Aluminum flat-rolled products
Rolled aluminum is mainly flat products: thick sheets (plates), thin sheets and foil. It is flat rolled aluminum - sheets and foil - that make up about half of all aluminum products, for example, in the United States. More flat aluminum products are produced, than such types of aluminum products, like aluminum castings, extruded profiles, aluminum wire, aluminum rods, and also forged aluminum, stamped and powder products.
Classification of flat aluminum products
All three types of flat aluminum rolled products are rolled to a rectangular cross section. They differ only in thickness:
– aluminum thick sheet;
– aluminum thin sheet and
– aluminum foil .
Figure 1 – The process of manufacturing flat rolled aluminum [2]
aluminum plate
Aluminum plate (thick sheet) is called aluminum, rolled to thickness: more 6,3 mm (quarter inch) in the US or more 6 mm - in Europe and other countries with metric system. The aluminum plate can have edges cut with scissors or on a saw. Thick sheet is usually produced in flat form, but sometimes in bays.
Properties and Applications of Aluminum Plates
Aluminum aluminum plates are made into various durable shapes with the same thickness. They also serve as blanks for machining complex flat parts., such as ribbed panels for aircraft wings. They are easily welded into large, robust and durable structures.
Other numerous uses for thick aluminum sheets include:
- railway and road tanks;
- aluminum armor for tanks and other armored vehicles;
- deck structures of large commercial and military ships;
- offshore oil storage;
- tanks for the transportation of liquefied natural gas;
- supporting structures of airplanes and spaceships.
Tanks for the transport of liquefied natural gas
Liquefied natural gas is transported by sea tankers at a temperature of minus 162 °C. LNG storage tanks are made from the world's thickest aluminum plates. To ensure the safety of maritime transport, the materials of these boards must be resistant to embrittlement at low temperatures., be easy, These materials must be resistant to becoming brittle at low temperatures and be lightweight, corrosion- resistant and workable to ensure safety during ocean transport.
Figure 2 – LNG tanker [2]
Figure 3 – Aluminum tank car for transportation of liquefied natural gas [2]
Figure 4 – aluminum plates, which are used for the manufacture of tanks for the transportation of liquefied natural gas [2]
Figure 5 – 5083-O Alloy Aluminum Plate, which is applied to the manufacture of the spherical shell of the tank for transporting LNG
(60 mm thickness x 4,030 mm width x 16,350 mm length) [2]
aluminum sheet
Sheets less than 6,3 mm (6 mm) and up to a thickness of at least 0,20 mm called sheets.
Sheet edges can also be trimmed with a saw and scissors. They are supplied as flat, and in bays. Some manufacturers of aluminum sheet also perform additional operations with it., such as coloring or texturing.
Properties of aluminum sheets
Aluminum thin sheet is an amazingly versatile material. And not only that, which can have exactly those characteristics and properties, which the consumer needs, but also so, well suited for various types of outdoor decoration, processing and connection methods.
Aluminum sheets can be applied to a wide variety of exterior finishes:
- applying a volumetric pattern;
- liquid coloring;
- electrolytic coating;
- polishing;
- powder coating;
- lamination;
- anodizing;
- etching;
- texturing.
Aluminum sheets lend themselves to various machining methods:
- cutting;
- sawing;
- drilling.
It is easy to shape aluminum sheets by:
- flexible;
- corrugation;
- hoods;
- punching.
Aluminum sheets are easily bonded to each other or other materials in a variety of ways:
- riveted;
- on bolts or screws;
- fold;
- solid soldering;
- soft soldering;
- welding;
- adhesive bonding.
Figure 6 – Production process of aluminum sheet for making beverage cans [2]
Application of aluminum sheets
The list of applications for aluminum sheets is too wide, so that you can list it in full. It includes such familiar products, as:
- aluminum bases of electric bulbs;
- aluminum cans for soft drinks ("beer cans") and food;
- aluminum kitchen utensils;
- Appliances;
- awnings;
- jalousie;
- aluminum siding for house facades;
- aluminum roof;
- aluminum drainage systems;
- building envelopes: windows, doors and curtain walls;
- road signs;
- car license plates;
- heat exchangers;
- parts and upholstery of cars;
- truck panels, trailers and buses;
- plating of boats and aircraft.
Aluminium foil
Ordinary aluminum foil is flat rolled aluminum with a thickness 0,20 mm. Such foil is supplied as in coils, and flat. The thickness of the special - thin - foil can reach 6,5 m.
Figure 7 – Aluminum alloys for foil production and foil applications [2]
Properties and applications of aluminum foil
Aluminum foil is familiar to many people from the popular kitchen foil.. It is easy to wrap any food in this foil, it does not allow water and steam to pass through. Foil does not burn, conducts heat well and reflects it well. Housewives love foil also for that, that mold never grows in it.
But there is also other foil - made of harder and stronger aluminum alloys, whose strength may approach the strength of steel.
The variety of properties of aluminum foil makes it indispensable for protective packaging of products, medicines and other consumer goods, to foil-laminated building films for steam- and wind insulation of buildings, artificial christmas trees, rigid packaging containers and honeycomb building materials.
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