Al 6061 replacement

Hello. I have some part that made from Al 6061 and by machining only from Al bar. In this part I'm using Helicoil for the thread reinforce. I'm trying reduce cost of this part production by casting and hopefully without using helicoil in future. Could anybody suggest the material that could replace Al 6061 and strong enought to make thread in it? Thanks.

Reply to
doctorf72
Loading thread data ...

Helicoils are not the best way to go if strength is critical anyway. Solid inserts are a better choice with aluminum.

Castings can be problematic, especially with complicated shapes. If you're machining aluminum, you probably don't need to do a casting.

Consider a steel, such as ASTM A572 A500.

Reply to
Jeff Finlayson

Could you suggest about solid inserts?

Reply to
doctorf72

There is a range of zinc alloys well-suited to casting. They can be brittle, but they can give good service, and can carry accurate detail, as cast.

Brian W

Reply to
Brian Whatcott

They will surely cost more than helicoils, but..

Alcoa Fastening Systems (formerly Fairchild Fasteners) makes different types of inserts. Their Keenserts are the solid inserts I mentioned.

formatting link
Hope this helps.

Reply to
Jeff Finlayson

Helicoils don't make the joint stronger, except that they make the threaded hole slightly larger. Remember: the helicoil is threaded into the aluminum anyway, just as if you had used a bigger screw.

Helicoils are used for threaded joints that will be disassembled and assembled often, since the aluminum tends to gall when the screw is tightened. If it's a structural part that is basically only assembled once, you can just use a screw and eliminate the insert.

Don Kansas City

Reply to
Don A. Gilmore

reinforce.

hopefully

I've never seen inserts used in the machines where I work. Everything I've ever seen here has threaded fasteners directly in aluminum. Maybe the applications don't need inserts (no possibility of stripping out threads), but it's something to think about.

Reply to
steve-o

Jeff Finlayson wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

The Helicoil, being oversize, increases strength primarily by transferring the load to what is effectively an oversize nut of the parent material, in this case aluminum. Helicoils were originally designed to allow repair of damaged threads to original size while requiring the minimum increase in diameter in the tapped hole.

I would suggest you get someone to review your design to whom you can give all the relevant information you have. It is only with all the relevant information that any engineer can make the trade offs involved in different choices of material and fabrication techniques.

I, for example, could suggest that since you have room to Helicoil why don't you just go to the next larger size fastener? If this is a spark plug hole that is a silly suggestion. If the Helicoil is really in there to prevent galling because the fastener is removed and re installed frequently, it is a silly answer. Etc., etc.

Reply to
Charly Coughran

Did you ever take a look at these steels? They are fairly common.

Reply to
Jeff Finlayson

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.