What exactly makes aluminium an 'aerospace' grade? 7

[Harry.]

I know that aerospace grade means that they are more durable and lighter for Aerospace industries, but what exactly are aerospace bolts? Are they just made of stronger aluminium?

 

[IFRs]

It's like "Professional Grade" - means nothing other than Home Despot can charge more for it.
I think the answer to the OP original question is that the description "aerospace grade" means nothing without a spec attached.

 

[WKTaylor]

IFRs

You have a valid point... I have heard marketing/advertisers/salesmen use these terms... and found them to be ultimately worthless when the cold light of absolutes engineering performance requirements are DEMANDED for aerospace, marine, industrial, etc for genuine engineering applications.

In a similar-to-track...

I've had vendors claim that a product... typically a lubricant, cleaner, finish/coating, etc... 'is tested-to', 'conforms-with', 'meets/exceeds' specification [MIL, AMS, etc] [and other similar phrases] requirements... wink... trust me. However when I stare back and ask the simple question "is Your product formally qualified-to the specification... and has it been added to the Qualified Products Listing associated with that specification??"... that's when most facades fall-away... and 'they' non-engineers [salesmen] start 'dancing-around the subject' with every excuse/explanation as to why that last formal step was never taken... or is pending... or they are working-toward-it... or maybe you could 'help them thru the process'... etc...etc.

Back to aluminum...
I remember one auto commercial claiming 'military grade' aluminum was used in vehicle application [pick-up bed?] for weight and strength. I sincerely tried to ID what alloy/temper, processing, heat treatments etc... could have been used... and really got 'sub-basic' information. As I recall there was an alloy/temper and an associated ASTM spec for the materials... and the ASTM spec had DoD acceptance... other-than-that my quest was a dead-ended. Pretty transparent/flimsy' claim... of little true value. In some cases the claims were as close-to bald-face-lies... as I have ever encountered.

Regards, Wil Taylor

o Trust - But Verify!
o We believe to be true what we prefer to be true. [Unknown]
o For those who believe, no proof is required; for those who cannot believe, no proof is possible. [variation,Stuart Chase]
o Unfortunately, in science what You 'believe' is irrelevant. ["Orion", Homebuiltairplanes.com forum]

 

GMC employs the term 'military grade steel' in their marketing, so take that for what it's worth.

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts."

 

[IRstuff]

Well, if it's RHA steel, that could be worth a couple of extra bucks.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
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[RVAmeche]

WKT,

I think the pickup commercial you're remembering was a Ford F150 a few years ago where they were touting the new aluminum bed as being 'military grade'. If I recall correctly they also had issues where they had to modify or add a bed liner since large items dropped in the bed tended to puncture/damage it.

 

[Harry.]

I hadn't heard about the Ford F150 bed puncturing. The Curiosity Rover Wheels were punctured too:

They said it was because they underestimated how rough the terrain would be, and they made the aluminium wheels as thin as a credit card.

 

[IRstuff]

The Curiosity is a bit beat up, but it's at 4x its original mission duration requirement.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

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