Aluminium 6061-T6
The default structural aluminium. Heat treatable and easy to machine, so it carries most machined brackets, frames and fixtures. About a third the weight of steel, at about a third of the stiffness.
Properties
- Family
- Metals
- Category
- non-ferrous
- Density
- 2.7 g/cm³ · 2700 kg/m³
Densityhow aluminium 6061-t6 compares
Alloy properties6061-T6 · T6 — solution heat treated and artificially aged
- Grade
- 6061-T6 · UNS A96061
- Governing standard
- ASTM B209 (sheet and plate) · ASTM B221 (extruded profiles)
- Yield strength
- 276 MPa
- Tensile strength
- 310 MPa
- Modulus of elasticity
- 68.9 GPa
- Hardness
- 95 HB
These are typical values, not minimums. A purchase specification guarantees its own minimums, and for 6061-T6 they depend on product form and thickness — ASTM B209 sheet and plate, for example, requires 290 MPa tensile and 241 MPa yield.
Typical values for this grade, as published by the Aluminum Association and ASM International — not minimums guaranteed by a specification.
Applicationswhere aluminium 6061-t6 is normally specified
Machining & corrosiontrade experience, not measured values
- Machining
- The best-machining of the common structural aluminiums — free-cutting compared with 5052 or 5083, and it takes a good finish straight off the tool.
- Corrosion
- Good in atmosphere and fresh water; the natural oxide film re-forms immediately when scratched. Anodising thickens it. Not for chlorides, and it must be insulated from steel.
- Welding
- Weldable by TIG and MIG, but the T6 temper is lost across the heat-affected zone and cannot be recovered by ageing — allow for reduced strength beside a weld.
Like the workability notes on the wood pages, these lines are not measurements. They carry no units and no single source, and the ratings they mention are relative — a machinability figure is quoted against a bench-mark alloy, not against an absolute scale. Read them as the consensus of the trade, not as a specification.
Practical notes
- Stiffness usually decides the section, not strength: 68.9 GPa against 200 GPa for steel
- Galvanic corrosion risk where it touches steel or stainless — insulate the joint
- The T6 temper is lost in a welded heat-affected zone and cannot be recovered by ageing
Tools used on itmatched on the metals family, not on this page
All toolsWhich tools work a material is a property of the family (Metals), not of the individual species — so this list is the same on every metals page, and changes when the tool data changes rather than when this paragraph does.