Technical Paper
Development of a Long Life Aluminium Brazing Sheet Alloy with Enhanced Mechanical Performance
1994-03-01
940505
The use of aluminium alloys for automotive heat exchangers has increased considerably in the last 15-20 years and, in parallel, new alloys have been developed to meet the increased demand for strength and improved corrosion resistance. A non-heat treatable Al-Mn alloy, X800, has been developed by Alcan to significantly increase the corrosion resistance of radiator tubes when subjected to typical service environments. The alloy development employed considerable microstructural understanding to provide heat exchanger manufacturers with an improved product that readily attained enhanced performance during any brazing cycle. A similar philosophy has been adopted to address the issue of increased mechanical performance, higher intrinsic sheet strength, both during and after brazing, provides the opportunity for sheet downgauging and thus lightweighting of components.
