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Choosing The Right Material

When choosing the right type of material, it is important you pick the right one according to the application and industry to avoid future drawbacks. Design requirements, material criteria and evaluating potential materials are important to find the ideal material.

Design Requirements Keeping in mind the following requirements is extremely important.

  • Government regulation

  • Performance

  • Size, weight and shape

  • Cost

  • Industry standard

  • Reliability

Material Criteria

What is the end goal for the product being machined? Any materials that cannot support the finished goal should be taken off the table immediately.

Evaluating Potential Materials

Finding the right material that fits requirements is important but exceeding those requirements is unnecessary. A major waste in lean manufacturing is using higher grade materials than necessary. Going through material testing may be your best bet to find the ideal material for the proposed application. In the prototype stage, it is always beneficial to produce prototypes in various materials to find the best fit.

Below find a few of our most commonly used material:

 

Stainless Steel

303

Free machining grade

Domestic and mild industrial environments

Corrosion resistance less than 304

Common usages

Nuts

Bolts

Shafts

Fittings

 

Cold Rolled Steel

1018

Plain low carbon steel

Case harden only

Good formability and weldability

Common usages

Rivets and parts that require strong welds

Parts that require extensive machining

Shafts

Spindles

Rods

 

Aluminum

2024

High strength

Fatigue resistant

Heat treatable

Common usages

High strength-to-weight ratio required

Aircraft applications

Sources:

www.curbellplastics.com/research-solutions/materials

www.continentalsteel.com/blog/stainless-steel/440

(July, 20, 2015) What Aluminum Grade Should I Use? Retrieved from: www.metalsupermarkets.com/what-aluminum-grade-should-i-use

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