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how to get 6061-T6 tubing to 6061-0

powerglider

Stainless
Joined
Oct 13, 2006
Location
Mediapolis, Iowa
I would like to try and bend a piece of square tubing but all I have is T6 tubing, can I put a test piece in a house oven and cook it to get condition "0" so I can try and bend it without cracks?

If it is possible what temperature should I cook at and for how long?

Thanks,

Francesco
 
It doesn't have to be fully annealed to bend without breaking. I recently experimented with some 1/2 x 2 6061-T6 flat to see what it would take to bend it in a press brake without cracking. I knew from previous experiments that T6 material will begin to over age to a measurable degree by cooking it for an hour at 375*, which is only 25 degrees above the aging temp for a T6 temper.

In T6 condition I could bump the flat to about a 15* angle in the brake and it'd crack to the extent of uselessness. I stuck the bar in an oven for an hour at 500*F, and I could then squash it in a die that was only 2" wide to a full 90 degree bend with no evidence of cracking whatsoever.

Assuming you're bending on a radius 3X the tube diameter or greater, you can likely experiment a bit and find you can over age the tube at a temp less than my 500* and still soften it enough to bend it successfully.
 
In the field, a technique which works for locally softening hard alu tempers for bending is to smear with hand soap, and apply heat from a torch until the soap (adjacent to but not impinged on by the flame) turns chocolate brown.
 








 
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