longtimelurker
Member
I have been weighing various aluminum sheet selections against the formability requirements for my design. The hard tempers impose limitations on formability; the formable tempers have reduced yields limits. I have tried forming a particular bulkhead (the usual problems with shrinking and stretching the flanges) and find I am able to form it in both 2024-T0 (no suprises there) and 6061-T4.
My question is this:
Can I get the 6061-T4 artificially aged to T6 without going through the solution heat process again (I don't want to deal with deformations associated with the quench)?
MIL-H-6088G seems to indicate that T4 temper can be artificially aged to T6 by 18 hours at 310-330 degrees F followed by an air cool.
Does this seem right? Or is there a catch. I've not seen a lot of posts on people using 6061-T4 and heat treating to T6...
My question is this:
Can I get the 6061-T4 artificially aged to T6 without going through the solution heat process again (I don't want to deal with deformations associated with the quench)?
MIL-H-6088G seems to indicate that T4 temper can be artificially aged to T6 by 18 hours at 310-330 degrees F followed by an air cool.
Does this seem right? Or is there a catch. I've not seen a lot of posts on people using 6061-T4 and heat treating to T6...
