EF420 Lecture 11 John Taylor 2 Features Large growth in use since 1950 (6 times) Abundant metal - 8% of earths crust Light weight SG = 2.7 Moderate to high strength (depending on alloy) Conductivity high (pure metal & low alloys) Corrosion resistant (Al 2 O 3 coating) Reflectivity high Non-magnetic 3 Extraction Al 2 O 3 obtained from bauxite by the Bayer process Al 2 O 3 reduced electrolytically by the Hall- Heroult process to make aluminium The large energy requirement for this process is the major proportion of the cost of aluminium, even with cheap energy sources. 4 Fabrication Ductile metal easily fabricated by rolling and extrusion Commercially pure metal can undertake a cold reduction of 80 - 90% without annealing Anneal at 350C Machineability is good, but limited by the tendency to gall 5 Aluminium products Cast alloys Wrought products Sheet, plate, foil Rod, bar, wire, tube Standard and special extruded shapes Forgings, impacts (combined extrusion and forging) Powder metallurgy (dispersion strengthened) products Structural applications Static building structures AS1664 series Scaffolding and ladders Transportation Aerospace, road (trucks, buses, trailers), railway Machinery and industrial equipment Non-sparking tools, roofs to tanks, chemical process vessels, jigs, patterns, instruments Consumer durables Structure of appliances: refrigerators, furniture, cooking utensils 7 Thermal and electrical Electrical Pure Al has 200% of the conductivity of copper weight for weight Conductors, heat sinks, capacitors, wave guides, antennas Reflectors Mirrors, search lights, loft insulation 8 Miscellaneous applications Packaging Drink cans, foil, hermetically sealed packs Powders and pastes Reflective paint, printing inks, pyrotechnics, thermit welding 9 Limits of use Temperature range of -240C to +200C for normal alloys Up to 350C for special alloys Up to 480C for short periods for dispersion strengthened alloys Low modulus of elasticity, requires stiffening Inferior wear, creep, & fatigue properties to steel 10 Aluminium alloy designations Aluminum Association (USA) and adopted in Australian standards Alloy designation systems for wrought products and cast alloys UNS numbers - A followed by AA number Temper designation system for wrought products Some proprietary alloys Wrought alloy designations Alloy Group Designation Pure aluminium (99.00% min) 1xxx Al-Cu 2xxx Al-Mn 3xxx Al-Si 4xxx Al-Mg 5xxx Al-Mg-Si 6xxx Al-Zn 7xxx Al + other element 8xxx 12 Alloy types and properties Strain hardened alloys (plus solid solution hardening) Precipitation (age) hardened alloys Dispersion strengthened alloys Yield strength from 28 MPa for 1050-O to 455 MPa for 2024-T815 Strength increases at low temperature No ductile-brittle transition 13 Strain hardened alloy tempers Code Description -O Annealed -F As fabricated (no mechanical property limits) -H1x Strain hardened -H2x Strain hardened and partially annealed -H3x Strain hardened and stabilised 14 Second and third digits x usually is a digit between 0 and 9, but may be 2 digits If x = 8, there has been the equivalent of a 75% cold thickness reduction after anneal Other x numbers represent a proportional amount of strain A 3rd digit indicates a special variation eg 5083-H116 indicates this material has had a special heat treatment to reduce exfoliation attack 15 Precipitation (age) hardening Solution treatment - a + b alloy is heated into a temperature range to dissolve all B. Quenching retains B in solution (supersaturated) Soft & ductile condition Aging - holding solution treated alloy at a temperature at which fine precipitates of b are formed Strengthened condition T (deg C) Percentage B Pure A Liquid L + a a + b a 16 Composition effects Alloys with low levels of B will only display a weak age hardening effect Alloys with a high level of b, which cannot be dissolved on solution treatment only display a weak hardening effect Alloys with with intermediate levels of B have the highest strengthening effect These alloys only display a narrow temperature range for the single phase (a) phase field These alloys also have a wide solidification range, are likely to crack during welding, and therefore have low weldability and castability 17 Age hardening alloy tempers -O and -F tempers as above -W: solution treated, but naturally aged -T1 to -T10: indicates a combination of hot work, cold work, solution treatment, and aging 18 Temper designations T1 Hot work, then naturally age T2 Hot work, cold work, then naturally age T3 Solution t reat, cold work, then naturally age T4 Solution t reat, then naturally age T5 Hot work, then artificially age 19 Temper designations T6 Solution t reat and artificially age T7 Solution t reat and stabilise (over age) T8 Solution t reat, cold work, then artificially age T9 Solution t reat, artificially age, then cold work T10 Hot work, cold work, then artificially age 20 1000 Series alloys Pure Al, can be work hardened Corrosion performance excellent Electrical and thermal conductivity excellent eg 1060: 99.6%Al min. 62 IACS Yield strength up to 145 MPa (1050-H18) Food, chemical, heat exchangers, electrical wiring, capacitor foil Weldable 2000 Series alloys Up to 6.3% Cu Eg 2014: 4.4Cu-0.8Si-0.8Mn-0.5Mg Precipitation hardened 130 to 230C aging temperature - T6 R P0.2 410 MPa typical Aircraft structure and mechanical components, vehicle body panels Weldability poor to fair depending on alloy 22 3000 Series Up to 1.2Mn + Fe in some alloys Eg 3004: 1.2Mn-1.0Mg Strength from fine particles (Mn,Fe)Al 6 which pin grain boundaries Excellent formability and weldability, very high corrosion resistance Work hardened up to 250 MPa yield typical 3004-H38 Cans, chemical vessels, industrial roofing, culvert pipe 5000 Series alloys Mg up to 5.1% in solution increases work hardening rate Eg 5083: 4.4Mg-0.7Mn-0.15Cr Work hardened up to 260 MPa yield 5083-H116: R P0.2 228 MPa typical Excellent weldability, moderate strength, Good corrosion resistance 25 5000 series alloy applications Very popular alloys Marine, auto and aircraft applications Pressure vessels, cryogenics Communication towers Armour plate Some alloys prone to exfoliation or stress corrosion if Al 8 Mg 5 forms in grain boundaries Avoid high Mg over 65C 6000 series Combination of Mg and Si allows precipitation hardening with Mg 2 Si precipitates Eg 6061: 1Mg-0.6Si-0.3Cu-0.2Cr 6061-T6: R P0.2 276 MPa typical Easily workable alloy with excellent strength, corrosion resistance Limited to excellent weldability (alloy dependant) Available as sheet, plate, extrusions Applications as 5000 series 28 Alclad Many multiphase alloys have inferior corrosion resistance These alloys are available as Alclad sheet or plate This material has a thin layer of pure aluminium roll bonded to one or both surfaces to provide corrosion resistance Fabrication must be undertaken so as to maintain the integrity of this coating 39 Dispersion strengthened Precipitates resist dissolution at high temperatures (up to 340C) Powder metallurgy (P/M) products SAP - sintered aluminium product (Al 2 O 3 ) Metal matrix composites Rapid solidification (RS-P/M) hypereutectoid iron alloys (plus other systems) Mechanical alloying 40 Dispersion strengthening Proprietary and standard alloys Can be welded but with some loss of properties Aerospace applications 41 Aluminium lithium 1 to 4% Lithium raises strength, raises elastic modulus by up to 6%, lowers density by up to 4% Strengthened by Al 3 Li, Al 2 CuMg, AL 2 CuLi precipitates on aging (depending on composition) Up to 585 MPa yield typical Good weldability as well as high strength Inferior toughness, ductility & stress corrosion performance Aerospace applications 42 Fabrication Machineability better than steel Cold and hot workability excellent Complex extrusion forms common Joined by fusion and non-fusion welding, brazing, soldering, adhesive bonding and mechanical methods 43 Cutting and machining Plasma cutting - edges require further dressing Shearing Sawing Extra clearance for chip release Planing and milling Power plane or rotary tungsten burrs Filing and scraping 44 Joining processes GTAW and GMAW are the most common processes OFW and MMAW require powerful fluxes Resistance and pressure processes can be used for many alloys Brazing and soldering some application Adhesives and mechanical fastening widely applicable 45 Weldability Depends on welding process and alloy composition Varies from readily weldable (eg wrought alloys by GTAW or GMAW) to not recommended (eg brazing of 2014) 46 Fusion welding Tenacious oxide film Prone to contamination by O 2 , N 2 , H 2 High conductivity, low melting temperature Slags are tenacious, corrosive Welds tend to under match strength Solidification cracking, particularly of many heat treatable alloys 48 GTAW technique Power type AC sine or square wave for cleaning action Zirconiated tungsten electrode Shielding gas Argon or argon helium High current for thicker materials 49 GMAW technique Fine electrode wire tends to suffer feeding problems Feeders and guns Push type limited to thicker wires and short cables Push-pull Spool guns 50 Metal transfer Spray transfer High current works in all positions Pulsed GMAW 51 Technique Porosity Cleanliness Preheat Overcome high conductivity Weld craters Avoid solidification cracking 52 Weld filler selection Avoidance of cracking Tensile strength of weld Weld ductility Service temperature Corrosion resistance Colour match after anodising 53 Solidification cracking Use matching filler for strain-hardened grades Dont mix 4000 series and 5000 series alloys (Mg 2 Si eutectics formed) Dont mix 5000 series and 2000 series alloys Many heat treatable grades are hot short No autogenous welding Avoid high dilution Medium copper grades are unweldable 54 Crack sensitivity 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Percentage Copper 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Percentage Magnesium 55 HAZ cracking Liquation cracking can occur in the HAZ of age hardenable grades Keep arc energy low Choose fillers with a low solidification temperature Weld metal properties Matching weld to base material is easy for strain hardened grades, but less easy for heat treatable grades Careful selection gives optimum properties 4346 filler for 6061-T6 heavy sections for highest strength when solution treated and aged 1000 and 5000 series fillers for high ductility Avoid filler with more than 3% Mg (5183, 5356, 5556, and 5654) for temperatures over 65C to avoid sensitisation to SCC HAZ properties Heat of fusion welding causes softening of work hardened grades Effect is most pronounced where work hardening is highest (H6, 7, 8 and 9 tempers) Softening of heat treated grades can also occur Age hardened grades (T6) have the most pronounced effect If possible use the solution treated grade (6061-T4) and age after welding 58 Effect of temper 0 5 10 15 20 Distance from fusion line mm 6061-T4, AW 60 70 80 90 100 110 HV 6061-T4, PWA 6061-T6, AW 6061-T6, PWA 59 Solid phase welding Cold welding - 75% thickness reduction at lap joint Ultrasonic welding - 1.5mm lap joints Explosion welding - cladding and lap joints Friction welding - Low weldability alloys and dissimilar combinations, Friction-stir welding 60 Brazing Restricted range of alloys 1000, 3000, 5000 with <2% Mg, 6000 Al-Si filler materials Torch, dip, furnace or vacuum processes Clean parts by etching Fluxes are fluoride and chloride salts Residues MUST be removed Temperature control is critical References AS/NZS 1734: Sheet and plate AS/NZS 1865: Wire, rod, strip AS/NZS 1866: Extrusions AS/NZS 1664: Design rules AS/NZS 1665: Welding WTIA Technical Note 2 AWS Handbook Volume 3 ASM Handbook Volumes 3 and 6 Metals and Alloys in the Unified Numbering System: Society of Automotive Engineers (USA)