Aluminium, also commonly known as "Aluminum" is a recyclable metal that is lightweight, strong, has great formability, weldablility and is conductive.
It is inexpensive and will not rust; this natural resource will never ever run out as 8% of the earth’s crust is made up of it. Aluminium is the most commonly occurring metallic element on earth. We stock Aluminium in a variety of forms ranging from Sheet , plate, coil and extrusions making it useful for a wide variety of applications. The density of aluminium is 2.71 and its melting point is 660 degrees Celsius. In contrast to iron, aluminium oxide is the same size as aluminium. Instead of forming rust, the oxide forms a protective layer. The typical alloying elements are copper, magnesium, manganese, silicon and Zinc.
There are two classifications in Aluminium, namely casting alloys and wrought alloys, both of which are further subdivided into the categories heat treatable and non heat treatable. About 85% of aluminium is used for wrought products, for example rolled plate, sheet and extrusions. Cast aluminium alloys yield cost effective products due to the low melting point, although they generally have a much lower tensile strength than wrought alloys. A common misconception about aluminium is that it is soft or weak in comparison to other steels this is not true as depending on the alloy and manufacturing process Aluminium can have a tensile strength of 70 to 700 Mpa ! Aluminium alloys are widely used in engineering structures and components where light weight or corrosion resistance is required. In South Africa we refer to Alloys of aluminium being labelled in Series. This 4 digit system of Alloy nomenclature is commonly used in South Africa namely 1xxx 2xxx, 3xxx, 4xxx, 5xxx, 6xxx and 7xxx series respectively. This is different to Europe and the rest of the world who often refer to the EN Equivalent for example common extrusion Alloy in South Africa 6063 is known as Al Mg0.7 Si. Should you need more details on the different alloys and technical information pertaining to Aluminium please click here.