Material properties of normal and high strength aluminium alloys at elevated temperatures

Aluminium alloys are being used widely in multiple engineering applications. However, the material properties of aluminium alloys could change significantly at high temperatures. This paper studied the mechanical properties of normal strength aluminium alloy 6063-T5 and high strength aluminium alloy 6061-T6 at elevated temperatures. Tensile tests were conducted at room temperature (24 °C) and high temperatures up to 600 °C. Both steady temperature state tests and transient temperature state tests were used. The yield stress (i.e., 0.2% proof stress), the ultimate stress, the Young's modulus, and the ultimate strain were determined from tests. The measured material properties at different temperatures are compared with the predictions by the American and European specifications. A series of unified equations for calculating the reduction factors of the material properties at high temperatures are proposed herein; they are found to yield more accurate reduction factors for aluminium alloys.