Thanks Thanks:  0
Likes Likes:  0
Needs Pictures Needs Pictures:  0
Picture(s) thanks Picture(s) thanks:  0
Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Alloy

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Liverpool, NSW
    Posts
    44

    Default Alloy

    I hate to be a wordsnob but I need to say this; I notice that LOTS of people use the word "Alloy" when I suspect they really mean Aluminium. Two TOTALLY different meanings.

    Stainless steel is an alloy. So is brass and titanium.
    Aluminium is aluminium (as far as I know anyway).

    I refuse to call aluminim an alloy as its simply not correct. Or am I missing something?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Near Bendigo, Victoria, AUS
    Age
    72
    Posts
    3,102

    Default

    I always understood the use of that expression to refect that very few aluminium end products anre NOT alloyed with manganes, zinc, copper or magnesium.
    Hope that is right.
    Joe

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Ballina, NSW
    Posts
    900

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by AxelVK View Post
    I hate to be a wordsnob but I need to say this; I notice that LOTS of people use the word "Alloy" when I suspect they really mean Aluminium. Two TOTALLY different meanings.

    Stainless steel is an alloy. So is brass and titanium.
    Aluminium is aluminium (as far as I know anyway).

    I refuse to call aluminim an alloy as its simply not correct. Or am I missing something?
    Very few metals are used in their pure form in our industrial world. Take the various grades of aluminium, they have varying amounts of magnesium, copper, etc. in them, and therefore are technically alloys. Same goes for steel - it's iron alloyed with other metals as well as carbon. Brass is an alloy. Pure titanium isn't.

    A lot of people abbreviate aluminium to "ally" which I guess is easily confused with alloy, and as you point out, not really the best use of the word. Having said that though, there are "alloy" bull bars and lots of other examples - just something you have to get used to.

  4. #4
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    7,183

    Default

    From Aluminium alloy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    1000 series are essentially pure aluminium with a minimum 99% aluminium content by weight and can be work hardened.
    2000 series are alloyed with copper, can be precipitation hardened to strengths comparable to steel. Formerly referred to as duralumin, they were once the most common aerospace alloys, but were susceptible to stress corrosion cracking and are increasingly replaced by 7000 series in new designs.
    3000 series are alloyed with manganese, and can be work hardened.
    4000 series are alloyed with silicon. They are also known as silumin.
    5000 series are alloyed with magnesium.
    6000 series are alloyed with magnesium and silicon, are easy to machine, and can be precipitation hardened, but not to the high strengths that 2000 and 7000 can reach.
    7000 series are alloyed with zinc, and can be precipitation hardened to the highest strengths of any aluminium alloy.
    8000 series is a category mainly used for lithium alloys.
    For more detail look at the table half way down on the wikipage

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Liverpool, NSW
    Posts
    44

    Default

    OK. So perhaps even aluminium itself is an alloy. But using the word Alloy is as descriptive as Metal. To me, an alloy just means a metal made up of two or more raw materials. I just hate it when people say alloy when they really mean aluminium.

  6. #6
    BobL is offline Member: Blue and white apron brigade
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    7,183

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by AxelVK View Post
    OK. So perhaps even aluminium itself is an alloy.
    I agree that alloy is a stupid term for aluminium even if we are talking about practical uses where it is an alloy.

    Aluminium is an element and so is iron but we never use pure iron. For iron we have a useful term called "steel" which is a general term for iron based alloys.

    Maybe we need a new name for aluminium alloys?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Liverpool, NSW
    Posts
    44

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BobL View Post
    Maybe we need a new name for aluminium alloys?
    I just tend to think of them as 'different grades of aluminium'.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    490

    Default

    I've always thought that people who say 'alloy' are using it as a general purpose descriptor for any "It hasn't gone rusty so 'taint that real metal metal" - ie anything from zinc diecast to aluminium, magnesium or titanium.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    269

    Default That silver stuff

    Struth Mate

    Called it by its real atomic symbol AL I think it is.

    DD

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Adelaide
    Posts
    75

    Default

    maybe i should re word the title of the thread i put up the other day

Similar Threads

  1. SOLD: Alloy Pulley
    By eskimo in forum METALWORK - Machinery, Equipment, MARKET
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 6th Jan 2012, 08:31 AM
  2. Alloy Coupling
    By Wahoon in forum TRAILERS & OTHER FABRICATED STUFF
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 17th Jan 2011, 12:41 AM
  3. NB2B alloy
    By Brickie in forum METALWORK GENERAL
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 1st Jan 2008, 07:18 AM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •