On 24/05/17 00:18, Joseph wrote:
I have a old PAR compressor. I would like to make new reeds for
it.what would
be the best material to make them out of? The old ones are 10th
thick. Here
are some pictures of what I have to make.
https://www.polytechforum.com/img/5h
https://www.polytechforum.com/img/5i

A mate used to work at a company which designed and built truck air
brake systems and this is what he had to say when I asked about making
new reed plates for an air compressor.

"

The reeds are usually made of a very high grade of stainless steel with
a considerable amount of edge preparation to give a high fatigue life.
They are normally made from a Sandvik material (see this site -
http://www.internationalsprings.com/reed_valves.htm ). I think the edges
are rounded and followed by an extended period of tumbling, The surfaces
are usually of a very high quality of surface finish and flatness. There
is probably some element compressive stressing to improve fatigue life
but not sure.
Flatness is important for compressor efficiency. I have not heard of
magnetic reeds being used on air compressors before, but this could help
with sealing if flatness is not perfect. Magnetic reeds will reduce
efficiency due to increase delta p on opening and probably why you would
not find it on a truck application.
0.25mm thick seems pretty thin to me, I was more use to around 0.4 to
0.6 thick, but this is a function of size and clamping method.
I guess the reeds are made from a type of martensitic stainless as I
think these are the most magnetic of the main types."