Aluminum Bars Application and Production Process

Aluminum bars are also known as aluminum rods. They are strip-like solid aluminum of various cutting sections: round, square, triangle etc. The section shape of aluminum bars are made in accordance with different applications. The rods can be produced into electricity wires and cables, building facial panels and ceilings, and profiles of windows etc. The purity (aluminum content) of aluminum rods is usually between 98.8% and 99.7%. Precisely manufactured bars prove to be even harder than many alloy steels, which makes it an ideal substitute of steel structures in various cases. What’s more, the bars are only half heavy of steel bars of the same volume.

What’s the production of aluminum rods is like? First, the content and weight of raw materials (metals) should be calculated carefully in accordance with desired alloy model of aluminum bars. This is very crucial, because any slight error might lead to changes in alloy models. In some cases this will make finished bars a pile of metal waste. Second, the raw materials are placed into a smelter for melting, during which special methods are applied to eliminate impurities and gases from the melted metal liquid. Third, the metal liquid are poured into a deep casting well in which it is made into aluminum bars of wanted specifications.

In comparison with copper and steel rods, aluminum bars have the best integrated advantage. With a much smaller density, they are lighter and therefore cheaper of the same volume (not weight). Copper is the most expensive, so it’s not applied unless it’s irreplaceable in some products. Aluminum is not so hard as copper or steel, but it’s strong enough to meet requirements of most end products. It’s naturally corrosion resistant, and the anti-rust property can be greatly improved by a special anodizing process. Thus, it tends to replace steel in more and more areas.

Reprinted from http://www.aluminio.cn/application-and-production-process-of-aluminum-bars/