may produce edge cracks in heat-treatable alloys, so these edges must be

planed or ground to sound metal.

Take care to avoid re-entrant cuts (Figure 3.14). To do this, first fabricate
a hole near the intersection of cut lines. The cut then terminates at the hole,
which serves to fillet the corner. Sometimes cuts can also be angled so any
resulting notches occur in the drop. AWS D1.2-97, Structural Welding Code�
Aluminum, (91) requires that corners in statically loaded structures be filleted
to a radius of �1 in. [13 mm] and �3 in. [19 mm] in dynamically loaded 2 4
structures.
Some cutting and forming operations involve the application of heat to the
material. While this is not limited to sheet and plate, this issue most often
arises with these products. The Aluminum Specification (in Section 6.3a)
allows heating to a temperature not exceeding 400#F [200#C] for a period not
exceeding 30 minutes before the effect on strength must be considered. Temperatures
and periods greater than these produce partial annealing of the material,
which reduces the strength toward the O temper of the alloy, and in
certain alloys decreases corrosion resistance. (See Chapter 4.) Note that the
effect of time at elevated temperature is cumulative, so you are not allowed
to heat to 400#F for 30 minutes, let the metal cool, and then heat to 400#F
again.
The length of time that an alloy can be held at an elevated temperature of
less than 400#F [200#C] is not given in the Aluminum Specification since it�s
a function of the temperature and alloy. Aluminum may be held at temperatures
lower than 400#F [200#C] for periods of time longer than 30 minutes
before the loss in strength is significant. For example, 6061-T6 may be held
at 375#F [191#C] for 2 hours, and 350#F [177#C] for 10 hours, without a loss
of more than about 5% in strengths (1). The effect of heating on many alloy
tempers can be quantified from Properties of Aluminum Alloys: Tensile,
Creep, and Fatigue Data at High and Low Temperatures (118), which was
used to prepare Table 8.23.
You�ll want to carefully monitor the time and temperature of any heating
above about 150#F [66#C]. This can be done by marking the metal with heat
crayons with known melting points: when the marking starts to run, the metal
has reached a benchmark temperature. Unlike steel, heating aluminum doesn�t
change its color while the metal is in a solid state, so you can�t gauge the
temperature of a piece of aluminum by looking at it, and you don�t want to
try by touching it. Most fabricators simply avoid the practice of heating aluminum
for cutting or forming. Where aluminum must be heated above 400#F
[200#C] in specific areas (such as at welds), the strength reduction is accounted
for in structural calculations. Methods for addressing this effect from
welding are discussed in Chapter 9.