6 Key Advantages of Aluminum Extrusion Products

What are the advantages of aluminum extrusion products?

1. More Precise Dimensions
2. Better Surface Quality
3. Cost-Efficient
4. Durable
5. Environmentally-Friendly
6. Flexible

Like many other metal fabrication processes, aluminum extrusion has been widely used in many industries. Though this type of aluminum production technique is not novel, many advantages are presented by the products resulting from aluminum extrusion.

What is aluminum extrusion?

The extrusion process works in much the same way as the aluminum material. Unlike plastic, however, aluminum extrusion relies on a high-pressure hydraulic mechanism and other kinds of components. These involve a die, a billet, and a complex machine that performs the extrusion.

Simply put, an aluminum billet is passed through a die with the assistance of a high-pressure hydraulic press that is running at a constant force and speed. As the billet makes its way through the die, the billet is cut according to the cross-section of the die. The result is an aluminum extruded product that is ready for use in construction, manufacturing, and other kinds of applications.

More Precise Dimensions

Once the aluminum sample has been smelted from the ore, it then undergoes many processes of refining it so that it would become more usable as a billet. While retaining the many natural features of aluminum, a key advantage of many aluminum extruded products is that they comparably possess more precise dimensions, unlike other cutting techniques, for example.

Precise dimensions make it possible to manufacture a large volume of aluminum products that are all uniform in shape. Material precision is useful for many of the end-users of the extrusions — they would easily be able to fit the aluminum with other materials and subsequently install them seamlessly without any trouble.

Better Surface Quality

With aluminum extrusion, the resulting products have a higher quality finish and surface condition compared to the existing material. The main driver behind this also has to do with the shape of the die and the cross-sections that are involved.

Since a high-powered billet is utilized, the extruded product is characterized as having a better surface quality without any deformations. The pre-extruded aluminum material first has to undergo a surface preparation process in order to ensure this uniformity in the surface.

With a better surface quality, the product can then be used across a combination of functional and decorative purposes. They provide a luster and a shiny finish that can last for a long time with minimal wear and tear, thereby reducing the replacement and maintenance needed.

Cost-Efficient

As mentioned before, the extrusion process can accommodate large volumes of aluminum material. A large number of billets can be subject to extrusion all at once, meaning there is a shorter response time required in handling this same process.

For manufacturers of extruded products, this is a more cost-efficient way of shaping the aluminum into form. There is little-to-no requirement for secondary processes that can make the process longer. Having this in mind, manufacturers would be able to produce different pieces of extrusions that can be mass distributed with no difficulty at all. In the production of larger materials, on the other hand, the extrusion process also presents a less costly option.

Durable

Aluminum itself is already durable, and this is better exemplified in extrusions products. To give an example, you can take a look at aluminum profiles which come in different shapes and sizes. These profiles are used as part of windows, door frames, protection for tubing systems, and more. These applications are durable and can endure damage from external factors that may cause corrosion, weathering, or oxidation.

Different industries are constantly relying on the durability provided by aluminum. This material has a higher shelf life compared to other alloys whose quality may easily be degraded. Aluminum extruded products aren’t easily damaged because of their high-strength and the quality of the extrusion process.

Environmentally-Friendly

Many modern industries are now seeking to move towards more sustainable methods of production. They are aiming to reduce the impact of the emissions on the environment — resources are finite and this should not be exploited in such a way that they can no longer be recovered. As such, aluminum extruded products provide a more environmentally-friendly option of production.

All of the alloy’s properties— durable, flexible, lightweight, and more— make it an eco-friendly material. In fact, around three-quarters of the aluminum material that has been manufactured in the last century is still being utilized to this day. Extruded products can last as long as this and even more.

Because of the sheer minimal maintenance that is required to retain the quality of aluminum extruded products, it’s no wonder why they’re highly-repurposable and more sustainable to the environment. This recyclability means they do not pose harm to the environment that may otherwise be present in the production of other materials such as timber, or synthetic plastic polymers.

Flexible

Aluminum extruded products are highly-flexible, in that they could also be subject to other processes of machining. For example, if the user has intentions of adding another element or feature to the product, it can simply be done with simple manipulation techniques that do not reduce the alloy’s quality.

The flexibility of aluminum extruded products means they can also be molded and further shaped in the desired form without difficulty. There are no limits as to the repurposing of the alloy. Once you decide, for example, that you’d want to reuse the aluminum extruded product for another functional use, then it may simply be done.

Key Takeaway

Aluminum extrusion is a process of passing an aluminum billet through a die to produce what is called “aluminum extruded products.” This process retains many of the desirable properties of aluminum, such as its lightweightness, high machinability, repurposability, and eco-friendliness.

The aluminum extrusion process can produce varying sizes of products that can come in the form of smaller pieces that can be applied as aluminum fittings, or for larger-scale applications. Keeping this in mind, extrusion is genuinely one of the most economical and useful processes in the production of final aluminum end-products.