the Reynolds X100. It is seen as the second most common material and is most likely to overtake steel as most popular material used for frame design. It is 12% stiffer and 20% lighter than steel

Get Access