powder coating 6061-T6

[Tofflemire]

Hi All,

I read the following statement in the paint/coating forum for powder coating 6061-T6.
The -T6 from 6061-T6 indicates the heat treatment of this alloy. It is first solution treated by heating to ~ 530 C, then quenched into water, followed by heating for a long time (usually ~ 18 hours) at ~ 160 C. This last portion is called artificial aging or precipitation heat treatment. If you heat the alloy above this temperature during powder coat curing, the precipitates that formed previously begin to overage, reducing strength. The alloy does not become brittle (more prone to brittle fracture), as it actually will have increased elongation before fracture in the overaged condition. It just loses strength, both yield and tensile.

The baking temperature was 400 F for 7 minutes and 350 F for 15 minutes.
What % of yield and tensile would be lost during this baking time?

Thanks for any information

Tofflemire

 

[metengr]

I would recommend that you bake a 6061-T6 material sample under your conditions stated above, and have a metallurgical test lab conduct tensile testing. The tensile test would probably cost under $200.00. I doubt that you can find any information in the literature that would provide this type of specific information.