You Must Master These 2 Key Points to Understand Aluminum Alloy Milling!

Guideline

In recent years, many lightweight materials have emerged on the market, but there is one material that has always been popular: aluminum. What makes aluminum so popular? What advantages does it have? What are the pitfalls of aluminum processing, especially milling processing? Read our overview to find out!

This article will analyze from the following 6 points:

1. Characteristics of aluminum

2. Mechanical properties of aluminum

3. Aluminum forging material categories: the key to successful processing

4. Challenges of aluminum processing

5. Is cutting fluid required when milling aluminum?

6. Feed and cutting speed when cutting aluminum

Part 1

Characteristics of aluminum

Aluminum is indispensable in industrial production. This is mainly due to its special properties:

●Aluminum is very light: in the automotive and aerospace industries, this material still plays an important role in reducing weight and reducing fuel consumption.

●Aluminum is very stable: Due to its various alloys, its tensile strength is almost comparable to that of steel.

●Aluminum is a good conductor: Its high thermal conductivity combined with its high specific heat capacity facilitates machining and enables high cutting speeds.

●Aluminum saves resources: Aluminum is an ideal recyclable material.

Part 2

Classification of aluminum forging materials: the key to successful machining

Unfortunately, not all aluminum alloys and related materials are equally machinable: pure aluminum, for example, is very soft and difficult to machine due to its low tensile strength. These have a significant influence on chip shape, wear, surface and cutting forces. Therefore, it has proven worthwhile to classify aluminum forging materials into three categories.

01

Class 1 aluminum forging materials

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Aluminum alloys with lower tensile strength belong to Class 1. This includes non-hardened alloys in the unsolidified or partially solidified state, such as the 1000 series, 5005A and 5454. This class also includes hardened alloys in the unhardened state, such as EN AW-6063, 6060 and 6082. Due to the low tensile strength, machining often results in chip sticking and a "smearing effect", which results in a more severe BUE formation. The use of a suitable cutting fluid is recommended to minimize the formation of BUE.

02

Class 2 Aluminium Forgings

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Class 2 contains aluminium materials with a relatively high tensile strength. This includes non-hardened materials in the work-hardened state, such as alloys from the 5000 series. Hardenable materials in the hardened state, such as alloys from the 6000 and 7000 series, also belong to this class. These materials have a tensile strength between 300 and 600 N/mm² and do not contain hard components, so they wear very little. Due to the high tensile strength, BUE formation is also reduced.

03

Class 3 Aluminium Forgings

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Class 3 contains free-cutting materials, such as hardenable forgings with chip-breaking additives such as lead or bismuth. This category includes materials such as EN AW-2011, 2007 or 6012. Due to the addition of chip-breaking additives, these materials form shorter chips and are less prone to built-up edge.