Unexposed aluminum - visual / surface requirements?

Hello,

Our team has been trying to find a ASTM (or other) standard for visual inspection / surface requirements for unexposed aluminum materials but have been unsuccessful. We produce blanks that our customer then stamps...

Is anyone aware of such a standard?

I do not know of any such standard, but there probably is one.

More to the point, what does your customer specification say? I've experienced customer friction regarding this issue, but the customer specification did not address it, so it was a case of "I want to see it this way, but we never asked for it".

There was no specification / requirement when this was initially quoted. It also was not called out within the PPAP that was approved. It sounds like our customer is now "creating" the specification for this... Pretty much the same case you mentioned

Slickpick said:

There was no specification / requirement when this was initially quoted. It also was not called out within the PPAP that was approved. It sounds like our customer is now "creating" the specification for this... Pretty much the same case you mentioned

Click to expand...

What type of stamping? Is as scratch issue? Or a material surface issue?

Golfman25 said:

What type of stamping? Is as scratch issue? Or a material surface issue?

Click to expand...

The material is stamped/formed into door inners (auto). The concern resembles more of a rub-mark than anything. It does not impact the gage of the material in anyway and is purely a visual issue

Slickpick said:

The material is stamped/formed into door inners (auto). The concern resembles more of a rub-mark than anything. It does not impact the gage of the material in anyway and is purely a visual issue

Click to expand...

So the reason I ask is because that rub mark could effect the way the material "slides" while forming. Sounds like it is intermittent thru the blanks -- some good, some not. That inconsistency can make it hard to pin down. Rather than worrying about a spec which may or may not exist, you may want to figure if it is really a problem or if they are just complaining to complain.

I have had customers complain because something "looks" different even though it met spec. and didn't really matter. Had to run it up to engineering because the line people could only look "before and after."