If I wouldn't base it on its composition, how can I test the strength or the quality of an aluminum?

Question

I've read a couple of articles about hardness testers, such as the rockwell hardness tester, brinell or vickers hardness testers.Which would be the best for aluminum?Are there other ways to measure the strength of aluminum?The simpler, the better because i'm just a student working on an investigative project.

Answer 1

The simple thing to do is the hardness test, as you've already realized.  The most commonly used tests for aluminum alloys in North America are Rockwell B, Brinell, and sometimes Rockwell E.

Along with the hardness tests, many of us in industry run a conductivity test as well.  Such is useful since many of the commercially useful aluminum alloys are heat treatable, and so can be of different tempers.  The combination of hardness and conductivity reading gives a strong hint as to what the temper is, and that gives strong evidence of what strength you can expect.  Take a look at Aerospace Materials Specification 2658, published by the Society of Automotive Engineering,  for more information.