Aluminum alloy 5052 vs 6061

Aluminum alloy 5052 vs 6061

5052 and 6061 aluminum alloy are aluminum alloy products that have received great attention in industry and construction because of their excellent performance and wide range of applications.

Compare 5052 aluminum alloy and 6061 aluminum alloy. Not only do they have a lot in common, even 5052 aluminum alloy and 6061 aluminum alloy can be replaced with each other in certain specific usage scenarios, but they also have many differences. We will compare 5052 aluminum in detail below. alloy and 6061 aluminum alloy.

What is 5052 aluminum alloy?

5052 aluminum alloy belongs to the 5000 series alloys. The main added element is magnesium, about 3-5%, which is called aluminum-magnesium alloy.

5052 aluminum also happens to be the strongest non-heat treatable sheet and plate commonly used.

The density of 5052 aluminum alloy is 2.68g/cm3, which is slightly lower than pure aluminum, so it is very commonly used in the aerospace field, such as aircraft fuel tanks.

5052 aluminum alloy does not contain any copper, so its resistance to salt water corrosion is higher than other aluminum alloys, making 5052 aluminum plate a perfect choice for boat building.

5052 aluminum alloy is very suitable for anodizing because its color change is very small after anodizing.

What is 6061 aluminum alloy?

The main elements added to the 6000 series aluminum alloy are magnesium and silicon, and the 6061 aluminum alloy is its representative product. It has the characteristics of medium strength, good corrosion resistance, weldability, no deformation after processing, easy coloring, and good oxidation effect.

6061 aluminum is widely used in various industrial structural parts that require a certain strength and high corrosion resistance, such as mobile phone slots, mobile phone casings, manufacturing trucks, tower buildings, structural materials, ships, railway vehicles, precision machining, etc.

Chemical composition comparison 5052 vs 6061

Both 5052 and 6061 alloys have strong corrosion resistance, but due to the higher mg content in the 5052 alloy, 5052 has stronger corrosion resistance and is more suitable for use in the ocean.

Comparison of material properties with 5052 & 6061

Table 1: Comparison of material properties between 6061 & 5052 aluminum alloys

The yield strength of a material is the minimum amount of stress that will cause a test piece to change shape, or permanently deform.

6061 is more difficult to permanently deform than 5052 (276 MPa VS. 193 MPa), which means that 6061 has higher strength. On the other hand, it also shows that the machining performance of 6061 aluminum alloy will be somewhat lacking.

The strength of 6061 is higher than that of 5052 under the same condition (the zn and cr content of 6061 alloy is higher than that of 5052).

The modulus of elasticity can be thought of as the “stiffness” of an alloy; it is a measure of how much a material resists plastic deformation. Materials with higher moduli are considered more elastic because it takes more work to permanently deform the material.

Most metals are good conductors of heat, and these alloys are no different. The thermal conductivity of a metal describes how much heat can move through a material, and is useful in thermal components such as heat sinks and heat exchangers. 6061 aluminum has a higher thermal conductivity than 5052 aluminum, making it the preferred choice for heat dissipation applications.

6061 aluminum machines well because it is more brittle, meaning smaller bits of the alloy (called “chips” in machine shops) fracture off more easily when machined. 5052 aluminum is more difficult to machine, as its elastic nature causes larger chips which cause excessive wear on tooling and less precise cuts. So, while 5052 aluminum is the premier material for welded sheet work, 6061 aluminum shines as a tough machining alloy.

5052 vs 6061 aluminum tempers

The main difference between 5052 aluminum sheet and 6061 aluminum sheet is:

5052 aluminum sheet cannot be strengthened by heat treatment, which means that 5052 aluminum alloy can be strengthened by cold working or strain hardening (such as rolling or forging). 5052 H112 aluminum sheet and 5052 H32 aluminum sheet are the most common hardening processes.

But 6061 aluminum plate can be heat treated. It will be heated in a submerged furnace at 533 °C (990°F) and then water quenched. 6061 T4 aluminum alloy and 6061 T6 aluminum alloy are the most common forms of 6061 and are often used in heavy-duty structures. Therefore, strength and formability under T tempering are very important.

Comparison of 5052 vs 6061 aluminum alloy applications

Application of 5052 aluminum alloy

Due to its excellent performance, 5052 aluminum alloy has strong corrosion resistance, high strength-to-weight ratio, excellent tensile strength, elongation, etc. Therefore, 5052 aluminum alloy is widely used in the marine industry and electronics industry. and chemical applications.

• Marine applications: large marine structures, LNG storage tanks, marine equipment.
• Architectural decoration: building facade.
• Household appliances: electronic casings, kitchen cabinets, electrical appliances, fans and fan blades, household freezers, clock plates, fences, etc.
• Transportation: Aircraft, bus and truck manufacturing, road and name signs, fuel lines and tanks, street lights and other signs for the transportation industry.
• Industrial manufacturing: pressure vessels, sheet metal parts, heat exchangers, chemical equipment, aluminum pedals, etc.

Application of 6061 aluminum alloy

6061 aluminum alloy is also known as “structural aluminum”. It is one of the commonly used extruded aluminum profiles. Thanks to its formability, it can be formed into sheets, rounds, squares, extrusions, rolling or any form.

The uses of Huawei Aluminum 6061 aluminum alloy mainly include the following aspects:

• Automotive manufacturing: truck and bus bodies, wheels and various transportation end uses, brakes and hydraulic pistons.
• Aerospace: aircraft structural parts, fuselage parts.
• Rail transit: railway vehicle components, subway platforms, stairs, floors, covers, walkways.
• Food industry: canned food, food and beverage cans.
• Others: Scuba cylinders, pipe fittings, hinge pins, valves and valve parts, bicycle frames, fire ladders, bridge parts, camera lens mounts, couplings, electrical fittings and connectors, magneto parks, structural frames, basic equipment and gussets.

Price comparison (5052 vs 6061)

In terms of aluminum alloy prices, there is not much price difference between 5052 and 6061. However, due to the complex and more difficult processing technology of 6061 aluminum alloy, the price will be slightly higher than that of 5052 aluminum alloy.

Huawei Aluminum Aluminum Plate Price Structure

• 1. Primary aluminum price (Yangtze River aluminum price);
• 2. Processing costs. Depending on the processing technology, the processing costs will be different;
• 3. Packaging and transportation costs, moisture-proof plastic coating, wooden frame, sea transportation;
• 4. The impact of RMB on the US dollar exchange rate;