Nowadays, construction engineering demands materials that are strong, light, and corrosion-resistant, above all. Modern-day engineers possess the vision and creativity needed to meet the ever-demanding aesthetic, structural, thermal, and acoustic challenges of the 21st-century construction industry. Most importantly, they have a plethora of materials to choose from for their next big project. And an excellent material selection is vital in construction.

Aluminum is an obvious choice for construction engineers and designers with its unique properties, making it a natural partner for many applications. Aluminum’s use, most notably in its extruded form, in a broad range of construction applications has grown over the years thanks to the materials’ excellent properties like incredible strength, unmatched durability, lightness, and corrosion resistance. Simply put, it’s the material that offers construction engineers the optimal design flexibility and cost-efficiency like no other material out there.

Aluminum extrusion is the fabrication method utilized to transform aluminum alloy into definitive, cross-sectional profiles for a broad range of industry applications. The process makes the most of the material’s unique combination of physical characteristics, especially ductility and malleability. Its ductility makes it possible to be smoothly extruded, while its malleability permits it to be pressed and developed into intricate shapes, even after extrusion is done.

Long story short, aluminum extrusions are popular in the construction industry for a reason. If you’re considering employing the services of a professional aluminum extrusions company to fabricate your custom aluminum products for your next construction project and wanting to find out what good would it do, you’re at the right place.

The more you learn about this material, the more you’ll know why it’s the top choice for products and components development within construction specialists around the world. Here are the top reasons you should go with aluminum for extrusion over any other material for your next commercial construction project.

Fantastic Strength To Weight Ratio

Aluminum is the most preferred building material because of the incredible balance of its two most important attributes. Aluminum’s strength is comparable to that of steel. Simultaneously, aluminum weights about ⅓ than the weight of steel, allowing the aluminum components to be approximately three times the size of the steel parts within the same weight budget.

Besides, when using aluminum for extrusion, the metal’s high strength will remain intact, but its weight will be minimized even further due to the extrusion process. With aluminum extrusions, you will no longer have to compromise the quality of the metal you use to comply with your project’s weight specifications. Aluminum extrusion will help you deliver a better end product without the excess weight of steel on your construction’s foundation.

Photo from Design World

Design Customization

One of the top reasons why experienced constructors go with aluminum for their extruded parts is tightly connected to aluminum’s versatility and ability to be highly customized. No matter the project size or specification, there’s an aluminum extruded part that can meet your project’s needs.

Custom aluminum extrusions are an essential component of the construction industry, especially with producing custom-sized structural frames. All aluminum extrusion profiles can be fabricated using specific tolerances, sizes, and shapes defined by your project needs.

The Material Is Durable And Long-Lasting

When people think about aluminum, they mostly think about aluminum cans that can be easily crushed or squeezed even by a child. Aluminum cans for soda drinks are made just from a thin material of rolled aluminum that later gets formed into the desired shape. However, the truth is that it’s a reliable, durable, and long-lasting material.

Aluminum extrusion is an entirely different manufacturing method, which involves the use of aluminum billets that are heated and pushed through a profile at a very high pressure to create the desired shape. The aluminum extrusion process increases the durability and strength of the material to develop products and components that can be used even in the most extreme conditions.

Aluminum Is An Environmentally Friendly Metal

Aluminum is 100% recyclable, and unlike other recycled materials, recycled aluminum maintains all of the properties from the original metal piece. Moreover, recycling scrap aluminum takes only 5% of the energy required to produce a new one.

 

All this adds to the scrap value and makes it beneficial for companies to recover and recycle old aluminum rather than buying a new one. With its low-cost recyclability, high-rate of scrap recovery, and abundance of its ore, aluminum is a highly economical and environmentally sustainable material.

Colors And Coatings

Aluminum extruded products can easily be anodized to enhance their appearance, improve their wear resistance, and extend the extrusion’s life. The extrusions’ coating is naturally clear so that it can be combined with organic dyes available in a rainbow of colors.

Also, aluminum profiles can be treated with chemical conversion coating to maximize their oxidation, and aluminum oxidation is precisely what makes aluminum so corrosion-resistant.

Photo from Thomasnet

Aluminum Is Non-Magnetic

Unlike iron, steel, and other metals, one more reason why aluminum is so highly utilized for extruded parts is that the material is absolutely non-magnetic. This makes aluminum the clear choice in high-voltage situations. Besides, aluminum is also non-sparking, which means it’s a great choice for volatile environments.

Photo from Medium

Aluminum also efficiently transfers heat and is twice as conductive as copper, which is additionally way more expensive. There are hundreds of reasons why aluminum is the best material for extrusion, and being non-magnetic is one of the most important ones.

Easy To Use

One of the main reasons construction professionals turn to aluminum when they need to create custom extrusions is that it’s very easy to use. Out of  what metals are magnetic that can be used for extrusion, aluminum is the most malleable and easy to extrude to create custom designs and shapes. Moreover, aluminum never cracks or breaks while being shaped because of its malleability, providing it with more integrity than other metals.

In Conclusion

The metals you select have a lasting impact on your finished construction project’s strength, quality, and longevity, so make sure to make a wise and informed choice. Now that you know why aluminum is the most utilized metal and material for extrusion projects, with all the benefits and potential applications within the construction industry, you may decide it’s the best fit for your next construction project.

Originally posted 2021-02-13 01:46:38.