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Alloy Effects and Specifcation Guide

Aluminium is mostly used in the form of alloys of pure aluminium in combination with other elements in order to improve the mechanical properties of the metal, especially to increase strength and corrosion resistance. Alloy elements to achieve certain properties on the final product are listed below:

Element Effect
Iron (Fe) increases the strength
Silicon (Si) higher strength in combination with Mg
Copper (Cu) increases the mechanical properties, reduces corrosion-resistance
Magnesium (Mn) increases the mechanical properties, changes deep-drawing quality
Manganese (Mg) high strength after cold forming
Chromium (Cr) more strength in combination with elements like Cu, Mn, Mg
Titanium (Ti) higher strength
Zinc (Zn) reduces corrosion-resistance

Main Aluminium-alloy Classifications
Alloys with their main elements Series Typical Applications
99.0% min Aluminium
 1XXX
 foil, Litho-sheet, sheet
Copper
 2XXX
 aircraft industry
Manganese
 3XXX
 cans, building, radiators
Silicon
 4XXX
 heat exchangers & engineering
Magnesium
 5XXX
 cans, automobile, facades, building, transportation
Magnesium and Silicon
 6XXX
 automobile, building, transportation
Zinc
 7XXX
 aircraft industry, radiators
other elements
 8XXX
 foil (Fe), aircraft industry (Li)

Many thanks to Novelis for allowing the use of this information.