6061 aluminum alloy is an age hardening alloy. Its mechanical characteristics are dependant of the precipitates contained in the material. The precipitates grow or dissolve with temperature, depending on the thermal history applied on the material. The aim of the project is to study the influence of the manufacturing processes used to create a part in AA6061. The study cannot be accomplished directly on the part and specimens representing the part have to be used. Thermal histories corresponding to the processes would be applied on the specimen. To do so, an experimental device able to simulate the processes on a specimen will be designed. This device uses Joule effect in order to reach very high heating rate. The heating device is installed on a tensile-torsion :machine. So, it can be used to measure the mechanical properties of the material submitted to various thermal loading.