Aluminum differences

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between 6061 T6 and 2024 T3
and 6063 T5 is?
Lou

Lou Parker wrote:

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between 6061 T6 and 2024 T3
and 6063 T5 is?
Lou


,,,,,,,,,,,then you need to ask about the differences in all the T6's
--


Mark Smith
Tri-State Kite Sales http://www.trikite.com
1121 N Locust St
Mt Vernon, IN 47620
1-812-838-6351

http://www.alu-info.dk/Html/alulib/modul/Aindex.htm

Earlier, (Lou Parker) wrote:

Can anyone tell me what the difference
is between 6061 T6 and 2024 T3 and
6063 T5 is?

All that stuff is in the Aircraft Spruce and Specialty catalog,
probably in the Wicks catalog, and certainly in Machinery's Handbook.
I think that everyone who messes around with airplanes should have a
copy of Machinery's.

In short:

The 4-digit number specifies an alloy. The 2000-series aluminums are
principally alloyed with copper, and the 6000-series with magnesium
and silicon.

The T-number specifies a recipe for heat treatment. T3 means solution
heat treated, T5 means artificially aged only, and T6 means solution
heat treated and then artifically aged.

Probably the most important difference between those materials is in
the strength properties. For example, the tensile strength properties
shown in Machinery's Handbook a

yield psi ultimate psi
6063-T5 21,000 27,000
6061-T6 40,000 45,000
2024-T3 45,000 65,000
7075-T6 73,000 83,000

Note that there are many other differences between the alloys such as
notch sensitivity, susceptibility to corrosion, machinability,
weldability, and such like. Be careful.

Thanks, and best regards to all

Bob K.
http://www.hpaircraft.com

(Lou Parker) wrote in message . com...
Can anyone tell me what the difference is between 6061 T6 and 2024 T3
and 6063 T5 is?
Lou

About 20 ksi in tensile strength, 6061 being the lower. Don't have
any data on 6063 handy.

6063 is commercial cheese ... would be the lower strength of the three
alloys mentioned. Don't have data handly but you can find it on the web.

Nothing stopping you using it in an airplane if you select an appropriate
size to account for its lower strength. I have used it in some modifications
to a restricted category aircraft. Just be aware that you cannot by 6063 to
an accepted aeronautical spec such as QQ_A Fed Spec etc so you might want to
allow an extra margin of safety to account for the commercial nature of the
material.


"Lou Parker" wrote in message
om...
Can anyone tell me what the difference is between 6061 T6 and 2024 T3
and 6063 T5 is?
Lou

In article ,
"Stephen Mitchell" wrote:

6063 is commercial cheese ... would be the lower strength of the three
alloys mentioned. Don't have data handly but you can find it on the web.

Nothing stopping you using it in an airplane if you select an appropriate
size to account for its lower strength. I have used it in some modifications
to a restricted category aircraft. Just be aware that you cannot by 6063 to
an accepted aeronautical spec such as QQ_A Fed Spec etc so you might want to
allow an extra margin of safety to account for the commercial nature of the
material.


"Lou Parker" wrote in message
om...
Can anyone tell me what the difference is between 6061 T6 and 2024 T3
and 6063 T5 is?
Lou



Bottom line: DON'T do it! Real, aircraft grade aluminum is not all that
expensive -- just check the Airparts catalog or their ad in Sport
Aviation. 2024-T3 is the standard aircraft structural aluminum, and
substituting a lesser grade only adds weight and can reduce safety in
structural applications.

Orval Fairbairn wrote:



6063 is commercial cheese ... would be the lower strength of the three
alloys mentioned. Don't have data handly but you can find it on the web.

Nothing stopping you using it in an airplane if you select an appropriate
size to account for its lower strength. I have used it in some
modifications to a restricted category aircraft. Just be aware that you
cannot by 6063 to an accepted aeronautical spec such as QQ_A Fed Spec etc
so you might want to allow an extra margin of safety to account for the
commercial nature of the material.


Bottom line: DON'T do it! Real, aircraft grade aluminum is not all that
expensive -- just check the Airparts catalog or their ad in Sport
Aviation. 2024-T3 is the standard aircraft structural aluminum, and
substituting a lesser grade only adds weight and can reduce safety in
structural applications.

Are you sure that all aircraft parts are designed for ultimate stress
ability. Sometime, it's for stability in compression and the best ultimate
resistance is not needed.
For example, a 0.5mm skin on a MCR01 is oversized.
Another example: Zenith aircraft don't use 2024.


By
--
Philippe Vessaire Ò¿Ó¬

Yep you are right ... there are many cases where you don't want to use
2024-T3 just because it is the most common aircraft grade of alloy.

All alloys have the same modulus and hence commercial crap will perform just
as well as 2024-T3 or 7075-T6 etc in many applications where buckling is of
primary concern (NOT ALL THOUGH). Also there are many areas where stress is
not an issue but other issues such as formability, minimum bend radius,
availability, weldability and corrosion resistance are more important. I use
a lot of 6061-T6 to QQ-A-250/11 for these reasons in various applications.

However unless you know what you are doing just use what the designer
specified and don't try to cut corners to save a few bucks.



"Philippe" wrote in message
...
Orval Fairbairn wrote:



6063 is commercial cheese ... would be the lower strength of the three
alloys mentioned. Don't have data handly but you can find it on the
web.

Nothing stopping you using it in an airplane if you select an
appropriate
size to account for its lower strength. I have used it in some
modifications to a restricted category aircraft. Just be aware that you
cannot by 6063 to an accepted aeronautical spec such as QQ_A Fed Spec
etc
so you might want to allow an extra margin of safety to account for the
commercial nature of the material.


Bottom line: DON'T do it! Real, aircraft grade aluminum is not all that
expensive -- just check the Airparts catalog or their ad in Sport
Aviation. 2024-T3 is the standard aircraft structural aluminum, and
substituting a lesser grade only adds weight and can reduce safety in
structural applications.

Are you sure that all aircraft parts are designed for ultimate stress
ability. Sometime, it's for stability in compression and the best ultimate
resistance is not needed.
For example, a 0.5mm skin on a MCR01 is oversized.
Another example: Zenith aircraft don't use 2024.


By
--
Philippe Vessaire Ò¿Ó¬

In article ,
Philippe wrote:

Orval Fairbairn wrote:



6063 is commercial cheese ... would be the lower strength of the three
alloys mentioned. Don't have data handly but you can find it on the web.

Nothing stopping you using it in an airplane if you select an appropriate
size to account for its lower strength. I have used it in some
modifications to a restricted category aircraft. Just be aware that you
cannot by 6063 to an accepted aeronautical spec such as QQ_A Fed Spec etc
so you might want to allow an extra margin of safety to account for the
commercial nature of the material.


Bottom line: DON'T do it! Real, aircraft grade aluminum is not all that
expensive -- just check the Airparts catalog or their ad in Sport
Aviation. 2024-T3 is the standard aircraft structural aluminum, and
substituting a lesser grade only adds weight and can reduce safety in
structural applications.

Are you sure that all aircraft parts are designed for ultimate stress
ability. Sometime, it's for stability in compression and the best ultimate
resistance is not needed.
For example, a 0.5mm skin on a MCR01 is oversized.
Another example: Zenith aircraft don't use 2024.


By

You should note that I specified STRUCTURAL aluminum. Yes, nonstructural
parts are made for other reasons and have a places for other grades of
aluminum.

BTW, Zenith also uses pop rivets rather than driven rivets, so they
should not be used as an example.