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Aluminium Design and Construction John Dwight

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Table 4.2 Temper designations for non-heat-treatable material<br />

quarter, half, three-quarter <strong>and</strong> fully-hard. The official system specifies<br />

the temper by means of an H-number, such as H14, for example.<br />

Table 4.2 lists the H-numbers in common use. The second digit after<br />

the H is the important one, since this defines the actual hardness. Usually<br />

this is an even number, the corresponding hardness being obtained by<br />

dividing by 8 (e.g. H16=6÷8=3/4 hard). For special requirements, material<br />

can be supplied to an intermediate level of hardness, in which case the<br />

second digit is odd (e.g. H13).<br />

The first digit after the H is of less direct interest, as it merely shows<br />

the procedure used by the manufacturer to bring the material to its<br />

final hardness. Possible procedures are:<br />

Temper-rolled (H1x). The material is cold reduced to the required<br />

hardness, with no subsequent heating.<br />

Temper-annealed (H2x). The material is over-worked in the final pass,<br />

<strong>and</strong> is then brought back to the required hardness by a partial anneal.<br />

Stabilized (H3x). The material is cold reduced to the right hardness,<br />

<strong>and</strong> its properties are then stabilized by a relatively low temperature<br />

application of heat. Such treatment may be necessary to prevent the<br />

age-softening to which some work-hardened alloys are prone.<br />

4.1.4 The O <strong>and</strong> F conditions<br />

There are two other possible conditions in which material can be supplied,<br />

defined as follows: O, annealed; F, ‘as-manufactured’. The O condition<br />

defines material that has been fully annealed (i.e. softened) by heating.<br />

The stronger F condition applies to products that are hot-formed to<br />

their final shape, without any subsequent cold-work or heat-treatment.<br />

It typically applies to hot rolled plate, or to sections in the as-extruded<br />

condition.<br />

The properties of F condition material cannot be controlled to the<br />

degree that is possible with other conditions, <strong>and</strong> material specifications<br />

only quote ‘typical’ strength values for such material, rather than<br />

guaranteed minima. In the case of extrusions, the F condition strength<br />

Copyright 1999 by Taylor & Francis Group. All Rights Reserved.

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