Aluminum T6 Limitations?

[Leyla83]

I'm planning to use aluminum (Grade 6061 T6 / 6082 T6) for low temperature equipment skids (-20 to -40 degC).

Are there any recommendation / limitation for these materials at such low temperatures (resilience...) ?

Thanks and regards,

 

[CoryPad]

Alloy 6061-T6 has an increase in yield strength, tensile strength, elongation, and fracture toughness when decreasing the temperature, even to cryogenic temperatures like - 200 [°]C.

When you use the word resilience, do you mean the technical definition of "the amount of energy stored under elastic loading"? If so, then you can examine the governing equation:

resilience = [σ]²/2E,

where

[σ] is the elastic stress limit
E is the elastic modulus (Young's)

At - 40 [°]C, the yield strength increases approximately 10 MPa and the modulus increases about 2 GPa, so the resilience will increase slightly.

Regards,

Cory

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

 

[40818]

T6 is susceptable to stress corrosion cracking.