rolled aluminum 

Rolled aluminum: classification, Properties and Applications

rolled aluminum – flat products

Rolled aluminum is flat rolled products: plates, sheets and foil.

See. also Rolled aluminum: classification

It is flat rolled aluminum - aluminum sheets and aluminum foil - that make up about half of the total 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.

All three types of flat aluminum rolled products are rolled to a rectangular cross section. They differ only in thickness:

  • thick sheet,
  • thin sheet and
  • foil.

aluminum plate

Aluminum plate is called aluminum, rolled to a thickness of over 6,3 mm (quarter inch) in the US or more 6 mm - in Europe and other countries with metric system. The aluminum plate can be cut with scissors or sawed edges. Thick sheet is usually produced in flat form in measured lengths.

Thick aluminum sheets - aluminum plates - are used to make various strong 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.

Examples of applications for thick aluminum sheets are:

  • 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.

aluminum plates

aluminum sheet

aluminum sheet thickness

Sheets less than 6,3 mm (6 mm) and up to a thickness of at least 0,20 mm called sheets.

The edges of thin sheets can also be cut with a saw and scissors. They are supplied as flat, and in bays. Some manufacturers of thin aluminum sheet perform additional operations with it., such as coloring or texturing. Previously, thin sheets were called sheets up to 0,15 mm.

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 sheet rolls

Exterior Finishing Aluminum Sheets

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 sheet processing

Aluminum sheets lend themselves to various machining methods:

  • cutting;
  • sawing;
  • drill.

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:

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 4,5 m.

Aluminium foil familiar to many people from 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.

Aluminium foil