Annealing Aluminum Sheet Metal

6xxx magnesium silicon alloy.

Annealing aluminum sheet metal.

To anneal stainless steel basically softening it requires a lot more heat 1900 f 1000 c than annealing steel in that an orangey red color needs to be achieved with your blow lamp but it also needs to be kept orange for at least ten minutes preferably longer to do it properly. Depending on the sheet metal you have available in your local area annealing may not be necessary. This makes the aluminum about as bendable as it can get. Annealing is simply the process of heating the metal up to a point where the microstructure of the metal changes effectively eliminating the temper it was supplied with then letting the metal cool in the air.

Machining operations that create high amounts of heat or material displacement may also warrant an annealing process afterward. By annealing the metal beforehand cold working can take place without any risk of cracking as annealing releases mechanical stresses produced during machining or grinding. This should anneal the 6061 t6 or other t into a t 0 material. There are two main approaches to this.

Work hardened materials such as sheet metal that has undergone a stamping process or cold drawn bar stock. Using a torch forging furnace or other non regulated source of heat or using a programmable heat treating oven. This is common to see in sheet metal form and it s malleable stuff. The metal is heated above its recrystallization temperature maintained at this temperature and then cooled in a controlled environment.

Annealing is a heat treatment process in which the sheet metal is altered on a molecular level altering its strength and hardness. Sema 2014 gene winfield spent some time in the eastwood booth covering metal working basics including tips and pointers on annealing and softening aluminum. Annealing works fine for complicated and deep forming but to form simpler stuff it s unlikely that you ll need it. This is one of the most common kinds of aluminum especially 6061 and it anneals.

Annealing is used for steel however other metals including copper aluminum and brass can be subject to a process called solution annealed. Metal wire that has been drawn from one size to a smaller size may also undergo an annealing process. It involves heating the steel to 20 50 c above its upper critical point soaking it for a short period at that temperature and then allowing it to cool in air. Note that aluminum does not change color when heated so getting burned becomes a real concern.

Also as aluminum comes from the mill it develops a coating aluminum oxide as it cools.