Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
  • C22C—ALLOYS
  • C22C21/00—Alloys based on aluminium
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
  • C25D—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PRODUCTION OF COATINGS; ELECTROFORMING; APPARATUS THEREFOR
  • C25D11/00—Electrolytic coating by surface reaction, i.e. forming conversion layers
  • C25D11/02—Anodisation
  • C25D11/04—Anodisation of aluminium or alloys based thereon
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
  • C25D—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PRODUCTION OF COATINGS; ELECTROFORMING; APPARATUS THEREFOR
  • C25D11/00—Electrolytic coating by surface reaction, i.e. forming conversion layers
  • C25D11/02—Anodisation
  • C25D11/04—Anodisation of aluminium or alloys based thereon
  • C25D11/06—Anodisation of aluminium or alloys based thereon characterised by the electrolytes used
  • C25D11/08—Anodisation of aluminium or alloys based thereon characterised by the electrolytes used containing inorganic acids
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C25—ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR
  • C25D—PROCESSES FOR THE ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PRODUCTION OF COATINGS; ELECTROFORMING; APPARATUS THEREFOR
  • C25D11/00—Electrolytic coating by surface reaction, i.e. forming conversion layers
  • C25D11/02—Anodisation
  • C25D11/04—Anodisation of aluminium or alloys based thereon
  • C25D11/14—Producing integrally coloured layers
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10S428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10S428/922—Static electricity metal bleed-off metallic stock
  • Y10S428/923—Physical dimension
  • Y10S428/924—Composite
  • Y10S428/926—Thickness of individual layer specified
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10S428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10S428/922—Static electricity metal bleed-off metallic stock
  • Y10S428/9265—Special properties
  • Y10S428/927—Decorative informative
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10T428/12—All metal or with adjacent metals
  • Y10T428/12493—Composite; i.e., plural, adjacent, spatially distinct metal components [e.g., layers, joint, etc.]
  • Y10T428/12535—Composite; i.e., plural, adjacent, spatially distinct metal components [e.g., layers, joint, etc.] with additional, spatially distinct nonmetal component
  • Y10T428/12583—Component contains compound of adjacent metal
  • Y10T428/1259—Oxide
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10T428/12—All metal or with adjacent metals
  • Y10T428/12493—Composite; i.e., plural, adjacent, spatially distinct metal components [e.g., layers, joint, etc.]
  • Y10T428/12736—Al-base component

Definitions

• This invention relates to aluminum alloy products, especially sheet products, which can develop unique color response when properly anodized. Especially unique is the ability to develop a very pleasing beige tone which is quite attractive.
• Aluminum alloys have found wide acceptance in architectural applications because of their durability and attractiveness together with the ease with which a building can be covered, trimmed or decorated with such.
• One popular practice contemplates employing an alloy which, upon anodic oxidation of the surface, yields a colored oxide coating. This practice offers advantages in ease of application and color durability.
• the variety of these integral colors together with the uniformity of a given color has been limited.
• the anodic coating should be about 0.7 mil (0.0007 inch) and often more in thickness so as to provide a sufficiently durable oxide coating.
• ln coatings of this thickness present technology readily enables achieving rich or dark colors. For instance, shades of gold, bronze, gray and even black are achieved without great effort.
• the delicate or subtle colors and shades are quite elusive especially in the thick architectural coatings.
• a special alloy composition which, when properly anodized, provides an integral beige colored oxide coating which is quite delicate and exhibits an attractive metallic hue.
• the beige color is extremely attractive when viewed in the form of a large surface such as would appear on a large building.
• the improved material can also develop the richer bronze or black colors thus making it a multipurpose alloy which can relieve fabricators of the burden of stocking large numbers of alloy materials.
• Another advantage of the improved material is its ease of fabrication. It can be readily rolled as a sheet product. It can also be applied as a cladding to a sheet core material. In addition, it can be extruded, forged or otherwise worked into a desired product.
• the improved alloy consists essentially of, by weight, 0.05 to 0.15 percent Cu, 0.5 to 0.7 percent Fe, 0.15 to 0.3 percent Si, 0.3 to 0.6 percent Mn, the balance being aluminum and incidental elements and impurities.
• a preferred composition contains 0.35 to 0.5 percent Mn.
• the alloy may include small amounts of incidental elements such as up to 0.01 percent B and 0.05 percent Ti which may be added in casting for grain refining purposes.
• the alloy may also contain the usual impurities associated with aluminum. Zinc is an innocuous impurity and can be present up to about 0.5 percent.
• the alloy is especially easy to roll, extrude or otherwise shape into an article.
• the alloy is cast as by continuous casting to provide stock for the subsequent fabrication procedures. This stock is homogenized by heating to a temperature of at least 950F for a period of time sufficient to dissolve the soluble constituents. a typical time being 24 hours. At this point the stock is hot rolled to provide a plate-like product. Some reheating may be employed if necessary or convenient. The plate is then cold rolled to produce a sheet product having moderate strength. Ease of fabrication is an attractive feature of the present invention in that rolling and other fabrication problems are minimized.
• the material may be fabricated using essentially the same practices as those used in producing the economical strain hardening aluminum alloys known commercially as l l00 and 3003.
• the strength of the alloy is not especially striking.
• Cold rolled sheet typically exhibits tensile property levels of 15 to 30 ksi. While this strength level is not very high it is adequate for architectural applications such .as curtain walls for large buildings.
• the improved alloy can be provided as a cladding on a core layer of a different alloy.
• This practice is common in several applications where the strength or some other desirable quality of a core material can be utilized while still obtaining the advantages in appearance, corrosion protection, etc., of a given clad material.
• the improved material can be hot roll bonded to a core material to provide a laminate plate which is then fabricated into sheet as described above.
• a typical core material might be alloy 3003 which contains, nominally, 1.2 percent Mn, 0.12 percent Cu, with the balance aluminum and impurities.
• Other core materials may also be employed where they offer special advantages.
• the improved sheet or other product can be annealed, stabilized or otherwise thermally treated without impairing its color response to the subsequent anodic coating application.
• the improved alloy is applied as a cladding on a heat treatable core the composite can be heat treated to develop the properties in the core. This, itself, is significant since many previous alloys are sensitive to thermal treatment in their color response.
• the alloy product is next anodized to develop an integrally bonded oxide coating using acidic electrolytes of the type generally known in the anodizing art.
• acidic electrolytes of the type generally known in the anodizing art.
• Several sheets of the improved alloy containing about 0.] percent Cu, 0.6 percent Fe, 0.2 percent Si and 0.4 percent Mn approximately 0.08 inch in thickness have been anodically anodized in an aqueous bath containing about 15 percent sulfuric acid.
• the bath is maintained at F and the anodizing is performed at a constant current density of 24 amperes per square foot for a period of time of about 33 minutes. This produces an oxide coating ranging from about 1.0 mil in thickness.
• the coating exhibits an integral beige color with a metallic luster.
• the color is to refer to the Munsell value which is a recognized system of color description which is described in ASTM Designation: Dl535-68; ASTM STANDARDS PART II 1969 p. 285.
• the Munsell values for this beige color were approximately Y for hue, 7.05 for value and 0.90 for chroma.
• the beige color can be varied from this level as by increasing the Mn content slightly or altering the anodizing conditions whereby the temperature is lowered and time increased to develop richer colors. Reversing these results in a move toward pale colors.
• the beige color for the improved alloy can be varied such that typical Munsell values would range between 2Y to 8Y for hue, 6.5 to 7.2 for value and /0.65 to H2 for chroma for lighter to darker beige tones.
• Typical coating thickness can be 1 to L2 mil and still exhibit the delicate beige color.
• the anodizing conditions can be varied fairly widely.
• the aqueous bath can contain 130 to 200 grams per liter H 50
• the temperature may vary from 70 to 90F and the current density can vary from 6 to 36 amperes per square foot.
• the time can vary from about 20 to 60 minutes and the coating from 0.7 to 1.2 mils in thickness.
• the improved material can readily develop anodic oxide coatings exhibiting an integral beige color.
• anodic coating it is usually desirable to seal the anodic coating in the conventional manner, for example by immersing in hot (210F) water or other suitable solutions.
• the coloration and texture developed by the anodic treatment can be modified by treatment of the surface of the metal product prior to anodic oxidation.
• the surface can be chemically brightened by washing with a solution of phosphoric and nitric acids or electrochemical means. Mechanical treatments such as buffing, polishing, sand blasting, and the like, can also be employed to alter the texture of the surface.
• a method of producing a product exhibiting a beige color having a metallic luster comprising 1. providing a shaped body composed of an aluminum base alloy consisting essentially of 0.05 to 0. percent Cu, 0.5 to 0.7 percent Fe, 0.15 to 0.3 percent Si, 0.3 to 0.6 percent Mn, the balance being aluminum and incidental elements and impurities, and
• an aluminum architectural shaped body exhibiting an integrally developed anodic oxide coating having a beige color of metallic luster the improvement wherein said shaped body is provided in an aluminum base alloy consisting essentially of 0.05 to 0.15 percent Cu, 0.5 to 0.7 percent Fe, 0.15 to 0.3 percent Si, 0.3 to 0.6 percent Mn, the balance being aluminum and incidental elements and impurities, said improvement enabling the development of an anodic oxidation coating 1.0 to 1.2 mil in thickness having an integral beige color characterized by Munsell values of 2Y to 8Y for hue, 6.5 to 7.5 for value and /0.65 to 1.2 for chroma.
• anodic oxidation coating 1.0 to 1.2 mil in thickness having an integral beige color characterized by Munsell values of 2Y to 8Y for hue, 6.5 to 7.5 for value and /0.65 to 1.2 for chroma.
• An architectural sheet product composed of an alloy consisting essentially of 0.05 to 0.15 percent Cu, 0.5 to 0.7 percent Fe, 0. 15 to 0.3 percent Si, 0.3 to 0.6 percent Mn, the balance being aluminum and incidental elements and impurities, said product having an integrally bonded oxide coating 10 to 1.2 mil in thickness and having an integral beige color characterized by Munsell values of 2Y to 8Y for hue, 6.5 to 7.5 for value and /0.65 to 1.2 for chroma.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Metallurgy (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Electrochemistry (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
• Laminated Bodies (AREA)

Priority Applications (3)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=26714051

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Cited By (6)

Families Citing this family (2)

Citations (1)

• 1971
  • 1971-05-14 FR FR7117602A patent/FR2091651A5/fr not_active Expired
  • 1971-05-14 DE DE19712124107 patent/DE2124107A1/de active Pending
• 1972
  • 1972-06-19 US US00263767A patent/US3818566A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

Patent Citations (1)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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