[engineerscott]

The surface is much harder than "plain" aluminum and hence imparts a good deal of scratch/wear resistance to the part, but I don't think anodizing will have any measureable impact on the bulk material properties of any decent sized part. The anodized layer is just too thin compared with the thickness of most "normal" sized parts. So, the bulk properties (compressive strength, tensile strength, shear strength, modulus of elasticity, etc. ) will remain the same as unanodized Aluminum but the surface will be much more wear resistant. Remember, anodizing is a surface treatment so we really only expect to modify the characteristics of a fairly thin layer at the surface.