Search Results for heat-treatable aluminum alloys

This appendix tabulates temper designations and product forms of heat-treatable aluminum alloys.

This appendix provides information on temper designations for strain-hardened aluminum, heat treatable aluminum alloys, and annealed aluminum products.

ASTM and other standards organizations have developed a number of tests for evaluating stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) under various conditions. This appendix lists many of the SCC tests that have been approved for specific materials and operating environments.

Aluminum has many outstanding properties, leading it to be used for a wide range of applications. It offers excellent strength-to-weight ratio, good corrosion and oxidation resistance, high electrical and thermal conductivity, exceptional formability, and relatively low cost. This chapter examines the metallurgy, composition, processing, and mechanical properties of aluminum and its alloys, both cast and wrought forms. It also covers heat treating and basic temper designations, including annealed, work hardened, solution heat treated, and solution heated treated and aged. The chapter concludes with information on corrosion and oxidation resistance.

This article reviews weldability of aluminum alloys and factors that affect weld performance. It first addresses hot tears, which can form during the welding of various aluminum alloys. It then presents comparison data from different weldability tests and discusses the specific properties that affect welding, namely oxide characteristics; the solubility of hydrogen in molten aluminum; and its thermal, electrical, and nonmagnetic characteristics. The article addresses the primary factors commonly considered when selecting a welding filler alloy, namely ease of welding or freedom from cracking, tensile or shear strength of the weld, weld ductility, service temperature, corrosion resistance, and color match between the weld and base alloy after anodizing. A number of factors, both global and local, that influence the fatigue performance of welded aluminum joints are also covered.

This chapter provides an overview of the alloy and temper designations adopted for aluminum cast and wrought products. It explains the naming system and how to identify the main alloying elements and basic strengthening mechanism from any given alloy and temper designation. The chapter provides additional detail on the strengthening and softening mechanisms that allow aluminum alloys to attain a range of engineering properties. The strength of aluminum alloys can be controlled by three methods: solid-solution hardening by alloying, work hardening by plastic deformation, and precipitation hardening with appropriate alloying and heat treatment.

Nonferrous alloys are heat treated for a variety of reasons. Heat treating can reduce internal stresses, redistribute alloying elements, promote grain formation and growth, produce new phases, and alter surface chemistry. This chapter describes heat treatment processes and how nonferrous alloys respond to them. It provides information on aluminum, cobalt, copper, magnesium, nickel, and titanium alloys and their composition, microstructure, properties, and processing characteristics.

Aluminum is the second most widely used metal in the world. It is readily available, offers a wide range of properties, and can be shaped, coated, and joined using a variety of methods. This chapter discusses some of the key attributes of wrought and cast aluminum alloys and the classifications, designations, and grades of available product forms. It also explains how aluminum alloys are used in aerospace, automotive, rail, and marine applications as well as in building and construction, electrical products, manufacturing equipment, packaging, and consumer durables such as appliances and furniture.

This chapter provides basic engineering information on aluminum alloys with an emphasis on their use in applications where weight is a significant design factor. It discusses the advantages and limitations of various types of aluminum along with their compositions, designations, and achievable strengths. It explains how some alloys are hardened through solution strengthening and cold working, while others are strengthened by precipitation hardening. It also describes production and fabrication processes such as melting, casting, rolling, forging, forming, extruding, heat treating, and joining, and includes a section on the causes and effects of corrosion and how they are typically controlled.

This chapter discusses the extrusion characteristics of relatively soft aluminum alloys. It begins by identifying alloy designations within the class and the types of extrusions made from them. It then explains how extruded shapes and cross-sections are defined and how to analyze and assess important process variables such as runout, extrusion pressure, ram speed, and butt thickness. It also provides best practices for various operations and explains how to identify and remedy common extrusion defects.

This chapter discusses the extrusion technology of soft- and medium-strength aluminum alloys. The relative extrudability ratings of some soft- and medium-grade alloys are given. The chapter presents useful extrusion parameters and their relationships associated with day-to-day production practices in the aluminum extrusion industry. Useful parameters discussed include: extrusion runout; extrusion pressure; ram or extrusion speed control; and butt or extrusion discard thickness control. The chapter provides fundamental approaches to introducing and developing the design of experiments (DOE) for the aluminum extrusion plant to improve overall productivity. It also focuses on heat treatment of aluminum alloys.

The term heat treatable alloys is used in reference to alloys that can be hardened by heat treatment, and this chapter briefly describes the major types of heat treatable nonferrous alloys. The discussion provides a general description of annealing cold-worked metals and describes some of the common nonferrous alloys that can be hardened through heat treatment. The nonferrous alloys covered include aluminum alloys, cobalt alloys, copper alloys, magnesium alloys, nickel alloys, and titanium alloys.

This article discusses the composition, structures, properties, and behaviors of aluminum alloys and explains how they correspond to specific alloying elements. It begins with an overview of the general characteristics of wrought and cast aluminum alloys, the four-digit classification system by which they are defined, and the applications for which they are suited. It then explains how primary alloying elements, second-phase constituents, and impurities affect yield strength, phase formation, and grain size and how they induce structural changes that help refine certain alloys. The article also explains how primary alloying elements affect corrosion and wear behaviors and how they influence fabrication processes such as forming, forging, welding, brazing, and soldering.