3033 H14 Aluminum 1

[GBD001]

Hi All, I have a question on 3003 H14 Aluminum that hopefully someone could help me with.

The aluminum I'm working with is .032" on a coil and I have two different width coils, 7.75" and 9.75" which I run through a metal expander to create diamond mesh. I have the certs for both coils and when I check the chemical composition against the Aluminum Association Teal Sheets, everything is within the specified limits.

My issue is that I can actually expand the 9.75" coil slightly more than the 7.75" coil and with the end product the 7.75" material will fail and break at the expansion joints when bent to 90deg, while the 9.75" coil can be folded over 180deg without breaking.

My question is. Which of the chemical properties, if any, could be at issue or is it an age or process related thing? I just need to know what to specify in the future so that I don't end up with another ton of aluminum that I have to struggle with.

 

[CoryPad]

It is not composition or age related, it is formability, which is determined by microstructure and the prior thermomechanical processing.

 

[kumkumvijay]

Hello

H14 means stain hardened for half hardness (1/2). You can further strain hardened ( mechanically deform) further to make the desired shape.

1 is for stain hardening which is mechanically deform the Al to increase the hardness & mechanical properties.

4 is for hardening to ½ hardness. When maximum mechanical deformation done then its called as full hardened. If we try to mechanically deform the full hardened part then it will crack.

If you find crack and not easy to deform then its not H14 ( ½ hardened) its hardened more than ½. If you check the hardness value then you can find the difference between ok coil and not ok coil irrespective of thickness.