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titleGeneral Notes

Alloy Series

Most types of aluminum are named with a 4 digit number, followed by a letter and a number (i.e. 6061-T6 aluminum). The four digit number is wrought alloy designation system, and the letter and number is the temper designation. The most signification number to look at is the first number, which represents a different principal alloying element. 


Notes on Each Alloy Type

Although there are a ton of types of aluminum alloys you can get, the most commonly used alloys are 3003, 5052, 6061 and 7075 aluminum alloys. Each of these alloy types are suited towards different applications.

  • 3003: Highly workable, corrosion resistant, easy to anodize and laminating. 
  • 5052: Similar to 3003, but better strength and corrosion resistance. Very common material used for folding applications
  • 6061: Most versatile and widely used alloy. Heat treatable, easy to weld, easy to machine, highly corrosion resistant, medium strength. Very common material to use for CNC'd aluminum parts
  • 7075: Highest strength aluminum alloy within this list, not weldable.


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titlePros and Cons


ProsCons
~2.5 less dense than steel, so aluminum is much
ligher
lighter~ 3x the price of steel (but still pretty economical in the grand scheme of things)
Very easy to custom machine, and is suitable to a lot of fabrication process such as folding, welding and CNC machining~ More susceptible to failure than steel
Can be anodized with colors to add aesthetic flair to the roverMost hardwares are made of alloy steel, so aluminum mated with steel fasteners MAY result in contact corrosion
Good corrosion resistantVery electrically conductive, so we can run into shorting problems if we aren't careful (that would never happen tho right (smile) )
Recyclable (smile)



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titleProcurement/Available Sponsorships

On Campus Availability

5052 and 6061 aluminum alloys can be purchased on campus at the ESMS, so we have very high accessibility for these materials directly on campus. We also have some stock material for these types of material scattered in the bay, but it's gonna be a mission and a half to sift through all that crap. Aluminum alloys can also easily be machined and fabricated with the SDC facilities on campus, so it's very easy to make these parts in house if we have the materials!


Sponsorships

We also have two machining sponsors that will fabricate aluminum parts for us for FREE! Wyrks Tool and Machine Ltd and Demtool both provide machining services for this type of alloy (folding, welding, laser cutting, CNC machining, you name it!) which also includes the stock material, provided they have it on hand and you aren't used some wonky alloy. 

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titleFeasibility for New Arm

Aluminum is DEFINITELY a material we should use for our new arm design. It's a great material custom machine our parts with as it's both light, strong, easy to manufacture and highly accessible. This is pretty much a no brainer.


Steel

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titleKey Physical Properties



Properties

typical density: 8050 kg/m^3

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