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Tenzaloy™

General Applications

Since Tenzaloy™ has mechanical properties equivalent to the common heat-treated alloys, it may be substituted in applications where a heat-treated alloy is presently being used. Tenzaloy™ is used in any high strength application where load carrying capacity and impact strength is desired. This may be almost any type of casting of this nature, including frames, brackets, levers, bases, housing, heavy duty fan blades, etc. The high machinability and fine finishes obtainable have been sufficient reason alone for the use of Tenzaloy™ in many instances.

High Strength
Tenzaloy™ is a high-strength aluminum casting alloy that has tensile yield and elongation properties equivalent to the common heat treated alloys such as 195T6, 355T6 and 319T6. The impact strength of Tenzaloy™ is greater than any of these alloys, and in several instances the elongation is higher.

Tenzaloy™ attains its strength by a natural aging process that gradually takes place at room temperature. The typical properties are reached after 10-14 days, and when testing for specification purposes, a 21-day period is used. Some slight further aging and strengthening takes place up to six months, at which time the alloy is stable and no further change of any kind takes place. Test bars held for six years at room temperature have shown that the properties remain constant.

Elimination of Heat Treatment
Because Tenzaloy™ is self-aging, no heat treatment is required. The first and most obvious advantage gained is the saving of the cost of the treatment and the extra freight often involved if the heat treating is being done outside the foundry. The process of heat treatment is far from a fool-proof operation, and is subject to many errors and failures (both man and machine).

The solution heat treatment is carried out at as high a temperature as possible for maximum efficiency. This temperature is just below the melting point, and a common cause of difficulty is overheating due to faulty temperature control or hot spots in the furnace. This overheating often results in warped, cracked and, occasionally, melted castings, which are then a complete loss.

The quenching operation which follows solution heat treatment can cause substantial problems with regard to warpage and cracking. When distortion occurs, the castings must be straightened—a troublesome operation which must be performed within a short time after quenching, while the castings are soft.

Stress-free, Full-strength Castings
If Tenzaloy™ is given a simple heat treatment of six hours at 468? C. and allowed to air cool (not quenched) it will age normally and result in a stress-free, full-strength casting. This is not possible with any heat treated alloy.

All castings of any alloy will contain internal stresses as a result of the casting process. The solution heat treatment cycle of the heat treated alloys will eliminate these cast stresses, but the quenching operation introduced much greater ones. Conventional T6 aging treatments do not relieve these stresses. Aging treatments which do relieve these quenching stresses (such as T71) result in inferior properties. The cast stresses can be relieved by a simple, one-step aging treatment (T5) but here again inferior properties result.

Thus, through the use of Tenzaloy™, it is possible to obtain castings that have their full strength and yet are stress-free. This is important for uses where close dimensional and straightness tolerances must be maintained, especially where the castings are extensively machined.