The old BS1474 - 1987 standard has been replaced by a number of EN standards of which the most important are:
EN754 - Cold drawn rod, bar & tube
EN755 - Hot extruded products
EN12020 - Extruded precision profiles in alloys 6060 & 6063
EN515 - Temper Designations
EN573-1: Numerical alloy designation system
EN573-2: Chemical symbol designation system
EN573-3: Chemical Compositions
EN573-4: Product forms in different alloys
For those familiar with the old BS1474 it is useful to highlight where the new EN standards differ:
• Chemical Compositions – No Change.
• Alloy Numbering System – No Change.
• Temper Designations for Heat Treatable Alloys – A new wider range of special tempers having up to four digits after the T have been introduced for non-standard applications (e.g. T6151).
• Temper Designations for Non Heat Treatable Alloys – No change to existing tempers but a more comprehensive definition of how tempers are achieved.
Soft (O) temper is now classified H111 and an intermediate temper H112 is introduced.
For alloy 5251 tempers are now shown as H32/H34/H36/H38 (equivalent to H22/H24, etc). H19/H22 & H24 are now shown separately.
Chemical Compositions
Please refer to the datasheet entitled Aluminium Specifications.
Mechanical Properties
Please refer to the datasheet entitled Aluminium Specifications.
Note that for the purposes of tolerances the alloys are split into two groups:
• Group I – 1000 series, 3000 series, 6000 series, 5005, 5051, 5251
• Group II – 2000 series, 7000 series, 5052, 5154, 5454, 5754, 5083, 5086