Aluminum Grade ID & Temper Designation

Metal laboratory testing is required to identify the metal chemical grade of aluminum alloys.  This includes extrusions, castings and sheet aluminum. 

Chemical testing is first performed to identify the alloy grade of the aluminum.

• Metal chemical testing is performed by Optical Emission Spectrography (OES) which is fast & inexpensive.
• OES is a destructive test. Small samples or chips can be tested by Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) testing which is a more expensive wet chemical test method (see our ICP web page).
• Non-destructive OES chemical testing may be available dependent on the sample configuration at a much higher cost due to the time involved.
• Verification of the grade is performed using standard Aluminum Association tables, specific client specifications, AMS / SAE specifications or ASTM procedures dependent on the intended application.
• The final test report will identify the specific grade with which the sample conforms or which elements are out of specification.

Based on the sample size tensile testing is required to identify the aluminum temper designation.  The different temper designations for each grade have minimum requirement

• Tensile testing requires a 6” minimum length for a full-size specimen.
• Dependent on the material thickness and / or length, a full size specimen can be threaded at an increased cost.
• Sub-size tensile specimens can also provide sufficient tensile, yield, % elongation & reduction of area values to confirm a temper designation (at an increased cost to machine & test)
• The final test report will identify the temper designation with which the sample conforms.

Temper Designations of Aluminum Alloys

Chemical and tensile testing together is the only way an aluminum grade identification and the corresponding temper designation can be confirmed.

At ASAP Metal Testing we can provide both tests and a final test report in less than 3 days. Contact us today!