
Aluminum solution treatment is a process for improving the strength of aluminum alloys. It includes three steps: (1) Heating to the solution temperature (just below melting temperature), (2) quenching in water, glycol, or air, and (3) aging at a lower temperature for a specified period of time. Solution treatment is necessary to give aluminum the required strength, hardness and toughness to make it suitable for structural and other load bearing applications that experience mechanical stress or are susceptible to fatigue.