How Aluminum Profiling and Extrusion went from Nay to Yay:

Is aluminum the most used element?

You can find the aluminum from beverage to space capsules, but that hasn’t always been the case.

What else do we need to know is: aluminum is the third most common and abundant metal. Factually, it cost you less than the price of Gold, but it stays more valuable compared to it.

Before we dig out why we need aluminum in our manufacturing industry or what benefits it holds, let’s know the history of aluminum.

History of Aluminum:

Aluminum is a metal — rare to found in native form. It is composed of refining the ores, which is a complicated and challenging process to yield. Most of the aluminum history is unknown, but the compound Alum has been familiarized since the 5th century BC.

The ancients extensively use it for dyeing, making it a product of an international business. However, increasing customer needs for excellence and productivity in extruding aluminum products has led to the advancement of several kinds of extrusion dies.

We might further talk about the history of aluminum, but here is a list of types introduced of extrusion dies to know:

· Traditional flat die;

· Pocket die;

· Spread die;

All of these were designed to extrude the challenging and strong large-scale aluminum profile manufacturing. Thus, the design criteria for the given dies are taken from the actual extrusion experience. The consequences obtained from steady-state simulation are known as the benefits of extrusion dies — for instance, velocity, temperature, extrusion force, and die deformation.

Moreover, the transient simulations were executed to examine the progress of transverse weld in the pocket and spread dies. Here, the properties of ram speeds on the corresponding extrusion parameters might also get investigated. The research fallouts offer valuable guides for designers and technologists in choosing any of the given types of dies.

Get back to the history:

In the past era, renaissance scientists believed that Alum was the first salt of the earth. However, it was established as an oxide of a new metal during the age of enlightenment. And the discovery of aluminum was proclaimed in 1825 by a physicist named Hans Christian Oersted, whose work was extended by a German Chemist named Friedrich Wohler.

As stated above, aluminum was hard to refine and thus uncommon in actual usage, but soon after the discovery, the prices of aluminum exceeded and reached the cost of Gold. It was only reduced after the initiation of the first industrial production by Henri Etienne Sainte Claire Deville — a French chemist in 1856.

After this, aluminum becomes publicly more available with the help of Paul Heroult and Charles Martin Hall in 1886. Lastly, the Austrian chemist’s named Carl Joseph Bayer in 1889 made aluminum production feasible through Bayer Process, which made it available to this date.

Perhaps, you’ve read out the history, so now is a time to discuss what aluminum extrusion is and what benefits it offers;

What Is Aluminum Extrusion:

Aluminum extrusion is a process by which the alloy material is forced through a die with a particular cross-sectional profile. A powerful ram drives the aluminum through the die, and it appears from the die opening. When it does, it originates in a similar shape as the die and is dragged out along a runout table.

At a primary level, the procedure of aluminum extrusion is comparatively simple to comprehend. For example, the force applied might link to the pressure you apply when enfolding a tube of toothpaste, and as soon as you squeeze, the toothpaste comes out in the shape of the tube’s opening. Here, the opening serves as an extrusion die.

The extrusion process offers the creation of top 03 shapes that are complexed yet achievable; let’s know the list of shapes discussed below:

1. Solid: it comes with no enclosed voids and openings, for example, a rod.
2. Hollow: it comes with one or more than one opening, for example, a rectangular tube.
3. Semi-Hollow: it comes with a partial opening, for example, a C channel.

But what methods are used for extruding aluminum? Here, we’ve discussed two ways below; let’s take a sneak peek:

· Direct Extrusion;

· In-direct Extrusion;

Direct Extrusion:

It is known as one of the most common methods used for aluminum extrusion. In this process, the billet is positioned in an immobile ampule using a hydraulic ram, which transfers through to push it through the die opening.

In-direct Extrusion:

In a method of in-direct extrusion, the die stays in a place when the aluminum billet and the container remain union and in harmony. The pressure then applied to ram forces and soft metal to flow through the die opening in the next direction, which is opposite of the ram; this is also known as a backward extrusion.

Both extrusion processes remain continuous to produce extended components or semi-continuous to compose several pieces.

Aluminum extrusion might be invented in composite shapes because of the aluminum’s lightweight and flexibility — for instance, hollow and multi-chamber profiles that might never be possible with other metals.

Now, what are the benefits offered by the most used metal named aluminum we should know?

Benefits of Aluminum:

Aluminum in general, and extruded aluminum in particular, might offer several benefits to alternative materials and processes, such as:

· Lighter in weight

· Durable and resilient

· High in strength

· Corrosion-resistant

Let’s know each of them in detail:

1. Lighter in weight:

Aluminum owns about 1/3rd of the weight compared to iron, steel, copper, and brass, making aluminum the lightest metal. This property makes aluminum, a metal, which is easier to use, less expensive to ship, and excellent material to handle.

2. Durable and resilient:

Aluminum combines strength with plasticity, which might bend under loads and spring back from the tremor of effect, leading to the usage of mechanisms in the automotive crash management system. However, it is pretty durable and as strong as required for most applications.

3. High in strength:

Aluminum is relatively high in strength, and aluminum extrusions’ unique combination of strength and weight makes them the ideal solution for many applications like the truck trailer, bridge manufacturing, and aerospace. But, again, load carrying is a critical performance.

4. Corrosion Resistant:

Aluminum offers excellent corrosion resistance, and it’s the best thing about them. They don’t get rusted, and the surface of aluminum stays protected by its own indeed stirring oxide file. It is a protection that anodizing and concluding procedures can improve.

Not only this, many other benefits of aluminum are noticed by the manufacturers to discuss. However, why it is exceptional for our manufacturing industry is another thing to know:

Uses of Aluminum — Why It Is Essential for The Manufacturing Industry:

The construction industry makes specific use of aluminum, exceptionally due to the elements’ versatility. It can be cut, bonded, welded, and molded to create a variety of solutions.

It is widely used in the packaging industry; it is a preferred element to keep the food clean and safe from harmful components.

Aluminum is quite vital to use in the transportation industry; its nature of being high in strength makes it a valuable asset to be used to manufacture a car, boat, and train.