Aluminum Alloys

Nasrizal Mohd Rashdi

Senior Lecturer
Fabrication & Joining Section
Universiti Kuala Lumpur
Characteristics of aluminium
 Difference in melting points of the two
metals and their oxides.
 Aluminium oxide melts at 2060°C, some
1400°C above the melting point
 Why used Aluminum Alloys
 Usually use for replaces steel and cast
iron where there is a need for
 Lightness
 Higher Strength to weight ratio
 Corrosion resistance
 Low maintenance expense
 High thermal conductivity
 High electrical conductivity
 Al alloys designation system
 The first digit indicates the major alloying
element.

No series Major alloying element

1xxx Commercially pure Al (>99%)
2xxx Copper
3xxx Manganese
4xxx Silicon
5xxx Magnesium
6xxx Magnesium and Silicon
7xxx Zinc
8xxx Other elements
 Al alloys designation system
 Second digit indicates chemistry
modification or impurity limit.
 In 1xxx series third and fourth digit indicate
% of Al concentration or purity of the alloy.
 In others series third and fourth digit
identify the particular alloy.
Classification of Aluminum

Aluminum

Casting Wrought

Heat Treatable Heat Treatable

Non Heat Treatable Non Heat Treatable

 Group Al alloys
 Aluminum alloys may be divided into two
groups:
 Heat treatable.
 Non-heat treatable.

 Heat treatable Aluminum responds to heat

treatment to give an increase strength (age
hardening).
 Non-heat treatable Aluminum alloys increase
strength through cold working (deformation).
 Heat treatable Non heat treatable
Precipitation Hardening Work Hardening
2xxx 1xxx

6xxx 3xxx

7xxx 4xxx

5xxx
The ‘T’ designations are applied to those alloys that are
age hardened, the first digit identifying the basic heat
treatment:

• T1 – cooled from an elevated temperature-shaping treatment and

naturally aged.
• T2 – cooled from an elevated temperature-shaping process, cold
worked and naturally aged.
• T3 – solution heat treated, cold worked and naturally aged.
• T4 – solution heat treated and naturally aged.
• T5 – cooled from an elevated temperature-shaping process and
artificially aged.
• T6 – solution heat treated and artificially aged.
• T7 – solution heat treated and overaged or stabilised.
• T8 – solution heat treated, cold worked and artificially aged.
• T9 – solution heat treated, artificially aged and cold worked.
 Effect of alloy elements
 Magnesium (Mg)
 increases strength through solid solution
strengthening and improves work hardening
ability.
 Manganese (Mn)
 increases strength through solid solution
strengthening and improves work hardening
ability.
 Copper (Cu)
 gives substantial increases in strength,
permits precipitation hardening, reduces
corrosion resistance, ductility and weldability.
 Silicon (Si)
 increases strength and ductility, in
combination with magnesium produces
precipitation hardening.
 Zinc (Zn)
 substantially increases strength, permits
precipitation hardening, can cause stress
corrosion.
 Iron (Fe)
 increases strength of pure aluminium,
generally residual element.
 Chromium (Cr)
 increases stress corrosion resistance.
 Nickel (Ni)
 improves elevated temperature strength.
 Titanium (Ti)
 used as a grain-refining element, particularly
in filler metals.
 Zirconium (Zr)
 used as a grain-refining element, particularly
in filler metals.
 Lithium (Li)
 substantially increases strength and Young’s
modulus, provides precipitation hardening,
decreases density.
 Scandium (Sc)
 substantially increases strength by age
hardening, grainrefining element particularly
in weld metal.
 Lead (Pb) and bismuth (Bi)
 assist chip formation in free machining alloys.
Non Heat Treatable Alloys
 1xxx Series.
 These grades of aluminum are characterized by
excellent corrosion resistance, high thermal and
electrical conductivities, low mechanical
properties, and excellent workability.
 Moderate increases in strength may be obtained
by strain hardening.
 Iron and silicon are the major impurities.
 In the high-purity grades.
 Impurities completely dissolved.
 No freezing range
 a single phase microstructure which is unaffected by
the heat of welding.
 The less pure alloys
 Dissolve only small amounts of the impurity
elements.
 most of the iron form the intermetallic compound
FeAl3.
 The heat affected zones
 no significant change in microstructure except
close to thefusion boundary where partial
melting of the low melting point constituents a
long the grain boundaries occurs.
 slight loss of strength.
 3xxx Series.
 These alloys generally are non-heat
treatable but have about 20% more
strength than 1xxx series alloys. Because
only a limited percentage of manganese
(up to about 1.5%) can be effectively
added to aluminum, manganese is used
as a major element in only a few alloys.
 3xxx Series
 The weld zones are similar to those seen in
pure aluminum, the only major difference
being the composition of the precipitates.
 The heat of welding has the same effect on
the structure as on pure aluminum, with the
precipitates arranged along the grain
boundaries and a loss of strength in the
annealed regions of cold worked alloys.
 In practice, hot cracking is rarely
encountered.
 Weld cracking may be sometimes
encountered when autogenous welding
but this is easily prevented by the use of
an appropriate filler metal composition.
 4xxx Series
 The major alloying element in 4xxx series alloys is
silicon, which can be added in sufficient quantities (up to
12%) to cause substantial lowering of the melting range. 
 There are no intermetallic compounds.
 Very high fluidity
 Alloyed with;
 copper and magnesium to provide some degree of precipitation
hardening
 nickel to improve high temperature properties.
 Because of its high fluidity and low sensitivity to hot
shortness it is commonly used as a weld filler metal.
 5xxx Series
 The major alloying element is Magnesium and
when it is used as a major alloying element or
with manganese, the result is a moderate-to-
high-strength work-hardenable alloy. 
 Magnesium is considerably more effective than
manganese as a hardener, about 0.8% Mg
being equal to 1.25% Mn, and it can be added in
considerably higher quantities. 
 5xxx Series
 Alloys in this series possess relatively good
welding characteristics and relatively good
resistance to corrosion in marine atmospheres. 
 However, limitations should be placed on the
amount of cold work and the operating
temperatures permissible for the higher-
magnesium alloys to avoid susceptibility to
stress-corrosion cracking.
Heat Treatable Alloys
 2xxx Series.
 These alloys require solution heat treatment to
obtain optimum properties; in the solution heat-
treated condition, mechanical properties are
similar to, and sometimes exceed, those of low-
carbon steel.
 In some instances, precipitation heat treatment
(aging) is employed to further increase
mechanical properties.
 This treatment increases yield strength, with
attendant loss in elongation; its effect on tensile
strength is not as great.
 2xxx Series
 The alloys in the 2xxx series do not have as
good corrosion resistance as most other
aluminum alloys, and under certain
conditions they may be subject to
intergranular corrosion. 
 Alloys in the 2xxx series are good when
some strength at moderate temperatures is
desired. 
 These alloys have limited weldability, but
some alloys in this series have superior
machinability
 6xxx Series
 Contain silicon and magnesium
approximately in the proportions required for
formation of magnesium silicide (Mg2Si), thus
making them heat treatable. 
 Although not as strong as most 2xxx and
7xxx alloys, 6xxx series alloys have relatively
good formability, weldability, machinability,
and relatively good corrosion resistance,
with medium strength. 
 6xxx Series
 Alloys in this heat-treatable group are
sometimes formed in the T4 temper
(solution heat treated but not
precipitation heat treated) and
strengthened after forming to full T6
properties by precipitation heat
treatment.
 7xxx Series
 Zinc, in amounts of 1 to 8% is the major
alloying element in 7xxx series alloys, and
when coupled with a smaller percentage of
magnesium results in heat-treatable alloys
of moderate to high strength.
 Usually other elements, such as copper
and chromium, are also added in small
quantities.
 Some 7xxx series alloys have been used in
airframe structures, and other highly stressed
parts. 
 Higher strength 7xxx alloys exhibit reduced
resistance to stress corrosion cracking and are
often utilized in an overaged temper to provide
better combinations of strength, corrosion
resistance, and fracture toughness.
 Strengthening mechanisms
 There are five separate strengthening
mechanisms
 grain size control,
 solid solution alloying,
 second phase formation,
 strain hardening (cold work) and
 precipitation or age hardening.
 Grain size control
 In general terms, as grain size increases,
the yield and ultimate tensile strengths of a
metal are reduced.
 Solid solution strengthening
 To increase strength the metal is alloyed,
that is mixed with other elements.
 An alloy is a metallic solid formed by
dissolving, in the liquid state, one or more
solute metals, the alloying elements, in the
bulk metal, the solvent.
 On cooling the alloy solidifies as a solid
solution which can exist over a range of
compositions, all of which will be
homogeneous.
 Depending upon the metals involved a limit
of solid solubility may be reached.
 Once the limit of solid solubility is reached a
second component or phase becomes
visible.
 The introduction of a second phase results
in an increase in strength and hardness,
for instance iron carbide (Fe3C) in steels,
copper aluminide (CuAl2) in th aluminium–
copper alloys and silicon (Si) in the
aluminium–silicon alloys.
 Cold working or strain hardening
 Cold work, work hardening or strain
hardening is an important process used to
increase the strength and/or hardness of
metals and alloys that cannot be
strengthened by heat treatment.
 It involves a change of shape brought
about by the input of mechanical energy.
 As deformation proceeds the metal
becomes stronger but harder and less
ductile, as shown in Fig. 2.5, requiring
more and more power to continue
deforming the metal.
 Precipitation (age) hardening
 Microstructures with two or more phases
present possess a number of ways in
which the phases can form.
 The geometry of the phases depends on
their relative amounts, whether the minor
phase is dispersed within the grains or is
present on the grain boundaries and the
size and shape of the phases.
 Properties of Typical
Aluminum alloys
Alloys TS YS % Elongation Applications
(psi) (psi)
1100-O 13,000 5,000 40 Electrical
components, food
processing,
3004-O 26,000 10,000 25 beverage can and
marine components.
4043-O 21,000 10,000 22

2024-T4 68,000 47,000 20

Truck wheels,
6061-T6 55,000 46,000 15 aircraft skin, piston,
canoes, aircraft
frame
7075-T6 83,000 73,000 4
 Aluminum use

 containers and packaging; aluminum cans and foil.

 buildings and construction.
 transportation; aircraft, automobile, etc.
 electrical equipment.
 consumer durables; utensils, appliances, furniture.
 portable tools.

Aircraft industry example:

 82% of a Boeing 747 is aluminum
 79% of a Being 757 is aluminum