Years ago, Ren Schilke did a series of experiments using different bell materials for a trumpet. Here's a link to his lecture on the subject:
http://www.dallasmusic.org/schilke/Brass%20Clinic.html
That being said, I doubt that steel would make much of a difference from brass for the bell on a tuba. Some austenitic stainless alloys have better spinning properties than brass. I suppose if someone had the time, tooling and motivation, one could probably build a very striking looking tuba with large branches made from stainless. With a brushed finish, it might bear a family resemblence to my refrigerator...
steel tuba
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How about carbon fiber rotors (or pistons, for that matter) -- any known minuses? (they'd certainly be light)Art Hovey wrote:Stainless steel would be better than brass because it is lighter and stronger, and does not corrode. But it would still dent easily. I think carbon fiber is the way to go for the larger bows and bell.
Silicon carbide also comes to mind for valve apps ... any thoughts?
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As varioius manufacturers (Hirsbrunner, Finke, etc.) found out, the fly in the ointment with non-brass rotors is the difference in coefficient of expansion between the rotor and the brass casing. If sufficiently dissimilar, you wind up with a choice between leaky valves or valves that jam in warm weather.Kevin Hendrick wrote:How about carbon fiber rotors (or pistons, for that matter) -- any known minuses? (they'd certainly be light)Art Hovey wrote:Stainless steel would be better than brass because it is lighter and stronger, and does not corrode. But it would still dent easily. I think carbon fiber is the way to go for the larger bows and bell.
Silicon carbide also comes to mind for valve apps ... any thoughts?
You could use a different material for the casing, but then you'd have the problem of how to provide a solderable surface to which to attach tubes.
There was a french horn made sometime ago that used aluminum rotors, but saliva reacts with aluminum--and you can guess the rest.
There's probably a combination of materials that will work well, but will it work sufficiently better than the current (brass) approach to justify the added cost and tooling?