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What’s up guys!? This is Michael with Michael Talks Metals back again for some talk on???? Metals! NOPE…not today. For the last six months or so we have been SERIOUSLY discussing Iron and Nickel alloys so we thought it’s about time we lightened up ….. with Aluminum !  Or Aluminium as they say in the UK

Aluminum weighs about point 1 pound per cubic inch while iron is almost three times as much.   Aluminum has even more going for it, corrosion resistant in many environments and also pretty easy to fabricate.

If you look around you can probably identify something made with  Aluminum.   To name a few…Cell phone and computer components….. cookware……. automotive parts and fancy wheels……. office window frames…. and a whole lot of that  airplane overhead.

Wrought alloys are designated by a  four digit numeric where the first digit indicates the major alloying element. Designations are assigned by the Aluminum Association, an industry wide trade organization.

1XXX  series are  Aluminum with a minimum of 99 point 0 % purity.  The last two digits represent the minimum additional purity above 99.

For example, 1100 is 99 point 00% minimum Aluminum. 1145 would be 99 point 45 minimum Aluminum.

In other series these last two digits  only identify the alloy without any particular meaning

2XXX  series alloys have Copper as the major alloying element – 2024 is a good example of the 2000 series.

3XXX series alloys have Manganese as the major element

4XXX series alloys have  Silicon as the major element

5XXX  series alloys have Magnesium as the major element

6XXX series alloys have Magnesium and Silicon as major elements – 6061 is a good example of the 6000 series.

7XXX series alloys have Zinc as the major element – 7075 or 7050 is a good example of the 7000 series.

The 8XXX series alloys have other elements as the major addition

A suffix letter indicates a modification of the chemical composition

In addition to the alloy designation, a hyphen followed by an alphanumeric sequence defines the ” temper” .

The dash F  indicates  “As Fabricated”    The natural result of normal mill production with no special control of thermal conditions or any strain hardening.

Dash O indicates “Annealed” the lowest strength temper

Dash H indicates a “Strain hardened” condition. Additional digits define the temper and any supplementary thermal treatment applied

Dash W indicates ” Solution Treated” An unstable temper not common to commercial alloys

Dash T indicates “Heat Treated”  to stable tempers. Additional digits indicate temper and any supplementary strain hardening

In later videos we will go into some more detail on specific alloys and applicable tempers

Next week there will not be a video. Tune back in for an April Fools day special! No seriously, it’s not a joke. Please subscribe if you haven’t already, click here. If you have missed any previous videos, click here. Thanks for tuning in, see you in April.