Aerospace-Grade Aluminum Gives Structure to Smartphones

Ford isn't the only company depending on aluminum for strength and light weight. Samsung has chosen a high-strength grade of aerospace-quality aluminum for the body of its latest smartphones, the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge.

Although Samsung has used aluminum before for some of its phones' frames, that hasn't been true previously for the company's flagship Galaxy S line. Because Alcoa's 6013 Power Plate aluminum is 70% stronger than the standard aluminum used in similar devices, the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge have an even thinner, lighter design, which Samsung customers want, said DJ Koh, CTO and executive vice president of Samsung Electronics' mobile communication business.

Alcoa's 6013 Power Plate aerospace-grade aluminum has a background of thorough real-world testing in military, aerospace, and automotive uses, so it's a good candidate for consumer products that must take a lot of tough treatment and heavy use. In addition to strength, it's also resistant to corrosion. More typical industrial applications for this material include fixtures and molds, machined parts, and semiconductor fabrication equipment.

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From a production standpoint, Alcoa's 6013 Power Plate aluminum is highly machinable, with 20% to 25% higher strength and hardness than the more common, existing 6061-T651 Aluminum Plate, according to Alcoa's website. It also results in smoother sawed and machined surfaces than those materials. At the same time, it has comparable weldability and thermal conductivity, as well as their resistance to corrosion. This means machined parts previously made using 6061-T651 Aluminum Plate can be redesigned for thinner walls and lighter weights in 6013 Power Plate.

6013 Power Plate was specifically developed for use in higher-speed saws and metal working machinery. For example, slot milling tests using a 3/4-inch diameter cutter at 6,000 RPM showed that 6013 Power Plate can be milled consistently at 100 inches per minute. In comparison, using 6061-T651 Aluminum Plate in the same tests resulted in metal buildup on the cutter that made the machine stall at speeds greater than 75 inches per minute.

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Ann R. Thryft is senior technical editor, materials & assembly, for Design News. She's been writing about manufacturing- and electronics-related technologies for 27 years, covering manufacturing materials & processes, alternative energy, and robotics. In the past, she's also written about machine vision and all kinds of communications.

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