It is done all the time. We are about to mod a tower ourselves. I haven't welded aluminum much so I can't offer any details. The guys I seen doing it are using TIG with a pulser. The shop I am familar with bent it using a hydraulic cylinder pushing a radius tool (shaped for the pipe OD)...
We used Ti fasteners on an underwater manupulator we built a few years back (now we avoid Ti fasteners). Here are some things to consider. Ti is "Gummy" expecially in Ti. It tends to gall very easily. A coating such as TiLube (Tiodize) is highly recommended. Also, for as strong as it...
Instead of filling with sand, we have had good luck with filling the tube with a cerro alloy then bending. It keeps the flow area about as round as I have seen. We were making precision bends in 1.5" s.s. tubing for an underwater hydraulic manipulator. The cerro alloys are a low...
