Prepared by: Engr. Marianne Kriscel Jean T.

Dejarlo, CE, SE
§ Most plentiful metal on Earth, representing
8% of its crust
§ Aluminum exists primarily as oxides
§ Aluminum is second only to steel. About
25% of aluminum produced is used for
containers and packaging, 20%for
architectural applications, such as doors,
windows, and siding, and 10% for
electrical conductors.
§  has one-third the density of steel
§  has good thermal and electrical conductivity

§  has high strength-to-weight ratio

§  can be given a hard surface by anodizing and hard coating

§  has alloys that are weldable

§  will not rust

§  has high reflectivity

§  can be die cast

§  is easily machined

§  has good formability

§  is nonmagnetic
§  is nontoxic
In many beam design problems deflection is a
limiting criteria. Assuming a rectangular simply
supported beam loaded and the height of the
beam is fixed by other design considerations,
determine the difference in width required for an
aluminum beam compared to a steel beam
§  Bayer developed the sodium aluminate leaching process to produce
pure alumina
§  Hall and Héroult, working independently, developed an electrolytic
process for reducing the alumina to pure aluminum.
§  The production of aluminum starts with the mining of the aluminum ore,
bauxite.
§  Commercial grade bauxite contains between 45% and 60% alumina.
§  Second, The bauxite is crushed, washed to remove clay and silica
materials, and is kiln dried to remove most of the water.
§  Third, The crushed bauxite is mixed with soda ash and lime and passed
through a digester, pressure reducer, and settling tank to produce a
concentrated solution of sodium aluminate.
§  Fourth, The solution is seeded with hydrated alumina crystals in
precipitator towers.
§  Fifth, The alumina hydrate crystals are washed to remove remaining
traces of impurities and are calcined in kilns to remove all water.
§  Sixth, The alumina is melted in a cryolite bath (a molten salt of sodium–
aluminum–fluoride).
§  Seventh, The molten aluminum, with better than 99% purity, is
siphoned off to a crucible.
§  Eight, It is then processed in a holding furnace. Hot gases are passed
through the molten material to further remove any remaining
impurities. Alloying elements are then added.
§  Lastly, The molten aluminum is either shipped to a foundry for casting
into finished products or is cast into ingots.
§ Three forms of casting used
§  Die Casting
§  Permanent Mold Casting
§  Sand Casting
§ Basic Forming Methods
§  Extrusion
§  Rolling
§  Roll Forming
§  Brake Forming
§  Cutting Operations
§  Embossing
§  Drawing
§  Superplastic Forming
§ Molten aluminum is forced into a permanent
mold under high pressure. Suitable for mass
production of precisely formed castings.
§ Molten aluminum is poured into a reusable
metal mold. Economical for large volume
production.
§ Sand with a binder is packed around a pattern.
The pattern is removed and molten aluminum
is poured in, reproducing the shape. Produces
a rough texture which can be machined or
otherwise surfaced if desired. Economical for
low volume production and for making very
large parts. Also applicable when an internal
void must be formed in the product.
§  Aluminum heated to 425 to 540°C (800 to
1000°F) is forced through a die. Complex cross
sections are possible, including incompletely
or completely enclosed voids. A variety of
architectural and structural members are
formed by extrusion, including tubes, pipes, I-
beams, and decorative components, such as
window and door frames.
§  Rollers compress and elongate heated
aluminum ingots, producing plates (more than
6 mm (0.25 in.) thick), sheets (0.15 to 6 mm
(0.006 to 0.25 in.) thick, and foil (less than 0.15
mm (0.006 in.))
§  Shaping of sheet aluminum by passing stock
between a series of special rollers, usually in
stages. Used for mass production of
architectural products, such as moldings,
gutters, downspouts, roofing, siding, and
frames for windows and screens.
§  Forming of sheet products with a brake press.
Uses simpler tooling than roll forming but
production rates are lower and the size of the
product is limited.
§  Production of outline shapes by blanking and
cutting. In blanking, a punch with the desired
shape is pressed through a matching die. Used
for mass production of flat shapes. Holes
through a sheet are produced by piercing and
perforating. Stacks of sheets can be trimmed or
cut to an outline shape by a router or sheared
in a guillotine-action shear.
§  Shaping an aluminum sheet by pressing
between mated rollers or dies, producing a
raised pattern on one side and its negative
indent on the other side.
§  Shaping an aluminum sheet by drawing it
through the gap between two mated dies in a
press.
§  An aluminum sheet is heated and forced over
or into a mold by air pressure. Complex and
deep contour shapes can be produced, but the
process is slow.
§  Aluminum has a face center cubic (FCC) lattice structure
§  It is very malleable, with a typical elongation over a 50-mm (2-in.) gauge length of
over 40%.
§  It has limited tensile strength, on the order of 28 MPa (4000 psi). The modulus of
elasticity of aluminum is about 69 GPa (10,000 ksi).
§  Commercially pure aluminum (i.e., more than 99% aluminum content) is limited to
nonstructural applications, such as electrical conductors, chemical equipment, and
sheet metal work.
§  Although the strength of pure aluminum is relatively low, aluminum alloys can be
as much as 15 times stronger than pure aluminum, through the addition of small
amounts of alloying element, strain hardening by cold working, and heat
treatment.
§  Copper
§  Manganese
§  Silicon
§  Magnesium
§ The designation system for wrought alloys consists of a
four-digit code.
§ first digit indicates the alloy series.
§  second digit, if different from 0, indicates a modification in
the basic alloy.
§ Third and forth digits identify the specific alloy in the series

§ For wrought alloys, Except for the 1xxx series, in

which the final two digits indicate the minimum
aluminum content. For the 1xxx series, the aluminum
content is 99% plus the last two digits of the code,
expressed as a decimal fraction. For example, a 1060
contains a minimum aluminum content of 99.60%
§ Cast alloys are assigned a three-digit number followed
by one digit after the decimal point
§ first digit represents the alloy series. Note that series 3, 6,
8, and 9 have different meanings for cast versus wrought
alloys
§ second and third digits are arbitrarily assigned to identify
specific alloys
§ digit after the decimal indicates whether the alloy
composition is for the final
§ casting (xxx.0) or for ingot (xxx.1 and xxx.2).
§ Aluminum alloys used for structural applications
are classified as being either heat treatable or
not
§ Non–heat-treatable or “common” alloys contain
elements that remain substantially in solid
solution or that form insoluble constituents.
§ Thus, heat treatment does not influence their
mechanical properties. The properties of these
alloys are dependent on the amount of cold
working introduced after annealing.
SYMBOL MEANING COMMENT

F AS FABRICATED No special control over

thermal conditions or strain
hardening is employed.

O ANNEALED Wrought products—

annealed to the lowest
strength temper
Cast products—annealed to
improve ductility and
dimensional stability. The “O”
may be followed by a digit
other than zero, indicating a
variation with special
characteristics
SYMBOL MEANING COMMENT

H STRAIN HARDENED Wrought products only.

The “H” is always followed by
two or more numerical digits.
The first digit indicates a
specific combination of basic
operations.
The second digit indicates the
degree of strain
hardening.
Codes for Second Digit:
2- Quarter Hard
4- Half Hard
8- Full Hard
9- Extra hard
SYMBOL MEANING COMMENT
H STRAIN HARDENED The basic operation for first
digit:
H1 - strain hardening only.
H2 - strain hardened and
partial annealed
H3 - strain hardened and
stabilized

W SOLUTION HEAT TREATED This designation is specific

only when the
period of natural aging is
indicated—for example, W0.5
hr
SYMBOL MEANING COMMENT
T THERMALLY TREATED TO Comes with Ten kinds of
PRODUCE STABLE TEMPERS thermally treated products
§ Tests performed on aluminum are similar to those
described for steel.
§  In contrast to steel, aluminum alloys do not display an
upper and lower yield point. Instead, the stress–strain
curve is linear up to the proportional limit, and then is a
smooth curve up to the ultimate strength.
§ Yield strength is defined based on the 0.20% strain offset
method
§ Aluminum’s coefficient of thermal expansion is
0.000023/°C (0.000013/°F), about twice as large as that of
steel and concrete
An aluminum alloy rod with 10 mm diameter
was subjected to a 5-kN tensile load. After the
load was applied, the diameter was measured
and found to be 9.997 mm. If the yield
strength is 139 MPa, calculate the Poisson’s
ratio of the material.
§ The two common processes by which aluminum is
welded:
§  GMAW (gas metal arc welding) - the filler wire also serves as the
electrode.
§  GTAW (gas tungsten arc welding) - uses a tungsten electrode and
a separate filler wire.
§ Bolts can be either aluminum or steel.
§  steel bolts are used, they must be either galvanized, aluminized,
cadmium plated, or made of stainless steel to prevent the
development of galvanic corrosion.
§ Rivet fasteners are made of aluminum and are cold
driven.
§ Galvanic corrosion occurs when aluminum is
in contact with any of several metals in the
presence of an electrical conductor, such as
water.
§ The best protection for this problem is to
break the path of the galvanic cell by
painting, using an insulator, or keeping the
dissimilar metals dry.