Typical (average) strengths are given in the Aluminum Design Manual, Part

V, but they are not used in structural design. Typical strength values are used
instead of minimum strengths, however, to calculate the necessary capacity
of fabrication equipment, such as punches and shears. Typical strengths are
about 15% higher than minimum strengths.
4.2 STRENGTHS
The only minimum strengths that are required in product specifications for
most mill products, and, thus, are said to be guaranteed are tensile yield and
ultimate strengths. (Wire and rod to be made into fasteners must also meet
minimum shear ultimate strength requirements.) The tensile test procedure is
given in ASTM B557, Tension Testing Wrought and Cast Aluminum and
Magnesium Alloy Products (66), and the shear test procedure is given in
ASTM B565, Shear Testing of Aluminum and Aluminum Alloy Rivets and
Cold Heading Wire and Rods (67).
Yield strength is determined by the 0.2% offset method because the stressstrain
curves for aluminum alloys are not precisely linear up to yield and
don�t exhibit a sharply defined yield point. By this method, a line is drawn
parallel to the initial linear portion of the curve; the stress at which this line
intersects the actual stress-strain curve is defined as the yield strength. This
definition is used worldwide.
The Aluminum Specification Table 3.3-1 provides minimum strengths for
22 alloys by temper and product form. The strengths given are:
� tensile yield strength (Fty )
� tensile ultimate strength (Ftu)
� compression yield strength (Fcy )
� shear yield strength (Fsy)
� shear ultimate strength (Fsu)
The tensile yield and tensile ultimate strengths are the minimum specified
strengths from Aluminum Standards and Data (11) (a subset of those in the
corresponding ASTM specifications). Shear ultimate strengths (for material
other than fasteners) and compression yield strengths given in the table are
based on test data since they are not given in product specifications. The
shear yield strengths given were derived by dividing the tensile yield strengths
by #3 (equivalent to multiplying by approximately 0.58 and called the Von
Mises yield criterion) and rounding the results.
Compressive ultimate strength is not a measured mechanical property for
aluminum alloys. For material as ductile as aluminum, compressive ultimate
strength has no meaning; in compressive tests, the metal swells but does not
exhibit brittle fracture.
We�ve provided the minimum mechanical properties for the alloys listed
in the Aluminum Specification Table 3.3-1, as well as for some additional
alloys, in Appendix C. For other alloys, you must obtain these properties
from the producer, other publications, or approximately derived from their
relationships with tensile strengths. Approximate relationships between tensile
yield and ultimate strengths and other strengths are:
F # 0.9 F For strain-hardened (#H) tempers cy ty
F # F For all other tempers cy ty
F # 0.6 F su tu
F # 0.6 F sy ty
The strength of thick material tends to be less than for thin material, as shown
in Table 4.1 for 5086-H112 plate. The thickness that should be used to determine
the strength of a product is the original thickness of the material, not
the final fabricated thickness. For example, if a part is machined to a thinner
dimension, the mechanical properties for the original thickness are the proper
ones to be used in structural calculations.
4.3 MODULUS OF ELASTICITY (E), SHEAR MODULUS (G), AND
POISSON�S RATIO (#)
A material�s modulus of elasticity E (also called Young�s modulus) is the slope
of the elastic portion of the stress-strain curve and is a measure of the ma