Aluminium Coils, Sheets and Plates by Alloy and Temper

It is mostly thickness and how the material is delivered. In Aluminum Association usage, rolled product thinner than 0.006 inch (0.15 mm) is foil, from there up to 0.249 inch (about 6.3 mm) it is sheet, and 0.250 inch and above is plate. Indian traders use the same rough split, calling anything up to about 6 mm sheet.

Coil is sheet that has not been cut to length. It suits buyers who run a slitting line, a roll former or a press with a decoiler, and it avoids offcuts. Sheets are cut from coil, so the alloy and temper are the same. Plate is rolled thicker and is bought for machined parts, base plates, tanks and structural work. Thin material under 0.15 mm is covered on our aluminium foils page.

1050 and 1100 are nearly pure aluminium, at 99.5% and 99.0% minimum. They bend and spin easily, conduct heat and electricity well, and resist ordinary atmospheres. They are soft, so they suit reflectors, nameplates, insulation cladding, spun vessels and general panel work.

3003 adds about 1.0 to 1.5% manganese. It keeps most of the formability of the pure grades but is roughly 20% stronger, which is why it is the workhorse for HVAC ducting, tanks and cladding, and why it is common in refrigeration and HVAC work.

5052 is the Al-Mg 2.5 alloy. It is the strongest of the non-heat-treatable grades on this page, it welds well, and it resists salt spray and moisture. Truck bodies, boat parts, fuel tanks and outdoor enclosures are typical uses.

6061 is heat treatable. In the T6 temper it is much stronger than the others, which suits plate for jigs, fixtures, base plates and machined parts. It is less happy being bent tightly in T6, so sheet-metal designers usually reach for 5052 instead.

The letter after the alloy number is the temper, and it changes the strength more than people expect. O is fully annealed, the softest condition, for deep drawing and tight bends. H means strain hardened by cold rolling: H12, H14, H16 and H18 are quarter, half, three-quarter and full hard. H32, H34 and so on mean strain hardened then stabilised, used mainly on magnesium alloys such as 5052. T4 and T6 are heat-treated tempers for 6xxx alloys, with T6 the artificially aged, full-strength condition.

IS 737 lists O, H12, H14, H16, H18, T4 and T6, following the Aluminum Association system. If your drawing simply says 'aluminium sheet', ask the designer for the temper. A 3003-O sheet and a 3003-H18 sheet look identical on the rack.

Use this: weight in kg = length (m) × width (m) × thickness (mm) × 2.7. A standard 1220 × 2440 mm sheet at 1 mm therefore weighs about 8.0 kg, and the same size at 3 mm about 24 kg. Pure grades are slightly heavier at 2.71 and 5052 slightly lighter at 2.68, but 2.7 is close enough for estimating freight and quotation weight.

The table below shows what the trade commonly handles. It is not a stock list, so treat it as a starting point and send us your exact requirement. Material can be supplied with a test certificate from a Government-recognised test house; mention if you also need mechanical test results for the temper.