Aluminium 6063-T5
The extrusion alloy. Made for architectural profiles — window frames, handrails, heat sinks — where surface finish and the ability to extrude thin complex walls matter more than strength.
Properties
- Family
- Metals
- Category
- non-ferrous
- Density
- 2.7 g/cm³ · 2700 kg/m³
Densityhow aluminium 6063-t5 compares
Alloy properties6063-T5 · T5 — cooled from the extrusion press and artificially aged
- Grade
- 6063-T5 · UNS A96063
- Governing standard
- ASTM B221 (extruded bar, rod, shape and tube) · EN 755-2
- Yield strength
- 145 MPa
- Tensile strength
- 186 MPa
- Modulus of elasticity
- 69 GPa
- Hardness
- 60 HB
Typical values for extruded sections. The guaranteed minimums fall as the profile gets thicker — for T5 sections 13–25 mm thick the Aluminum Association minimum is 130 MPa tensile and 90 MPa yield, below the figures shown here.
Typical values for this grade, as published by the Aluminum Association and ASM International — not minimums guaranteed by a specification.
Applicationswhere aluminium 6063-t5 is normally specified
Machining & corrosiontrade experience, not measured values
- Machining
- Soft and gummy, and prone to leaving a built-up edge. It is chosen for its surface, not for the ease of cutting it.
- Corrosion
- Good atmospheric and indoor resistance, and it anodises more evenly than 6061, which is half of why the architectural market uses it. Not for chlorides.
- Welding
- Weldable, and more forgiving than 6061 because there is less strength to lose — but the anodic finish of a welded assembly will not match across the joint.
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
- About half the yield strength of 6061, in exchange for far better extrudability
- Anodises to a clear, even finish; this is why it is the architectural default
- T5 skips the separate solution treatment, so it costs less than T6 for the same profile
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.