What is the best material to use?
What is the best material to use?
(OP)
We are designing a hand held medical tool. We need it to be corrosion proof, durable and lightweight. Stainless Steel works well, but it is too heavy. 6061 Aluminum is lightweight, but it is soft and not very durable. Can we treat or coat the aluminum to render it hard and durable, resistant to dents, like stainless? Strength is not an issue. Is there an aluminum or other lightweight material that can be heat treated to a very durable hardness?





RE: What is the best material to use?
RE: What is the best material to use?
RE: What is the best material to use?
RE: What is the best material to use?
First, as mentioned previously by etch, 6061 can be heat treated (solution treatment followed by artificial aging) to the T6 temper. If you haven't already investigated this process, it will improve the strength and hardness considerably compared to the annealed state (O temper).
Next, wear resistance can be improved by several methods. Anodizing is extremely common for this alloy, and it imparts a hard, wear resistant, and corrosion resistant layer to the aluminum. You will want an "engineering hardcoat" which is much thicker than the "architectural" or other aesthetic types. More information can be obtained from the following references:
ASTM B 580 Standard Specification for Anodic Oxide Coatings on Aluminum available from ASTM at http://www.astm.org/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/STORE/filtrexx40.cgi?U+mystore+ityc3662+-L+B580+/usr6/htdocs/astm.org/DATABASE.CART/PAGES/B580.htm
MIL-A-8625F Anodic Coatings for Aluminum and Aluminum Alloys available from http://131.82.253.19/docimages/0000/58/77/8625F.PD6
Metalast website http://www.metalast.com/index2.html (click on The Technology then Research and then TECHspecs, Research Reports, or Technical Bulletins
Keronite website http://www.keronite.com
Microplasmic website http://www.microplasmic.com/
Other coatings such as chromium nitride, diamond-like coatings, hard (industrial) chromium plating, etc. may also be useful. Some good websites for more info include:
http://www.ionbond.com
http://www.balzers.com/
http://www.diamonex.com/
RE: What is the best material to use?
Only one thing he left out, is the fact that anodized alum is now a non-conductor of electrical curent if that is a factor in your application.
RE: What is the best material to use?