Aluminum Structures

November 10, 2008

George Olive, P.E.

Larson Engineering, St. Louis, MO
golive@larsonengr.com
 Presentation Outline
• History of Aluminum
• Aluminum’s attributes
• Al i
Aluminum comparedd tto St
Steell
• Material designations
• Finishes
• Aluminum Structural Design

Aluminum Structures 2
 Starting off
• My experience
• Your experience
• Ask
A k questions
ti anytime
ti

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 History of Aluminum
• Third most common element after Oxygen
and Silicon
• Most abundant metal in Earth’s
Earth s crust
(8.1%)
• Never
N ffound
d ffree in
i nature
t
• The oxide, Alumina (Al2O3) occurs
naturally as ruby and sapphire

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 History
y of Aluminum
• Name proposed by Sir Davy in
1807
• Finally isolated in 1825
• Hall-Heroult process (1886)
allowed commercial quantities
to be produced
• Aluminum production requires
Photo - ALCOA
large amounts of electricity

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 History
y of Aluminum
• Washington monument cap
stone
t is
i aluminum
l i (1884)
• First used in construction in
1930’s
• Wide construction use
started in 1950’s –
extrusions commonly y
available
Photo - ALCOA

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 Current Uses of Aluminum
• Aircraft
• Automobiles
• C t i wallll
Curtain
• Storage tanks Photo - BOEING

• Highway signs

Aluminum Structures Photo – ENCLOS Corp 7

 Largest US Markets for Aluminum
Market 2002 (metric % of Total
tons x 1000)
Transportation 2211 31.8
g g
Packaging 1467 21.1
Construction 1015 14.6
Total 4693 67.5

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 Attributes of Aluminum
• Low weight / density (0 1lb/in3)
(0.1lb/in
• Increased strength and ductility at low
temperatures
• Corrosion resistance
• Strength from 10 to 80 ksi tensile ultimate
• Can be extruded

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 Why Use Aluminum
• Can make complex cross sections

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 Why Use Aluminum
• For light weight structures

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 Why Use Aluminum
• Low temperature applications

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 Aluminum – Steel Comparison
• Aluminum is corrosion resistant, similar to
stainless steel
• Aluminum is 1/3 of the weight of steel
• Aluminum Modulus of Elasticity is 1/3 that
of steel
• Aluminum available in non-standard
p
shapes
• Aluminum is more costly per pound

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 Aluminum – Steel Comparison
• Welding of Steel does not affect base
material
• Welding of many aluminum alloys reduces
base material strength near weld
• Majority
M j it off steel
t l shapes
h are compactt
• Majority of aluminum shapes are not
compact

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 Extrusions
• Made by heating and then pushing a solid
billet / log through an opening called a die
• Dies are round, up to ~ 30”
• Open, hollow, and combinations shapes
are possible
• Can design a new shape for a specific
application

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 Sources of Information
• Aluminum Association (AA)
– www.aluminum.org
– Founded in 1933
1933, 50+ members are the major
US producers
– AA writes most standards on aluminum; has
worldwide influence

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 Sources of Information
• American Architectural Manufacturers
Association
– www.aamanet.org
www aamanet org
– Provides information on cladding systems
• Windows
• Doors
• Cu
Curtain
a wall
a

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 Sources of Information
• Aluminum Structures 2nd Edition (Kissell, Ferry)
• Designing Aluminum Structures Seminar –
ASCE (Kissell)
( )
– Usually presented in several cities each year
– On-line version available from ASCE

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 Wrought Aluminum Designations
• Pure aluminum is very weak
• Aluminum is made into many alloys
• Alloy=a
All substance
b t composed d off ttwo or
more metals or of a metal and a nonmetal
i ti t l united
intimately it d
• Different aluminum alloys can have very
different material properties
• Alloying
y g elements are usually y less then 5%
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 Aluminum Alloys
• Si
Si, Fe
Fe, Cu
Cu, Mn
Mn, Mg
Mg, Cr
Cr, Ni
Ni, Zn
Zn, and Ti are
used
• Aluminum is identified by AA number and
temper

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 Wrought Alloy Designations
• Number Main Alloyy Strength
g Corrosion

1xxx 99%+ Al Fair Excellent

2xxx Cu High
g Fair
3xxx Mn Fair Good
4xxx Si Good Good
5xxx Mg Good Good
6xxx Mg Si Good Good
7xxx Zn High Fair
8xxx others

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 What the Numbers Mean
• 1st digit denotes main alloying element
• 3 rd and 4th and sequentially assigned
• 2ndd digit
di it denotes
d t off variation
i ti

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 1xxx Series
• Pure Aluminum
• Used in electrical connectors
• Pl – Good
Plus G d conductor
d t
• Negative – Weak strength

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 2xxx Series
• Copper alloy
• Aircraft sheathing
• Pl – Good
Plus G d strength
t th
• Negative – Poor corrosion resistance

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 3xxx Series
• Manganese alloy
• Gutters and siding
• Pl – very formable
Plus f bl
• Negative – Relatively weak

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 4xxx Series
• Silicon alloy
• Welding filler material
• Pl – Flows
Plus Fl wellll
• Negative – Low ductility

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 5xxx Series
• Magnesium alloy
• Boats and docks
• Pl – Strong
Plus St
• Negative – Difficult to extrude

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 6xxx Series
• Magnesium and silicon (magnesium
silicide) alloy
• Extrusions for building construction
• Plus – Strong and corrosion resistant
• Negative – Large strength loss when
welded

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 7xxx Series
• Zinc alloy (may also include copper)
• Aircraft framing
• Pl – Very
Plus V strong
t
• Negative – weak resistance to corrosion

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 Increasing Strength
• Stain hardening
• Heat treatment
• C bi ti off methods
Combination th d
• Only series 2xxx, 6xxx, and 7xxx are heat
treatable.

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 Tempers
• Temper designation follows series number
• Examples: 6063-T6, 3003-H14
• H iis ffor strain
t i H Hardened
d d
• T is for heat Treated
• O is annealed conditioned
• Tempering increases strength but reduces
ductility

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 Aluminum Special
p Finish
• Aluminum forms an oxidation layer when
exposed to air
• Natural layer is relatively soft
• Aluminum placed in chemical acid bath
with current applied forms hard anodized
finish – nearly as hard as diamond

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 Specification for Aluminum
S
Structures (SAS)
• Includes both ASD and LRFD
– Combined specification in 2010 version
– Will mirror steel code format
– Currently parts IA & IB in Aluminum Design
Manual
• Adopted by BOCA, UBC, SBC, and IBC
• 1stt edition
diti iin 1967
• Now updated every 5 years
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 Aluminum Design Manual Layout
• II Commentary
• III Design Guide
– Tips
Ti ffor design
d i
• IV Materials
– Describes alloys and tempers
• V Material Properties
p
– Mechanical and physical

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 Aluminum Design Manual Layout
• VI Section Properties
– For standard shapes (Channels, beams, tees,
etc)
• VII Design Aids
– Design tables for 25 alloys / tempers
• VIII Illustrative Examples of Design
– 31 examples using the SAS

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 Aluminum Design Manual Layout
• IX Guidelines for Aluminum Sheet Metal
Work in Building Construction

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 Aluminum Strength
• The stress-strain
stress strain diagram does not have
point where yield is apparent.

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 Aluminum Strength
• Aluminum uses a 0 0.2%
2% offset method to
determine yield strength

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 Aluminum Strength
g
• Aluminum shapes are generally non-
compact
• Need to check for all buckling modes –
L
Long, di
distortional,
t ti l andd llocal.
l

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 Aluminum Strength
• Need to check individual elements of a
shape

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 Aluminum Strength
• ADM (Aluminum Design Manual)
conservatively checks elements with ends
as pinned,
pinned not fixed.
fixed
• Can use software to improve allowable
stress / moment
moment.

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 CUFSM
• Finite strip method program available for
free at: http://www.ce.jhu.edu/bschafer/
• Can be used for both aluminum and cold
formed steel

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 CUFSM

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 CUFSM

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 CUFSM

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 CUFSM

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 Welding
g effects
• Other than alloying, aluminum’s strength is
a result of strain hardening or artificial aging
• The heat from welding erases these effects
• Welding reduces strengths:
– For –H tempers, down to –O (annealed)
– For –T tempers, usually down to –T
• Some 2xxx and 7xxx alloys
y aren’t weldable
• Weld affected zones are assumed to extend
1” from the actual weld
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 Design Aids

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 Design
g Aids

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 Safety Factors
• Safety factor for yield
yield, ny = 1
1.65
65
• Safety factor for fracture, nu = 1.95
• Safety
S f t factor
f t forf connections,
ti 1.2n
1 2 u = 2.34
2 34

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 Deflection limits
• Deflection limits are dependant on the
application
• For curtain wall applications
applications, deflection is
usually limited to L/175, based on glass
limits
• Roof and siding limits are usually L/60

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 The End
Thank you for attending

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