• Aluminum is a light metal & easily machinable; has wide variety of surface finishes; good electrical and thermal conductivities; highly reflective to heat and light.
• Versatile metal – can be cast, rolled, stamped, drawn, spun, roll-formed, hammered, extruded and forged into many shapes.
• Aluminum can be riveted, welded, brazed, or resin bonded.
• Corrosion resistant – no protective coating needed, however it is often anodized to improve surface finish, appearance.
• Al and its alloys – high strength-to-weight ratio (high specific strength) owing to low density.
• Such materials are widely used in aerospace and automotive applications where weight savings are needed for better fuel efficiency and performance.
• Al-Li alloys are lightest among all Al alloys and find wide applications in the aerospace industry.
Application of some Al Alloys
– Food/chemical handling
– equipment, heat exchangers
– light reflectors
– Utensils, pressure vessels and
– piping
– Strain-hardn.
– Bellows, clutch disk,
– diaphragm, fuse clips, springs
– Heat treated
– Aircraft structure, rivets, truck
– wheels, screw
– Trucks, canoes, railroad cars,
– furniture, pipelines
– Peak-aged
– Aircraft structures and other
– highly loaded applications
– Aircraft pump parts,
– automotive transmission
– cases, cylinder blocks