For example, for 6061-T6 extrusions in longitudinal compression, the typical

Ramberg-Osgood parameter n is 38. The parameter varies widely by alloy,

temper, product, type of stress, and direction of stress with respect to product
dimensions.
The shear modulus of aluminum (also called the modulus of rigidity) is
generally calculated from its relationship with the modulus of elasticity and
Poisson�s ratio (#) for aluminum. Poisson�s ratio (#) is the negative of the
ratio of transverse strain that accompanies longitudinal strain caused by axial
load in the elastic range. Poisson�s ratio is approximately for aluminum 1�3
alloys, similar to the ratio for steel. While the ratio varies slightly by alloy
and decreases slightly as temperature decreases, such variations are insignificant
for most applications. For a modulus of elasticity of 10,000 ksi [70,000
MPa], the shear modulus G is:
G # E/ [2(1 # #)] # E/ [2(1 # �1)] # 3E/8 # 3,800 ksi [26,000 MPa] 3
4.4 FRACTURE PROPERTIES
Ductility is the ability of a material to withstand plastic strain before fracture.
Material that is not ductile may fracture at a lower tensile stress than its
minimum ultimate tensile strength because it is unable to deform plastically
at local stress concentrations that inevitably arise in the real world, even if
they don�t in machined laboratory-test specimens. Instead, brittle fracture may
occur at a stress raiser. Since this is premature failure of the part, it�s
important
to have a way to measure the ductility of structural alloys. Unfortunately,
that�s not so easy.
Fracture toughness is a measure of a material�s resistance to the extension
of a crack. Aluminum has a face-centered cubic crystal structure, so unlike
steel, it does not exhibit a transition temperature below which the material
suffers a significant loss in fracture toughness. Furthermore, alloys of the
1xxx, 3xxx, 4xxx, 5xxx, and 6xxx series are so tough that their fracture
toughness cannot be readily measured by the methods commonly used for
less tough materials and is rarely of concern. Alloys of the 2xxx and 7xxx
series are less tough, and when they are used in such fracture critical
applications
as aircraft, their fracture toughness is of interest to designers. However,
the notched bar impact tests that were developed for steel to determine
a transition temperature, such as Charpy and Izod tests, don�t work on aluminum
alloys because they don�t have a transition temperature to determine
(26).
Instead, the plane-strain fracture toughness (KIc) can be measured by
ASTM B645 (70). For those products whose fracture toughness cannot be
measured by this method�such as sheet, which is too thin to apply B645�
nonplane-strain fracture toughness (Kc) may be measured by ASTM B646.
Fracture toughness is measured in units of ksi #in. [MPa #m] and is a
function of thickness (thicker material has lower fracture toughness). Fracture