Introduction to aluminium

As this site is about aluminium let us look at aluminium as a material.

Aluminium - LIGHT, STRONG, DURABLE

There are various alloys of aluminium available in the world today and it is important to match the alloy you require to the application you want to use it for.

Aluminium is used in such diverse applications from space craft to sewage plant scrapers.

Today's alloy technology allows aluminium to be used in a wide variety of industries.

Extruded aluminium alloys are normally series 6 alloys and these are the type of alloys required for the Ampliform process. The alloy with the correct properties for our process is type 6063.

For fabricated products that require higher structural properties Aluminium Alloy 6061 or nearest equivalent is used.

Properties of 6063 T6 aluminium alloy

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES (Non welded)
Ultimate Tensile Strength	206 mpa
Tensile Yield Stress	170 mpa	Ultimate Bearing Stress	430 mpa
Compressive Yield Stress	172 mpa	Modulus of Elasticity (E)	69637 mpa
Ultimate Shear Stress	150 mpa	Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (20o to 100o)	24x10-6k

Properties of 6061 T6 aluminium alloy

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES (Non welded)
Ultimate Tensile Strength	290 mpa
Tensile Yield Stress	250 mpa	Ultimate Bearing Stress	600 mpa
Compressive Yield Stress	250 mpa	Modulus of Elasticity (E)	69637 mpa
Ultimate Shear Stress	170 mpa	Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (20o to 100o)	24x10-6k

The above data is taken from The Aluminium Federation of South Africa Design Guide. Ampliform (PTY) LTD does not accept any responsibility for errors or omissions.