Cold Drawn Vs Extruded, Aluminum 6061-T651

[sluggo]

Greetings-
We're currently subcontracting to have a shaped extrusion machined for a military assembly we are under contract to produce. Over the length (8" and 12")the flatness is pretty critical. I'm curios the advantages of a cold drawn vs an extrusion of the grade aluminum listed above. Obviously the price is a premiuim for the cold drawn shape. Also, if anyone has any relevant experience in doing such work, it might be nice to jump off the forum and have some conversations specific to our need.

God Bless
Sluggo

 

[TVP]

Cold drawing will produce better tolerances than hot extrusion, but it is limited to solid sections, and even then it is limited by the amount of shape change from the raw material/cross-section to the final drawn section. Does the part in question have a solid cross-section? Maybe contact Contours, Ltd. (part of Bekaert) to discuss the particulars of your application.

 

[sluggo]

Thanks TVP- The extruded shape is about as bad as one could imagine... It is a "C" shaped cross section with a working length of 6" and 12" approximately. The extrusion is then machined to add multiple holes and grooves long the length. Our biggest concern isn't tolerance of the extrusion but flatness along the length, especially after the the machining is complete which may act to "strees relieve" and cause additional warpage.