Duralumin

Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duralum, duraluminium, duralium or dural) is the trade name of one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. Its use as a trade name is obsolete, and today the term is mainly used to describe aluminium-copper alloys, designated as the '2000' series by the International Alloy Designation System (IADS).

Alloying elements

In addition to aluminium, the main materials constituting duralumin are copper, manganese and magnesium.

History

Duralumin was developed by the German metallurgist Alfred Wilm at Dürener Metallwerke Aktien Gesellschaft.

In 1903, Wilm discovered that after quenching, an aluminium alloy containing 4% copper would slowly harden when left at room temperature for several days. Further improvements led to the introduction of duralumin in 1909. The name is obsolete today, and mainly used in popular science to describe the Al-Cu alloy system, or '2000' series, as designated by the International Alloy Designation System (IADS) originally created in 1970 by the Aluminum Association.