Aluminium Tooling Plate 6082

Aluminium tooling plate 6082 is a high-strength alloy plate widely used in applications requiring excellent machinability, good corrosion resistance, and stable mechanical properties. This material is mainly produced in T6 or T651 temper, ensuring minimal residual stress and outstanding dimensional stability after machining.

Aluminium tooling plate 6082 performs excellently in applications with high stress, corrosive environments, or precision-driven requirements, where strength, durability, and lightweight properties are critical. Its balanced performance makes it a preferred choice across industries such as automotive, aerospace, marine, and renewable energy.

6082 aluminium alloy belongs to the Al-Mg-Si series of heat-treatable alloys, featuring medium strength, excellent weldability, corrosion resistance, and lightweight characteristics, making it suitable for producing tooling plates and other high-precision structural components. 6082 also offers outstanding machinability, allowing processing by cutting, welding, bending, and other methods to meet complex mold requirements, while maintaining high workability even after annealing.

6082 aluminium alloy is supplied in plate form, typically as precision tooling plate grades such as M82 (6082 T651). It offers excellent flatness, strict dimensional tolerances, and smooth double-sided bright surfaces, making it ideal for jigs, fixtures, templates, vacuum chambers, and hydraulic tools.

6082 aluminium belongs to the wrought Al-Mg-Si series and shares the same base with alloys such as 6005, 6061, and 6063. Unlike casting alloys, 6082 is produced through processes such as extrusion, hot and cold rolling, forging, and occasionally compound manufacturing, but it is not used for casting.

Our Aluminium Tooling Plate 6082 is manufactured with strict tolerances to provide unparalleled consistency for CNC machining and mold applications. These plates undergo T6 heat treatment for improved mechanical properties and are ideal for jigs, fixtures, and high-load structural components. We offer standard sizes (from 2000x1000 mm to 8000x2500 mm) for your selection or can provide custom-cut profiles. We offer highly competitive pricing, volume discounts, and export packaging.

Aluminium Tooling Plate 6082 Specifications

Item	Details
Alloy	6082 (Al-Mg-Si series)
Tempers	T6, T651
Thickness Range	Tooling Plate: 6–150 mm (custom up to 250 mm) Tooling Block: 50–600 mm (thicker on request)
Standard Width	1000–2500 mm
Standard Length	2000–6000 mm
Flatness Tolerance	6–16 mm: ≤ 0.15–0.3 mm/m >16 mm: ≤ 0.1 mm/m or ±0.005" (above 5/8")
Thickness Tolerance	±0.015" (0.25"–4.00") or ±0.07 mm (typical)
Surface Finish	Precision milled on both sides, Ra ≤ 25 µin
Standards	ASTM B209, EN 485, ISO 9001

Aluminium Tooling Plate 6082 Tempers

6082 cannot be hardened solely by cold working; it typically requires solid solution heat treatment and aging processes to achieve T6 and T651 conditions, balancing strength and ductility. In the T6/T651 state, the alloy exhibits good machinability, and when using chip breakers, it produces tight "coiled" chips.

6082 T6: Solution heat treated and artificially aged, with the highest strength.
6082 T651: Stress-relieved after T6 treatment by stretching to improve dimensional stability, suitable for precision applications.

Aluminium Tooling Plate 6082 Properties

Alloy: 6082 (Al-Mg-Si series)
Temper: T6 / T651
Strength: Higher than 6061, with medium to high mechanical strength
Corrosion resistance: Excellent, suitable for marine and industrial environments
Machinability: Outstanding, commonly used in precision machining
Surface: Supplied with milled, ground, or cast surface finishes, suitable for tooling applications

Aluminium Tooling Plate 6082 Chemical Composition

Main Components:

Silicon (Si): 0.7–1.3%
Magnesium (Mg): 0.6–1.2%
Manganese (Mn): 0.4–1.0%
Aluminum (Al): Balance

Trace Impurities:

Iron (Fe) ≤ 0.5%, Copper (Cu) ≤ 0.1%, Zinc (Zn) ≤ 0.2%, Titanium (Ti) ≤ 0.1%

Aluminium Tooling Plate 6082 Mechanical Properties (Typical Values)

Property	Value
Tensile Strength (σb)	≥205 MPa
Yield Strength (σ0.2)	≥110 MPa
Elongation (δ10)	≥14%
Cooling Rate	≥200℃/h (homogenization treatment)

Aluminium Tooling Plate 6082 Physical and Thermal Properties

Density: 2.71 g/cm³
Young’s Modulus: 71 GPa
Brinell Hardness: 40–91 HB
Melting Range: 585–650 °C
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion: 23.1 µm/m·K

Haomei Aluminum Tooling Plate 6082 Features

Size Stability: Precision plates (such as the M82 grade) are straightened and stretched to achieve exceptional flatness, minimizing tooling changes and material waste.
Surface Treatment: Both sides are polished to a bright finish, suitable for anodizing (such as sulfuric or hard anodizing) to enhance wear resistance.
Weldability: Good TIG/MIG welding performance, although strength in the heat-affected zone will decrease. It is recommended to use 4043/5356 alloy welding wires.

Aluminium Tooling Plate 6082 Applications

Mechanical Structures: Tooling plates, mold support frames, automation equipment frames, etc., balancing lightweight and load-bearing capacity.
Transportation: Ship parts, vehicle chassis tooling, utilizing its corrosion resistance and weldability.
Building and Decoration: High-precision tooling templates, which can be anodized or coated to enhance aesthetics.
Precision Tools: Fixtures, jigs, and molds requiring strict tolerances and stability.
Mechanical Parts: Hydraulic systems, engine parts, and gears.
Automotive/Aerospace: Lightweight tooling plates used in prototyping and assembly.
Electronics: Can be used for molds for circuit boards and heat sinks due to its thermal conductivity.
Medical Devices: Biocompatible surgical instrument molds and prosthetics.

Precision Engineering

Industrial tooling: Widely used for precision molds, jigs, and fixtures due to its good machinability and dimensional stability.

Automotive and Aerospace

Structural components (e.g., car body frames, battery trays). Aircraft parts (e.g., landing gear components, wing ribs).

Marine and Construction

Due to its corrosion resistance and high strength-to-weight ratio, it can be used in ship decks, bridges, and crane structures.

Energy and Transportation

Railway vehicles (e.g., high-speed train bodies) and renewable energy systems (e.g., solar panel brackets).

6082 alloy is known in the industry as the H30 grade alloy, characterized by:

In T6/T651 temper, it has excellent chip formation (tight, coiled chips) and reduced tool wear.

Good weldability (gas, arc, laser welding) and formability (forging, rolling, stamping), though it is more difficult to process thin-walled, complex extrusions compared to other 6xxx alloys.

Aluminium 6082 Equivalent Names

Common alternative names include AlSi1MgMn, 3.2315, H30, and A96082. In Europe, plate states are usually designated as T6 (solution heat-treated and artificially aged) or T651 (T6 state plus stress-relief by stretching).

Aluminium Tooling Plate 6082 Machinability and Workability

6082 alloy is known in the industry as the H30 grade alloy, characterized by:

In T6/T651 temper, it has excellent chip formation (tight, coiled chips) and reduced tool wear.

Good weldability (gas, arc, laser welding) and formability (forging, rolling, stamping), though it is more difficult to process thin-walled, complex extrusions compared to other 6xxx alloys.

Aluminium Tooling Plate 6082 Advantages Comparison

Characteristics	6082 Aluminum Tooling Plate vs. Ordinary Steel
Density	About 65% lighter (2.7g/cm³)
Corrosion Resistance	Significantly better than steel (no coating required)
Machining Efficiency	Easier to cut and weld
Maintenance Costs	Low (excellent oxidation resistance)

Suitable for tooling scenarios requiring frequent disassembly or high cleanliness standards.

Aluminium Tooling Plate 6082 Advantages and Limitations

Aluminium Tooling Plate 6082 Advantages

The highest strength in the 6xxx series, with excellent corrosion resistance.
Precision plates have excellent machinability and surface finish.
Good weldability and formability, suitable for complex mold shapes.

Aluminium Tooling Plate 6082 Limitations

Compared to 6061, 6082 has poorer formability in thin-walled extrusions.
Welded components require careful post-weld heat treatment to restore mechanical properties.

Key Advantages of 6082 over 6061

Higher strength: The tensile strength and fatigue strength of 6082-T6 are superior to 6061-T6, making it ideal for heavy-duty structures.
Weldability: Offers better resistance to hot cracking during welding, especially in marine environments.
Grain structure: Manganese content ensures finer grains, improving formability and reducing anisotropy.

Aluminium Tooling Plate Comparison

Cast aluminum tooling plates (such as EcoCast) offer high hardness (105 HB) and size stability, while 6082 provides excellent machinability and weldability. Cast plates typically contain higher levels of copper (1.2-1.8%) and silicon, making them brittle, but suitable for heavy-duty molds. In contrast, 6082 balances strength and machinability.

6082 offers the best balance of strength, corrosion resistance, and machinability, making it highly suitable for marine and industrial tooling.
6061 is very common, inexpensive, and versatile, but slightly lower in strength compared to 6082.
7075 provides extremely high strength but poorer corrosion resistance; mainly used in aerospace and defense tooling.
MIC-6 cast plate features exceptional flatness and dimensional stability, making it ideal for precision machining and CNC bases.

Property / Alloy	6082 Tooling Plate	6061 Tooling Plate	7075 Tooling Plate	MIC-6 Cast Tooling Plate
Strength	High (higher than 6061)	Medium strength	Very high (much stronger than 6082 & 6061)	Low to medium
Machinability	Excellent	Excellent	Good but more tool wear	Excellent (stable, stress-relieved)
Corrosion Resistance	Very good	Good	Fair (not ideal in marine use)	Good
Dimensional Stability	Very stable (T651)	Stable, but slightly less than 6082	Less stable (prone to distortion)	Excellent (cast + stress relieved)
Weldability	Good	Good	Poor	Not designed for welding
Surface Finish	Available in milled/ground finishes	Similar to 6082	Can be polished to very high finish	Supplied with precision flat milled finish
Cost	Moderate	Moderate (slightly cheaper than 6082)	Higher	Higher (due to casting & precision finish)
Typical Applications	Jigs, fixtures, mould bases, machine parts	General tooling, structural parts, automotive	Aerospace, defense, high-stress tooling	Precision jigs, fixtures, measuring tools, CNC bases

6082 Aluminium Plate Frequently Asked Questions

What is aluminium 6082 equivalent to?

Aluminium 6082 is the strongest alloy in the 6000 series, roughly equivalent to AA6082 / EN AW-6082 / AlSi1MgMn.

What are the grades of aluminium tooling plate?

Common grades include 6082, 6061, 7075, and cast tooling plate such as MIC-6.

Which aluminum is stronger, 6061 or 6082?

Aluminium 6082 has higher strength than 6061, especially in the T6/T651 temper.

What is aluminum 6082 used for?

Aluminium 6082 is widely used in tooling, machine components, structural applications, transport, and marine industries.

Notes

Process Control: Casting temperature tends to be high, and speed low, which can lead to defects; strict parameter management is required.
Processing Environment: Avoid using iron tools to prevent metal contamination affecting performance.