Wrought aluminum temper designations record a product’s fabrication, strain-hardening, solution-treatment, and aging history. This guide defines the basic F, O, H, W, and T conditions, then explains the first digits used in H and T subdivisions. It distinguishes strain hardening, partial annealing, stabilization, natural aging, artificial aging, cold working, overaging, and elevated-temperature forming. The result is a compact reference for interpreting codes from H1 through H4 and T1 through T10 after an aluminum alloy number. The article preserves the source’s reported process conditions, units, material grades, and technical relationships for practical reference.
A wrought aluminum-alloy temper designation follows the alloy number after a hyphen. It consists of a basic temper letter and one or more digits. The basic letters F, O, H, W, and T are defined below; subsequent digits identify subdivisions of the basic temper.
| Code | Temper Name | Description and Application |
|---|---|---|
| F | As fabricated | Products for which there are no special requirements for control of strain hardening or heat-treatment conditions during forming. Mechanical properties are not specified for this temper. |
| O | Annealed | Products fully annealed to obtain the lowest-strength temper. |
| H | Strain hardened | Products whose strength is increased through strain hardening. |
| W | Solution heat-treated | An unstable temper for products that naturally age at room temperature after solution heat treatment. |
| T | Thermally treated to a stable temper other than F, O, or H | Products brought to a stable condition after solution heat treatment, with or without strain hardening. T must be followed by one or more digits. |
H is normally followed by two or more digits. The first digit means:
The first digit after T identifies the basic treatment:
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