SHEET METALWORK DATA

Aluminium 1050A (S1B) SHEET

TYPICAL APPLICATIONS COLD FORMABILITY

General sheet metal work Automotive industry 1050A H14 has good formability and is the ideal specification
Packaging Architecture when bending or spinning is required with fair strength. The
Boilermaking Cabinets bending data detailed below is a guideline only for cold bends
Heat transfer devices Appliances and will vary depending on the exact bending practices carried
out. We recommend the tables below as a starting point only for
Kitchenware Vessels
your own application and not as part of the design process.
Chemical industry Panelling
Pharmaceutical industry For a simple guide use the table below – multiply the thickness
of the sheet in mm by the bending factor to give a minimum
bending radius.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION Simple bending guidelines:
An unalloyed (‘pure’) non-heat treatable rolled aluminium Sheet thickness/mm Minimum bending factor
sheet engineered for general sheet metal work where high Over Up to and including 180° 90°
mechanical properties are not required. 0.5 1.5 1.0 0.5
1.5 3.0 1.0 1.0
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION 3.0 6.0 1.5 1.5
6.0 12.0 – 2.5
Internationally recognised grade EN AW 1050A H14 – 99.50%
pure aluminium (Al 99.5) sheet strain hardened to the half-hard Therefore, a 90° bend in 4mm sheet would require a minimum
temper. The previous BS specification was known as S1B and bend radius of 4 x 1.5 = 6mm.
the half-hard temper was known as H4, giving S1B H4. Smiths
Detailed bending guidelines: cold 90° bend made with the
range of 1050A will meet all appropriate national/international
axis normal to the rolling direction.
standards.
Sheet thickness/mm Plate
PRODUCT CUSTOMER 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 8.0 10.0
ATTRIBUTES BENEFITS Minimum Inner radius of the bent sheet after spring-back/mm
Good surface finish 0.3 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.5 3.8 5.5 7.5 13 18
Very good anodising qualities Sheet spring-back guidelines.
Excellent aesthetics
Very good corrosion The ratio of spring-back, factor k, is defined as the ratio of the
resistance bending angle after spring-back to that before spring-back was
Capable of cold forming Ideal for sheet metal work permitted. The spring-back is dependant on the ratio of the
applications which do not bending radius after spring-back to the sheet thickness. The table
need high strength below will allow factors of k to be estimated.

Very good welding qualities Ideal for welding fabrication Ratio of bending radius to sheet thickness
Close tolerance sheet Components are easier to 1 2 4 6 10 15 30 60
manufacture/assemble and Spring-back factor, k
have closer tolerances 0.98 0.98 0.97 0.95 0.93 0.90 0.80 0.65
Close tolerance cut to size Uneconomic cutting to size Therefore, an attempted 90° bend on a bend radius of 18mm
service for both cut blanks and stockholding costs are using 3mm thick sheet would give a ratio of bending radius to
and circles/rings removed – your highly sheet thickness of 18/3 = 6. Looking up this ratio of 6 gives a
skilled operators and spring-back factor of 0.95. After bending was complete the sheet
Immediate or just-in-time resources are used more would have only bent 0.95 x 90° = 85.5°. To have achieved a 90°
delivery efficiently bend the sheet would have to have been bent to an original angle
of 90°/0.95 = 95° in the first instance.

NOMINAL COMPOSITION % WELDING

Al Si Fe Cu Mn Mg Zn Ti Others 1050A is easily welded by MIG or TIG processes, with a
each recommended filler metal of 1050A (S-Al99.5) or 4043A
Min 99.50 (S-AlSi5) for welding to 1050A structures. A good weld is
Max 0.25 0.40 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.07 0.05 0.03 likely to have a strength of up to 65Mpa, although this will
be dependant on the type and quality of welding.
SURFACE TREATMENT
CUT TO SIZE GUILLOTINED BLANKS
Grade 1050A has very good anodising properties for both
decorative and technical requirements. It is also well-suited to Edge deviation over cut length/width ± 0.2mm per m
chemical and electrolytic brightening. (maximum thickness 6.35mm)
 The single source for
CUT TO SIZE SAWN BLANKS MACHINING all your engineering
mm Pure aluminium has only fair machinability due to materials.
Edge deviation over cut length/width +1.5,-0 the softness of the alloy. The half-hard temper
(minimum thickness 3mm) increases the hardness over the annealed/soft base 12 Material Centres
alloy but could not be described as free chipping throughout the UK.
compared to the harder, alloyed aluminiums. We
CUT TO SIZE CAPABILITY recommend aluminium geometry cutting tools
running at a reasonable speed to avoid the edge Biggleswade Select
Smiths Metal Centres carry a full range of 1050A in build-up which can occur at lower cutting speeds. Tel: 01767 604704
both imperial and metric sizes. High speed steel tools may be more economical than Fax: 01767 600466
carbide, particularly with the possibility of a large rake
Our close tolerance high capacity guillotines can
angle on machines which cannot reach carbide cutting
cut accurately to exact customer requirements, Biggleswade Metal Centre
speeds.
whether that be 1 blank or 10,000 blanks. The cut Tel: 01767 604604
blanks will be delivered immediately when cut or Fax: 01767 315271
just in time to meet your schedules.
We can also stamp or turn circles or rings to your VINYL COATING Birmingham Metal Centre
specifications as part of our first stage engineering Tel: 0121 327 5511
Smiths can supply aluminium sheet vinyl-coated for
capability.
surface protection during machining, bending and Fax: 0121 327 4060
fabrication. Our CNC vinyl coating line can apply a
variety of coatings and colours dependent on your Bristol Metal Centre
CORROSION RESISTANCE exact requirements. Tel: 0117 971 2800
Fax: 0117 971 6300
Unalloyed aluminium sheet has very good
corrosion resistance and can be used in normal,
industrial and marine environments without Chelmsford Metal Centre
problems. Where the sheet is being specifically Tel: 01245 466664
used in marine environments it may be worthwhile Fax: 01245 465916
reviewing alloyed aluminium grades, such as 5251
(NS4), which may be generally more suitable to Ferndown Metal Centre
marine environment applications. Tel: 01202 893755
Fax: 01202 893712

TYPICAL MECHANICAL PROPERTIES Horsham Metal Centre

Tel: 01403 261981
Tensile strength N/mm2 100-135 Fax: 01403 241820
Yield strength N/mm2 Min 75 (approx. only)
Shear strength N/mm2 70 Leeds Metal Centre
Elongation % (A50) 4-8 Tel: 0113 277 6887
Fax: 0113 271 0226
Brinell Hardness HB 35
Thermal conductivity W/m.K 229
London Metal Centre
Melting range °C 645-657 Tel: 020 7241 2430
Electrical conductivity %IACS 58.4 Fax: 020 7254 9608
Coefficient of thermal expansion 1/K 23.5x10-6
Elastic modulus MPa 69000 Norwich Metal Centre
Tel: 01603 789878
The mechanical properties of (unalloyed) 1050A are low. The corollary of this is the good forming properties of Fax: 01603 788973
this grade. If both forming and higher mechanical properties are required then we recommend the potential
selection of grades 3103 (NS3) or 5251 (NS4). In general the better mechanical properties the lower the Nottingham Metal Centre
formability.
Tel: 0115 925 4801
Fax: 0115 925 5370

THICKNESS TOLERANCES Tyneside Metal Centre

Thickness tolerances after cutting Tel: 0191 469 5428
Fax: 0191 495 0116
Specified nominal >0.2 >0.4 >0.5 >0.6 >0.8 >1.0 >1.2 >1.5 >1.8 >2.0 >2.5 >3.0 >3.5 >4.0 >5.0 >6.0
sheet thickness ≤ 0.4 ≤ 0.5 ≤ 0.6 ≤ 0.8 ≤ 1.0 ≤ 1.2 ≤ 1.5 ≤ 1.8 ≤ 2.0 ≤ 2.5 ≤ 3.0 ≤ 3.5 ≤ 4.0 ≤ 5.0 ≤ 6.0 ≤ 8.0
Sheet base width ±0.02 ±0.03 ±0.03 ±0.03 ±0.04 ±0.04 ±0.05 ±0.06 ±0.06 ±0.07 ±0.08 ±0.10 ±0.15 ±0.18 ±0.20 ±0.24 www.smithmetal.com
up to 1000mm
Sheet base width ±0.04 ±0.04 ±0.05 ±0.06 ±0.06 ±0.07 ±0.09 ±0.10 ±0.11 ±0.12 ±0.13 ±0.15 ±0.20 ±0.22 ±0.24 ±0.30
over 1000mm up
to and including
1250mm
When measuring the thickness, a zone 10mm wide from the edges of the product shall be disregarded.

Nationwide suppliers of all forms of non-ferrous metals, stainless steel and

engineering plastics.
All information in this data sheet is based on appropriate testing and is stated to the best of our knowledge and belief. It is presented apart from contractual
obligations and does not constitute any guarantee of properties or of processing or application possibilities in individual cases. Our warranties and liabilities
are stated exclusively in our terms of trading. ISSUE 1 AMB 10K 12/03