After steel, aluminum is one of the most popular metals and the most readily available for commercial use. It is used to build everything from a child’s tricycle, to military and commercial aircraft. Of all the aluminum alloys, 2024 aluminum is the most common and widely recognized. It offers great strength and excellent resistance to fatigue. This makes it the perfect aluminum for aerospace and structural uses. It is the ideal aluminum when you need a metal that offers optimum strength to weight ratio.
Advantages of 2024
Copper is the alloying ingredient in 2024 aluminum, making it particularly strong and fatigue resistant. It has a high yield strength close to 50,000-psi and is known for its ability to withstand extreme stress and strain for extended periods of time. This makes it the most suitable aluminum alloy for aircraft and marine fittings and components, structures, hardware, wheels for trucks and other transportation parts where resistance to fatigue is critical. Sheets of 2024 are used in military and commercial aircraft in the engine areas where the temperature reaches extreme levels.
Machining this aluminum is relatively easy. It can be seam, flash or spot welded. It has good workability and heat treatable properties. It is a commonly extruded aluminum alloy, available in sheet and plate forms.
Disadvantages of 2024
The only downside to the addition of copper as the alloying ingredient is that copper makes 2024 less resistant to corrosion than some other alloys. For this reason 2024 aluminum is almost always clad with high purity aluminum or given an anodized finish to protect the metal beneath the top layer, from corrosion. It is not particularly suited for soldering or brazing.
Properties of 2024
Density Level: 2.78 g/cm3 (0.1 lb/in3)
Melting begins at 500° C (932° F)
Electrical Conductivity: 30% IACS
Young’s Modulus: 73 Gpa (10.6 Msi) across all tempers
Mechanical Properties of 2024
2024.0: 0 Temper aluminum has no heat treating properties. Ultimate tensile strength is 30-32 ksi (207-220 MPa). Yield strength is no more than 14,000 psi (96 MPa). Elongation is 10-25%.
2024-T3: T3 Temper aluminum has ultimate tensile strength of 58-62 ksi (400-427 MPa). Yield strength is at least 39-40 ksi (269-276 MPa). Elongation is 10-15%.
2024-T4: This is naturally aged, solution treated aluminum.
2024-T351: This temper has an ultimate tensile strength of 68 ksi (470 MPa). Yield strength is 41 ksi (280 MPa). Elongation is 19%.
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