Substituting for the factors of safety ny and nu for building structures (from

the Aluminum Specification Table 3.4-1), the tensile stress checks become:
F A F A F # min # ty g, tu n # (5.2) t 1.65 1.95 kt
Yielding on the net section is not considered a limit state because it�s assumed
that the net section exists over only a small portion of the total length of the
member. Therefore, yielding on the net section will result in very little
elongation
of the member in relation to its overall length. Since the gross area
usually equals or exceeds the net area and kt is 1 in most cases, fracture will
govern the allowable tensile strength if Fty # 0.85 Ftu. An example is 6061-
T6 where Fty /1.65 # (35 ksi)/1.65 # 21.2 ksi and Ftu/[(kt)1.95] # (38 ksi)
/[(1.0)(1.95)] # 19.5 ksi. Since the stress on the gross area is always less
than or equal to the stress on the net area and the allowable stress on the
gross area is higher than on the net area, the fracture strength on the net area
always governs. The Aluminum Design Manual, Part VII, allowable stress
design aid tables are of limited usefulness because they give only the lesser
of the allowable stress based on yield and that based on fracture, even though
the stresses these allowable stresses are compared to differ.
The tension coefficient kt is 1.0 for all alloys that appear in the Aluminum
Specification except 2014-T6, for which kt is 1.25, and 6066-T6 and 6070-
T6, for which it is 1.1. These alloys are notch-sensitive and, thus, require, in
effect, an additional factor of safety against fracture. Notch-sensitive means
that the ultimate stress on the net section attained in standard tests of specimens
with sharp notches is less than the specified minimum tensile yield
strength. For alloys not listed in the Aluminum Specification, users must determine
the kt factor. (See Section 4.4 of this book for more on this.)
The Aluminum Specification�s provisions for allowable stresses for tension
members are actually very similar to those in the Steel Specification. The
similarities may be obscured, however, because the aluminum allowable
stresses are determined by dividing aluminum strengths by a factor of safety,
while the Steel Specification requires multiplying steel strengths by the
reciprocal
of the safety factor. The steel allowable tensile strength is:
0.60F (# F /1.67) on the gross area (5.3) ty ty
0.50F (# F /2.00) on the effective net area (5.4) tu tu
The steel safety factors, then, are 1.67 on yield strength (versus 1.65 for
aluminum) and 2.0 on ultimate strength (versus 1.95 for aluminum).
At room temperature, not all aluminum alloys exhibit the ability to sustain
stresses well above yield, a property some structural designers may take for
granted with A36 steel. This is demonstrated by examining their stress-strain
curves up to failure (see Figure 5.3). For example, at a minimum, A36 steel