Classification of Aluminum Treatments

• July 21, 2022
• by Luiz Carlos
• Aluminium, Updates, Machining
• Comments Off on Classificações dos Tratamentos para o Alumínio

CLASSIFICATION OF ALUMINUM TREATMENTS

After a thorough content with explanation on aluminum thermal treatments performed at our SAMOT/ALTREF unit, we will now address some of the treatment classifications according to the ABNT NBR ISO 2107/2008 standard.

They are divided into:

- “F” – As fabricated: Applicable to materials obtained through conformation processes where no special control is applied on the thermal or strain-hardening conditions. No thresholds are specified for the mechanic properties.

- “O” – Annealed: Applicable to finished materials, in the state where they present the lowest mechanical resistance value.

- “H” – Strain-hardened: Applied to materials that had their mechanical resistance increased through cold working. Used in alloys that cannot be thermally treatable.

- “W” – Solution heat-treated: Only applicable to some alloys, that age naturally in room temperature after solution-treatment.

- “T” - Thermally-treated: Applied to products that undergo thermal treatment, with or without additional cold working, which produce stable physical properties different from those obtained in “O”, “F” and “H” tempers.

At Altref, our unit specializing in aluminum, we work with all the treatments listed above, with parts undergoing “T” treatment are the most frequently requested in the market.

Most of this consumption is made by machining companies, due to the great need for high precision and quality. Find below some of the most frequently requested treatments in the market:

• T3 – In this temper, the material is solution heat-treated, strain-hardened, and naturally aged until reaching a stable condition. In our process, after solution heat-treatment, the material is wire-drawn to obtain the strain-hardened condition.
• T5 – In this temper, the material is quickly cooled after the extrusion process, and then artificially aged. In our process, the cooling process is made with forced air, right after extrusion.
• T6 – In this temper, the material undergoes solution heat-treatment and is then artificially aged. For the market, this is one of the most requested treatments due to its cost x benefit.
• T8 – In this temper, the material undergoes solution heat-treatment, is strain-hardened, and then artificially aged. In our treatment, the strain-hardening process is obtained through the wire-drawing process.
• T9 – In this temper, the material undergoes solution heat-treatment, is artificially aged, and then cold-worked. The difference between T8 and T9 is the sequence of the strain-hardening process.