1060 Aluminum Sheet: Properties, Tempers and Buyer's Guide

1060 Aluminum Sheet: Properties, Tempers and Buyer's Guide

1060 aluminum sheet is a commercially pure aluminum (99.6% minimum) chosen for formability, corrosion resistance and thermal/electrical conductivity rather than strength — the standard selection for chemical vessels, food-grade packaging equipment, reflectors, heat-exchange surfaces and decorative panels. When ordering from Chinese mills, confirm the temper (H14/H24/O are the common supply conditions), width range up to 2000 mm, surface finish (mill finish or anodized), and that the certificate confirms iron+silicon and copper limits that define the 1060 grade.

1060 is the workhorse of the pure-aluminum series: cheap relative to alloyed grades, easy to form and weld, and naturally corrosion-resistant thanks to its self-repairing oxide film. What it is not is strong — with typical tensile strength of 60–95 MPa depending on temper, it belongs in applications where loads are light and formability or conductivity is the point. This guide explains where it fits, how its tempers differ, and what to check on an export order.

What "1060" Means

The 1xxx series is commercially pure aluminum; the last two digits specify minimum aluminum content — 1060 means 99.6% Al minimum. The remaining 0.4% is mostly iron and silicon, with trace copper. Those "impurity" levels matter more than buyers expect: iron and silicon form intermetallic particles that affect surface quality after anodizing and influence recrystallization behavior, so grade-to-grade substitution (1060 vs 1050 vs 1100) is visible on the certificate, not just in price.

Element	1060 Limit
Aluminum	99.6% min
Iron (Fe)	0.35% max
Silicon (Si)	0.25% max
Copper (Cu)	0.05% max
Manganese / Magnesium / Zinc	0.03% / 0.03% / 0.05% max
Others (each)	0.03% max

Properties That Drive Selection

• Formability: excellent. O-temper 1060 elongates 35–40% before fracture — deep draws and complex forming that would crack work-hardened alloys.
• Corrosion resistance: very good in neutral and near-neutral environments; the oxide film self-repairs. Unsuitable as-is for strongly acidic or alkaline service.
• Thermal and electrical conductivity: among the best of common sheet grades — roughly 234 W/m·K thermal and 61% IACS electrical, which is why it appears in heat-exchange surfaces and busbar-adjacent applications.
• Weldability: excellent by TIG/MIG (though pure aluminum welds lose strength in the heat-affected zone — rarely a problem at these strength levels anyway).
• Strength: the deliberate compromise. H14 temper tensile ~85–110 MPa; O temper 60–95 MPa. If the design needs structural strength, step up to 3003 (better strength, similar formability) or 5052 (much better strength, good formability).

Temper Options and What They Change

1060 sheet ships in work-hardened or annealed tempers; the temper choice sets the formability/strength balance:

Temper	Condition	Typical Use
O	Fully annealed, softest	Deep drawing, spinning, maximum formability
H12 / H22	Quarter hard	Light forming where a bit of stiffness helps handling
H14 / H24	Half hard — the common supply temper	General fabrication, panels, chemical equipment internals
H18 / H26	Full / three-quarter hard	Flat, rigid applications with minimal forming

Yuze Metal supplies 1060 sheet in 600–2000 mm widths, mill finish or anodized, in H14/H24/O tempers with custom lengths — the mid-band of the market's most-requested configuration.

Common Applications

• Chemical vessels and storage tanks for neutral products, where corrosion resistance and weldability matter more than strength.
• Food and packaging equipment — contact surfaces, trays, and machine components; pure aluminum's non-toxic oxide surface is the reason 1060 appears throughout food-processing equipment.
• Heat-exchange and thermal surfaces — fins, reflectors, heat shields.
• Lighting reflectors — mill-finish or polished 1060 reflects efficiently and anodizes predictably.
• Signage, decorative panels and anodized architectural trim, where surface response after anodizing is the quality gate.

What to Verify on an Export Order

1. Temper on the certificate — "1060" without a temper is not an order; H14 and O behave completely differently in a press.
2. Chemistry against 1060 limits — particularly iron+silicon sum and copper; over-limit copper degrades corrosion resistance, and 1100 mislabeled as 1060 shows up here.
3. Surface finish class — mill finish is economical but varies in sheen; anodized-quality sheet should be specified for visible architectural surfaces, with anodizing done by the buyer or confirmed as a supplied option.
4. Flatness tolerance for laser-cut or print-applications, where default mill flatness may not suffice.
5. Protective interleaving for thin gauges in ocean freight — pure aluminum scratches easily, and surface claims are the most common dispute on cosmetic orders.

Pricing Context

1060 sits at the bottom of the aluminum sheet price ladder — cheaper than 3003, 5052 and every heat-treatable alloy — with prices tracking the LME aluminum price plus fabrication margins. Quotes far below the market band usually mean off-grade substitution (pure-aluminum content below 99.6%) or unspecified tempers; the certificate lines above are the buyer's defense. For buyers building a broader aluminum program, the guide comparing 6061 and 7075 plates covers the alloyed side of the catalog.

Talk to Yuze Metal About 1060 Sheet

Yuze Metal Limited supplies 1060 aluminum sheet in 600–2000 mm widths, H14/H24/O tempers, mill finish or anodized, with the temper and chemistry lines on the certificate — the two fields that decide whether the sheet forms the way your process expects. Tell us the application and we will confirm the right temper before quoting, not after the press objects.

Write to us at info@yuzemetal.com or message us on WhatsApp; we reply fast.