"Ferrous alloys and titanium alloys[SUP][2][/SUP] have a distinct limit, an amplitude below which there appears to be no number of cycles that will cause failure. Other structural metals such as aluminium and copper, do not have a distinct limit and will eventually fail even from small stress amplitudes."
Aluminum is known to fail by cracking, I guess it's not as ductile as steel, and when it fails it kind of fails all at once. The older the stem, the more likely it is to fail because it has undergone more stress cycles. Doesn't mean you can't use it, it means you have to be careful. And there are lots of other factors people talk about that seem to be implicated. Because even new stems can fail, those too have to be looked at once in a while. It's not about the make, it's about the material and it's age.
Last edited by raymond1354; 05-02-15 at 09:10 PM.
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