From Smithells Light Metals Handbook
3.1 Mechanical Properties of Aluminium and Aluminium Alloys
The compositional specifications for wrought aluminium alloys are now internationally agreed throughout Europe, Australia, Japan and the USA. The system involves a four-digit description of the alloy and is now specified in the UK as BS EN 573, 1995. Registration of wrought alloys is administered by the Aluminum Association in Washington, DC. International agreement on temper designations has been achieved, and the standards agreed for the European Union, the Euro-Norms, are replacing the former British Standards. Thus BS EN 515. 1995 specifies in more detail the temper designations to be used for wrought alloys in the UK. At present, there is no Euro-Norm for cast alloys and the old temper designations are still used for cast alloys.
In the following tables the four-digit system is used, wherever possible, for wrought materials.
3.1.1 Alloy Designation System for Wrought Aluminium
The first of the four digits in the designation indicates the alloy group according to the major alloying elements, as follow:
| 1XXX | aluminium of 99.0% minimum purity and higher |
| 2XXX | copper |
| 3XXX | manganese |
| 4XXX | silicon |
| 5XXX | magnesium |
| 6XXX | magnesium and silicon |
| 7XXX | zinc |
| 8XXX | other element, incl. lithium |
| 9XXX | unused |
| 1XXX Group: | In this group the last two digits indicate the minimum aluminium percentage. Thus 1099 indicates aluminium with a minimum purity of 99.99%. The second digit indicates modifications in impurity or alloying element limits. 0 signifies unalloyed aluminium and integers 1 to 9 are allocated to specific additions. |
| 2XXX 8XXX Groups: | In these groups... |
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