What Aluminum Grade Should I Use?
Aluminum is a common metal used for both industrial and non-industrial applications. In most cases, it can be difficult to choose the correct Aluminum grade for your intended application. If your project does not have any physical or structural demands, and the aesthetics are not important, then almost any Aluminum grade will do the job.
We have compiled a short breakdown of each of the grades’ properties in order to provide you with a brief understanding of their many uses.
Alloy 1100: This grade is commercially pure aluminum. It is soft and ductile and has excellent workability, making it ideal for applications with difficult forming. It can be welded using any method, but it is non heat-treatable. It has an excellent resistance to corrosion and is commonly used in the chemical and food processing industries.
Alloy 2011: High mechanical strength and excellent machining capabilities are the highlights of this grade. It is often called – Free Machining Alloy (FMA), an excellent choice for projects done on automatic lathes. The high-speed machining of this grade will produce fine chips that are easily removed. Alloy 2011 is an excellent choice for production of complex and detailed parts.
Alloy 2014: A copper based alloy with very high strength and excellent machining capabilities. This alloy is commonly used in many aerospace structural applications due to its resistance.
Alloy 2024: One of the most commonly used high strength aluminum alloys. With its combination of high strength and excellent fatigue resistance, it is commonly used where a good strength-to-weight ratio is desired. This grade can be machined to a high finish and it can be formed in the annealed condition with subsequent heat treating, if needed. The corrosion resistance of this grade is relatively low. When this is an issue, 2024 is commonly used in an anodized finish or in clad form (thin surface layer of high purity aluminum) known as Alclad.
Alloy 3003: The most widely used of all aluminum alloys. A commercially pure aluminum with added manganese to increase its strength (20% stronger than the 1100 grade). It has excellent corrosion resistance, and workability. This grade can be deep drawn or spun, welded or brazed.
Alloy 5052: This is the highest strength alloy of the more non heat-treatable grades. Its fatigue strength is higher than most other aluminum grades. Alloy 5052 has a good resistance to marine atmosphere and salt water corrosion, and excellent workability. It can be easily drawn or formed into intricate shapes.
Alloy 6061: The most versatile of the heat-treatable aluminum alloys, while keeping most of the good qualities of aluminum. This grade has a great range of mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. It can be fabricated by most of the commonly used techniques and it has good workability in the annealed condition. It is welded by all methods and can be furnace brazed. As a result, it is used in a wide variety of products and applications where appearance and better corrosion resistance with good strength are required. The Tube and Angle shapes in this grade typically have rounded corners.
Alloy 6063: Commonly known as an architectural alloy. It has reasonably high tensile properties, excellent finishing characteristics and a high degree of resistance to corrosion. Most often found in various interior and exterior architectural applications and trim. It is very well suited for anodizing applications. The Tube and Angle shapes in this grade typically have square corners.
Alloy 7075: This is one of the highest strength aluminum alloys available. It has an excellent strength-to weight ratio, and it is ideally used for highly stressed parts. This grade can be formed in the annealed condition and subsequently heat treated, if needed. It can also be spot or flash welded (arc and gas not recommended).
Don’t have time to read the blog? You can check out our video below to find out which aluminum grade to use:
For more specific applications, we have put together a table that will easily let you decide on what Aluminum grade to use for your project.
End Use Potential Aluminum Grades Aircraft (Structure/Tube) 2014 2024 5052 6061 7075 Architectural 3003 6061 6063 Automotive Parts 2014 2024 Building Products 6061 6063 Boat Building 5052 6061 Chemical Equipment 1100 6061 Cooking Utensils 3003 5052 Drawn and Spun parts 1100 3003 Electrical 6061 6063 Fasteners & Fittings 2024 6061 General Fabrication 1100 3003 5052 6061 Machined Parts 2011 2014 Marine Applications 5052 6061 6063 Piping 6061 6063 Pressure Vessels 3003 5052 Recreation Equipment 6061 6063 Screw Machine Products 2011 2024 Sheet Metal Work 1100 3003 5052 6061 Storage Tanks 3003 6061 6063 Structural Applications 2024 6061 7075 Trucks Frames & Trailers 2024 5052 6061 6063
Aluminum extrusions are very useful to both residential and commercial property owners. It is increasingly favored by people because of its strong versatility, long service life, convenient assembly and disassembly, environmental protection, and time-saving. Aluminum profiles can be used in construction works, doors, home decoration, windows, and furniture.
Different types of aluminum profiles have different purposes
Lightweight aluminum extrusions are a spin-off and are frequently used for structural purposes. 3 types of accounts can be distinguished according to their use: building, building, and commercial.
Structural accounts: Despite the low web weight, this profile has a high bending and also torsional stiffness. Solar panel structure, working platform, the framework of the scene, etc.
Architectural Profiles: For this application, surface finish is really important. Building profiles are utilized to mount windows, doors, as well as curtain wall surfaces.
Industrial use: In the market, aluminum extrusions have a range of uses where rigidity or surface high quality are lesser, however, the combination of the two, in addition to various other homes of the product such as electric conductivity, offers it a wide variety of industrial use spin-offs. Some instances could be cable television network systems, radiators, air conditioners, cupboards, furnishings, and so on.
Lightweight aluminum profiles require heat therapy
Like a lot of metals, aluminum calls for warmth treatment to acquire the preferred mechanical properties. For lightweight aluminum, nickel, or titanium, the solidifying process is by aging. Consequently, it is essential to specify the heat therapy according to the application. The 3 more common heat therapies related to lightweight aluminum extrusions are:
T4: Compelled air cooling as well as tempering from strong solution temperature, natural aging.
T5: Usage forced air cooling to temper from extrusion temperature level, after that fabricated aging. It is the most usual heat treatment for lightweight aluminum accounts of windows and doors accounts.
T6: Toughened up by service temperature level of water (below 40ºC) and also synthetic aging.
The surface treatment of aluminum profiles is very important
Below are the most common finishes of our aluminum profiles to satisfy our customers for any construction needs.
- Polishing: The process of creating a smooth, shiny surface by rubbing or using chemicals.
- Anodizing: A characteristic aluminum coating, this method involves increasing the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of an aluminum part for greater strength and durability of the part.
- Powder Coating: It produces thicker coats than traditional liquid paints without sagging or sagging.
How to choose a high-quality aluminum profile supplier?
Most people are still perplexed regarding the selection of aluminum account distributors. This is because there are thousands of providers out there, as well as it is challenging to select a reliable provider from amongst them because each lightweight aluminum extrusion vendor asserts to be one of the most qualified. However not to worry, since we will certainly review three golden rules to help you choose the proficient lightweight aluminum extrusion vendor Let’s take a look at these principles.
Never pick a very low-cost lightweight aluminum profile distributor
The first guideline is to stay clear of really economical aluminum extrusion distributors. The rate of aluminum profiles relies on four elements: the price of lightweight aluminum ingots, the handling expense of extruded lightweight aluminum profiles, the expense of product packaging materials, and also the products. The expense of all these elements is really clear. After that, if the cost of lightweight aluminum profiles is less than the existing market price, it might result from 3 reasons. The very first feasible reason could be the reduced weight per meter. The second factor might be the recycling of scrap aluminum, and the 3rd might be the irritation of product loss. For that reason, it is not advised to pick very inexpensive aluminum profile manufacturers.
Never select a supplier who just comprehends sales products
We never recommend that you select a lightweight aluminum profile distributor who just understands how to sell materials. Some companies simply make a few points, work with a lot of wire employees, do a lot of Internet advertising and marketing, and afterward, they begin trading. These companies commonly harm customers because the electrical wiring workers do not know much about the actual item and what it’s for. When these companies were asked what their items were for and also what kinds of links were best for various websites, they didn’t have the right solution. They simply recommend low-priced materials and also the most affordable method to link, which eventually results in high labor expenses and problematic post-modification.
Choose a lightweight aluminum profile supplier with a production plant
This is an additional vital principle in picking the most effective aluminum profile distributor. Prefer to pick an experienced supplier who has a good understanding of product efficiency and top quality, such as Anhui Shengxin Aluminum Co., Ltd., which has greater than 20 years of experience in this area. All their workers are experienced and also experienced, hence generating top-quality aluminum accounts. Consequently, there is no demand to bother with top quality troubles when buying lightweight aluminum profiles from Shengxin Aluminum. Their aluminum profiles are well gotten by clients throughout the world.