Aluminum Sheeting, grading? 5052, 6061

[cuyeda]

After reading a recent thread about alum. sheeting, I called a few vendors to find local sources. The subject of which grade of alum. did I want 5052, or 6061. These grades may just be what they carried in their inventory.

Sales person stated that the 5052 was commonly used for signage. 6061 was a little better quality.

So... can anyone shed a ray of light on the differences of the aluminum, or more directly tell us what grades of alum. is most commonly used for building a teardrop.

[eamarquardt]

Check out this link.

http://www.onlinemetals.com/aluminumguide.cfm

5052 is fine for skinning a teardrop.

Copper and Brass Sales in Santa Fe Springs is a good source. Also they have a big price break at 100# so 5 sheet of .040 5X12 is actually cheaper than 4 sheets.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Gus

[rainjer]

Hope this helps.

5052:
This is the highest strength alloy of the more common non heat-treatable grades. Fatigue strength is higher than most aluminum alloys. In addition, this grade has particularly good resistance to marine atmosphere and salt water corrosion. It has excellent workability. It may be drawn or formed into intricate shapes and its slightly greater strength in the annealed condition minimizes tearing that occurs in 1100 and 3003. Applications: Used in a wide variety of applications from aircraft components to home appliances, marine and transportation industry parts, heavy duty cooking utensils and equipment for bulk processing of food.

6061:
This is the least expensive and most versatile of the heat-treatable aluminum alloys. It has most of the good qualities of aluminum. It offers a range of good mechanical properties and good corrosion resistance. It can be fabricated by most of the commonly used techniques. In the annealed condition it has good workability. In the T4 condition fairly severe forming operations may be accomplished. The full T6 properties may be obtained by artificial aging. It is welded by all methods and can be furnace brazed. It is available in the clad form ('Alclad") with a thin surface layer of high purity aluminum to improve both appearance and corrosion resistance. Applications: This grade is used for a wide variety of products and applications from truck bodies and frames to screw machine parts and structural components. 6061 is used where appearance and better corrosion resistance with good strength are required.

source: http://www.ez.org/aluminum.htm

Jeremy

[Mark McD]

I used 5052 H32.

Cheers,
Mark