What is T6?

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Keith Oates

Janner
Location
Penarth, Wales
Found this if anyone is interested:

Aluminum


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Aluminum is quickly gaining ground as the material of choice for bicycles such as Trek, Cannondale, Mongoose, Klien and other top brands. New technologies have emerged recently that have lowered the cost of aluminum fabrication making it a strong contender to CroMo. The proverbial 6061-T6 grade aluminum is now the industry standard for aluminum frame composition. This is in part because this type of aluminum can be easily welded and is relatively strong.

Home builders may find aluminum fabrication challenging as it requires a TIG or MIG process and is more difficult to weld than CroMo or carbon steel using the same process. Additionally, 6061 T6 losses half its total strength when welded. Consequently, a post heat treatment process is required to regain it's full T6 strength.

The 6061 series of aluminum is alloyed with magnesium & silicon. However, these are only the majority of alloying elements as other elements are included such as copper, zinc, maganese and titanium. A total of 4% of alloying elements comprise the 6061 specification. The 6061 series is divided into grades or designations that refer to the post temper process. The most common grades are T0, T4, and T6. The grades, processes and strengths are depicted below:

Temper Process Tensile(PSI) Yield(PSI)
T0 fully annealed aluminum 18,000 8,000
T4 Solution heat treated and naturally aged 35,000 21,000
T6 Solution heat treated and artificially aged 45,000 40,000

Aluminum is extremely easy to work and machine making frame fabrication painless. Depending on the diameter and wall thickness, aluminum tubing can be easily formed using a standard conduit bender. Since aluminum is relatively soft, it can be filed, drilled and sanded with ease.

Just for conversation, I'll also mention the 7075 series aluminum. This type of aluminum is heavily alloyed with zinc making it incredibly tough and strong. However, this aluminum is very difficult to weld making it's use limited to machined components or glue bonded frames.
 
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