Aluminum alloys are strengthened by solution heat-treating and then quenching, or rapid cooling.  Heat treating takes the solid, alloyed metal and heats it to a specific point.  The aluminum elements, called solute, are homogeneously distributed with the aluminum putting them in a solid solution.  The metal is subsequently quenched, or rapidly cooled, which freezes the solute atoms in place.  The solute atoms consequently combine into a finely distributed precipitate.  This occurs at room temperature which is called natural aging or in a low temperature furnace operation which is called artificial aging.

The alloy registration system is currently managed by the Association¡¯s Aspc.  The whole process, from registering a new alloy to assigning a new designation, takes between 65 to 90 days. When the current system was originally developed in 1962, the list included 55 unique chemical compositions.  At present, there are more than 530 registered active compositions and that number continues to grow. That underscores how versatile and ubiquitous aluminum has become in our modern world.

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