Everything You Need to Know About Aluminum Profiles

What are aluminum profiles and their uses?

1. Support Materials
2. Extrusion Products
3. Thresholds
4. Kick Plates
5. Slatwall
6. Window Frames
7. Corner Guards

What are aluminum profiles?

Aluminum profiles have proven to be just some of the most useful materials in construction, industrial, and other residential applications. One of the main drivers behind this is that these profiles largely take advantage of the various properties of aluminum. This particular alloy is a versatile material that has a high resistance against corrosion, lightweight, low-density, machinable, smooth, and malleable. 

With this in mind, manufacturers have ingeniously come up with numerous ways to create aluminum profiles. Their uses range from simple door kick plates and window frames to far more complex, larger-scale applications such as shipping containers and piping channels. Continue reading to learn more.

Support Materials

For materials to be able to serve as constructional support, they need to be durable, stable, and strong, to contribute to a particular building’s structural integrity.

Aluminum profiles fall into this category because they primarily perform the function of providing support for buildings. You can come up with virtually any type of building component in your mind and aluminum profiles might have a use for them. Though the material is heavily lacking in hardness, it does measure high in machinability. This allows production facilities to transform aluminum profiles to a great extent. 

Extrusion Products

The process of extrusion in aluminum usually involves the passage of a solid aluminum billet into a die. This is typically done with the assistance of a high-pressure hydraulic press, or ram, to force the block into the die. 

Aluminum profiles are essentially the product of the extrusion method, but this kind of method does not only appear in one form. Aluminum profiles that are extruded can either be characterized as continuous — for the manufacture of components with a higher length — or semi-continuous — for smaller components or pieces. 

Thresholds

Thresholds are simply materials that are found at the bottom of doorways. The main purpose of thresholds is to set a particular building or structure at an elevated position compared to the outer floor leveling.

For example, residential buildings make sure thresholds serve as entryways. Most of these components are made of wood and do not usually have a longer shelf-life because of environmental factors. Fortunately, the production of aluminum thresholds has made it possible for a more corrosion-resistant material that can last longer compared to wood. Furthermore, they can adopt a smoother shape to assist in accommodating wheelchairs, or other wheeled objects.

Kick Plates

Aluminum kick plates enjoy many uses for both residential and industrial structures. In facilities such as wet-processing areas, aluminum kick plates need to be attached to the bottom of swing doors to protect the door itself. 

As utility carts pass through one area from another, the presence of aluminum kick plates helps protect the lower areas of the doors from damage. Furthermore, these kick plates also serve to prevent any spills from foreign substances, in altering the shape of the door. This is made possible through the presence of an oxide surface in the aluminum product.

Slatwall

Slatwall can typically be found in commercial establishments, particularly retail stores. These objects are usually a composition of different aluminum profiles that are stacked atop one another to form a pallet-looking wall. 

One of the distinctive features of Slatwall is the gaps that have been made as a result of the paneling installation process. These gaps or “slots,” are where hangers and hooks are attached. Retailers can add as many hangers to each slot layer as they see fit because of the high level of adjustability. 

Window Frames

Another great application for aluminum profiles is those which can be found across many window frames. Though it may seem unconventional aluminum window frames have been utilized for both functional and decorative purposes.

Since aluminum profiles generally do not tend to rust, there’s no reason as to why they shouldn’t be used as window frames. Windows are always exposed to environmental factors such as heavy rain, or high-temperature conditions. Aluminum window profiles won’t easily melt or even rust, thereby allowing window openings to be adjusted as freely as possible, even for long periods.

Corner Guards

Aluminum corner guards do well to protect wood materials, especially in residential spaces. Because aluminum can be customized for many decorative applications, using them as corner guards to adapt to the overall aesthetic of the home, wouldn’t be a problem. 

Corner guards can come in various sizes, depending on the homeowner’s preference, for example. They may prefer shorter corner guards as a way of protecting just a small portion of a wall corner. On the other hand, they can also make use of an aluminum corner guard with thicker dimensions to retain the quality of the wall material used. 

Key Takeaway

Aluminum profiles are mainly the product of the aluminum extrusion process, where an aluminum billet is passed through a die. The result — varying types of aluminum profiles that have wide uses across residential, industrial, and constructional spaces. 

The main reason why building engineers might prefer aluminum material over other materials is because of its lightweight and high-machinable properties. This allows them to come up with varying sizes of profiles that can be found across many types of building mediums.