[Simonk]

All this talk from echo about their new U6 aluminium, but what is it?
Is it a different alloy or a different way of heat treating or what?
All I know about it is that U stands for Ultra.

I would appreciate it if someone who actually knew the answer posted along with the usual stupid comments.

Maybe that Deng guy knows... (hint hint)

 

[thetart20]

Puro™ U6 Aluminum Alloy
Our proprietary ultra light Puro™ U6 aluminum alloy is 25% stronger and 20% more fatigue resistant than traditional 6061 aluminum alloy. We worked with the suppliers of this material to develop custom tubes for our high end frames and forks and we are the only manufacturer using this material for folding bicycle frames. Puro™ U6 aluminum allows us to use very thin tubing without sacrificing strength.

So, its significantly better than 6061... (7005 is about 5.5% 'stronger' (in terms of Tensile strength at yield) than 6061)

I think 'U6' is just a trade name (like 'Araldite' for example). Ive found an aluminium alloy that has very similar properties to those claimed by Echo and Dahon (Folding bikes). It is 'UltrAlloy® 6020-T9 Aluminum' (which is where the 'Ultra' bit comes from? And the '6' from the series of alloy? I dunno... just an informed guess)

Material Notes:
Weldability = B; Stress Corrosion Cracking Resistance = A; General Corrosion Resistance = B (A = best; E = worst). General 6020 characteristics and uses: Excellent machinability, high corrosion resistance, good joining characteristics, and excellent response to anodizing. The T8 temper offers excellent residual stress control for applications requiring tight dimensional control after machining.

All in all sounding pretty sweet for bike frames.

Anyway... i hope that can be of some help... id really like Deng to fill us in though, if he could

Adam

 

[Simonk]

Cool that was a pretty good, how the hell do you manage to find things so quickly on the web?. I did a search for it and all I could find was that dahon or whatever it is.

Its pretty weird that this U6 stuff just appeared which is so good that it means that none of the echo frames will ever break any more - Why hasn't anyone else ever used it before?

 

[thetart20]

how the hell do you manage to find things so quickly on the web?.

Erm, i had those links saved in my favourites, hehe. http://www.matweb.com is an awesome materials website as well.

Its pretty weird that this U6 stuff just appeared which is so good that it means that none of the echo frames will ever break any more - Why hasn't anyone else ever used it before?

Id never thought of that actually... it is pretty strange.
However, that Dahon place uses it for their folding bikes... so...

Also have a look at:
http://www.pulobikes.com/newproduct/newproduct03.htm

Time for another search now i have specific values :Wavey:

 

[Fast Fashion]

U6 is people you fuck heads.

 

[Tanner]

No, thats U2..

 

[Elan]

soilent green?

 

[Simonk]

Down the bottom of this it says U6 6061, so its not 6020, or maybe it is and they are just lying.

 

[thetart20]

Down the bottom of this it says U6 6061

Down the bottom of where? :?

 

[Simonk]

oh man why do i have the short term memory of a goldfish

here

 

[thetart20]

Aaahh... theres a comma in there...

It means they'll make it out of 6061 (2.0mm thick = Koxx, OnZa) OR U6 (1.2mm and 1.6mm mix = Echo) - whichever you specify.

No prizes for guessing which one is the cheapest to manufacture (and then which one retails for more)