Unit 2

Aluminum
A. Characteristics of Aluminum
Aluminum is a silvery metal with a bluish tinge. The color of aluminum does not change,
and it is fairly resistant to corrosion. Its specific gravity is 2.70, about one-third that of other
common metals, for example, iron. Its atomic weight is 27; its melting point is 1220ºF. It
anneals at about 650ºF.
Other outstanding characteristics of aluminum are high thermal and electrical conductivities,
also good reflective qualities for both light and radiant heat, easy workability and
fabrication. The electrical conductivity of aluminum is equal to 61 percent of copper.
Aluminum is a non-sparking and non-magnetic metal. The expansion coefficient of
aluminum is approximately twice that of iron. The tensile strength of commercially pure
aluminum is 13,000 pounds per square inch. By cold working between rolls, the tensile
strength may be increased greatly. When aluminum is alloyed with certain other metals, then
approximately heat-treated and worked, the tensile strength of the alloy may be increased to
80,000 pounds per square inch, or even more. Aluminum is not readily attacked by acids
except hydrochloric and hot concentrated sulphuric acid. Strong alkalies attack aluminum
vigorously, liberating hydrogen. Nevertheless, probably the most important characteristic of
aluminum is its low density, which is about one-third that of steels and copper alloys.
Because of this, certain aluminum alloys have a better "strength-to-weight" ratio than high
strength steels.
Among the many alloying elements added to aluminum, the most widely used are copper,
silicon, magnesium, zinc, and manganese. These are used in various combinations, and in
many cases they are used together with other additions to produce classes of age hardening
alloys. All age hardening alloys contain alloying elements that dissolve in aluminum at
elevated (solutionizing) temperatures and precipitate at lower (aging) temperatures. Most
casting alloys silicon, which improves the fluidity and mold-filling capacity of aluminum
alloys and reduces their susceptibility to hot cracking and the formation of shrinkage cavities
during solidification. Work hardening alloys frequently contain Mn and Mg, which form a
fine dispersion of intermetallic phases and/ or impart solid-solution strengthening.

B. Uses of Aluminum
Because it is a light metal, aluminum is not only very useful in aircraft production but it is
also used in the manufacture of buses, railway carriages, and boats.

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Because aluminum is a good conductor of electricity it is often used for cables to carry
telegraph and telephone messages. It is not such a good conductor of electricity as copper,
but it is lighter. So it is used for overhead telegraph and telephone cables. At first, when it
was stretched between telegraph poles it sagged too much and therefore a core of steel wire
was put through the center of the cable to make it firmer.
Because it is a good conductor of heat, aluminum is used for all kinds of cooking utensils,
such as saucepans and frying pans. The food being cooked in these utensils soon becomes
hot. Aluminum is also used to make foil. Foil is metal that has been rolled into a very thin
sheet. It is used for wrapping food, such as butter, for making bottle tops, and for
manufacturing the silver paper for cigarette packets.

C. Translate the following passage into Farsi.

Aluminum is valuable not only for its lightness but also on account of its peculiar behavior
towards acids and alkalis. It dissolves rapidly in dilute hydrochloric acid, but is only slowly
attacked by sulphuric and nitric acids, and even less by vegetable acids. On the other hand, it
is dissolved by alkaline solutions. Hence, although aluminum is used for making cooking
vessels and for storage of many foodstuffs, it is safe to remember that saucepans or pots of
aluminum must not be cleaned with soda.

In the air aluminum soon becomes covered with a thin almost invisible, film of oxide, which
protects the metal from further corrosion. When aluminum combines with oxygen, more
heat is given off than by any other commercial alloy or metal. The readiness of aluminum to
take up oxygen is used commercially to obtain metals which are difficult to get by other
means. An ingenious application of this property of aluminum is found in the “thermit”
process. A mixture of ferric oxide with aluminum powder is put in a crucible with a
removable bottom. When a fuse is lit the whole mass glows and in a few minutes a layer of
molten iron sinks to the bottom of the pot and can be run off into a mold.

D. Choose a, b, c, or d which best completes each item.

1. Aluminum is used for all kinds of cooking utensils because it is a good …… .
a. conductor of electricity b. insulator of hat
c. conductor of heat d. insulator of electricity
2. Because aluminum ……. , it is used for overhead telegraph and telephone.
a. is lighter
b. is a good conductor of electricity as copper
c. can be stretched between telegraph poles
d. can be sagged too much

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3. Aluminum is principally used in ……….. production.
a. automobile b. aircraft c. motor vehicle d. machine
4. The outstanding characteristics of aluminum are ……… .
a. non-magnetic and non-sparking properties
b. hard workability and electrical conductivity
c. high thermal and electrical conductivity
d. magnetic and sparking properties.
5. As indicated by the author, the coefficient ratio of expansion of aluminum is
approximately twice that of ……… .
a. lead b. copper
c. nickel d. iron
6. A …….. is a metal that has been rolled into a very thin sheet.
a. foil b. core
c. bottle top d. sheet metal
7. The melting and casting ….. range for most of the aluminum alloys is 1200ºF to 1500ºF.
a. temperature b. percentage
c. solidification d. heat-tratment
8. The principal …………. Elements used with aluminum are copper, silicon, magnesium,
zink, manganese, and chromium.
a. casting b. binary
c. alloying d. ternary
9. Aluminum alloys are generally light in weight and posses a good thermal and electrical
………….. .
a. hardenability b. conductivity
c. machinability d. malleability
10. Aluminum is common in earth`s crust because it is ………. .
a. the chief source of bauxite b. combined with water
c. a constituent of all clays d. available in two general forms, pure and alloyed
11. In recent years the size of aluminum alloy castings has increased as their application has
extended to large machine parts. The word "extended" is the antonym of … .
a. complicated b. expanded
c. contracted d. exhausted
12. Metallurgy is concerned primarily with the search for …. knowledge of metals whereas
materials engineering is concerned mainly with using …. knowledge about metals.
a. basic - applied b. applied - theoretical
c. applied - basic d. theoretical – basic
13. Aluminum is the most ….. metal in the earth`s crust and only oxygen and silicon are
present in larger amounts.
a. abundantly b. abundancy c. abundance d. abundant

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14. Production of Aluminum from bauxite involves two ….. processes which are often
operated at quite different locations.
a. distinctive b. distinction
c. distinct d. distincts
15. A permissible deviation from a specified value may be called:
a. disposition b. tolerance
c. fatigue d. deterioration
16. A polished surface …… more heat than a dull one.
a. absorbs b. reflects
c. exerts d. extracts
17. Since materials are to be …. into useful products by manufacturing processes, a
knowledge of their nature, properties and type is necessary to make their .... more successful.
a. converted - convert b. converted - conversion
c. conversion - conversion d. converting - converted
18. Equilibrium diagrams have been developed to ….. and study changes ….. during the
heating-cooling cycles of pure or alloyed metallic materials.
a. record - occurring b. obtain - occurred
c. gain - occurring d. understand - occurred

E. Technical Terms
Match the words in column I with their appropriate equivalent in column II.

1. density ( )
a. a process involving heating and
cooling applied in order to alter
2. annealing ( ) mechanical or physical properties
b. an age-hardening aluminum-copper-
magnesium alloy
3. magnesium ( )
c. in an airplane, the central structure to
which wings and tail are attached
4. duralumin ( ) d. the mass of a given substance per unit
volume
e. a light metal widely used in alloys for
5. fuselage ( )
airplane and automotive parts
f. a metallic element having atomic
6. titanium ( ) number of 22 and 4.5 specific gravity

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F. Fill in the blanks with the following words.

exposed metallurgist age hardening alloy

duralumin three-ply metal aluminum fuselage
full strength magnesium corrosion seaplanes

There is an alloy made by adding small quantities of copper and magnesium to aluminum
which is called duralumin. It was fist made by a German ………… , Dr Alfred Wilm. He
mixed the aluminum with the copper and ……… . Then he wanted to make the alloy
stronger. First he heated it. Then he cooled it quickly by putting it in water. He tested the
alloy, but he was not pleased because it was not so strong as he had hoped that it would
be.
A few days later he decided to test the ………… again. He was very surprised to find that
it was now much stronger. Wilm made experiments to find out what happened to the alloy
when it was kept for different lengths of time. He discovered that this alloy reached
……… in about four or five days. We call this rise in strength ………. .

Duralumin is now used in making airplanes because it is both light and strong. Thin
sheets of this metal cover the wings and the ……….. of airplanes. Unfortunately,
duralumin has less resistance to ……… than aluminum alone. It is important that the
metal used for making airplanes should resist corrosion, specially for airplanes flying in
warm, damp climates, and for …………. Which come into contact with salt water. To
protect the duralumin, a thin layer of pure …………. was added to each side of the
duralumin sheet. This made a …………. . This three-ply metal was then tested to see if it
had a high resistance to corrosion. To do this the scientists …………… it to salt water for
a long time. They found out that even a very thin sheet of this three-ply metal was not
damaged by corrosion after five years.

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