Aluminium Alloy: Introduction to

Aluminium and its alloys

Aluminium is the world’s most abundant metal and is ELECTRICAL AND THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
the third most common element, comprising 8% of the
earth’s crust. The versatility of aluminium makes it the Aluminium is an excellent conductor of both heat and
most widely used metal after steel. electricity. The great advantage of aluminium is that by
Although aluminium compounds have been used for weight, the conductivity of aluminium is around twice
thousands of years, aluminium metal was first that of copper. This means that aluminium is now the
produced around 170 years ago. most commonly used material in large power
In the 100 years since the first industrial quantities of transmission lines.
aluminium were produced, worldwide demand for The best alternatives to copper are aluminium alloys in
aluminium has grown to around 29 million tons per the 1000 or 6000 series. These can be used for all
year. About 22 million tons is new aluminium and 7 electrical conduction applications including domestic
million tons is recycled aluminium scrap. The use of wiring.
recycled aluminium is economically and Weight considerations mean that a large proportion of
environmentally compelling. It takes 14,000 kWh to overhead, high voltage power lines now use aluminium
produce 1 tonne of new aluminium. Conversely it takes rather than copper. They do however, have a low
only 5% of this to remelt and recycle one tonne of strength and need to be reinforced with a galvanised or
aluminium. There is no difference in quality between aluminium coated high tensile steel wire in each
virgin and recycled aluminium alloys. strand.
Pure aluminium is soft, ductile, corrosion resistant and
has a high electrical conductivity. It is widely used for
foil and conductor cables, but alloying with other LIGHT AND HEAT REFLECTIVITY
elements is necessary to provide the higher strengths
needed for other applications. Aluminium is one of the Aluminium is a good reflector of both visible light and
lightest engineering metals, having a strength to heat making it an ideal material for light fittings,
weight ratio superior to steel. thermal rescue blankets and architectural insulation.
By utilising various combinations of its advantageous
properties such as strength, lightness, corrosion
resistance, recyclability and formability, aluminium is TOXICITY
being employed in an ever-increasing number of Aluminium is not only non-toxic but also does not
applications. This array of products ranges from release any odours or taint products with which it is in
structural materials through to thin packaging foils. contact. This makes aluminium suitable for use in
packaging for sensitive products such as food or
PROPERTIES pharmaceuticals where aluminium foil is used.

The major advantages of using aluminium are tied

directly to its’ remarkable properties. Some of these RECYCLING
properties are outlined in the following sections. The recyclability of aluminium is unparalleled. When
recycled there is no degradation in properties when
STRENGTH TO WEIGHT RATIO recycled aluminium is compared to virgin aluminium.
Furthermore, recycling of aluminium only requires
Aluminium has a density around one third that of steel around 5 percent of the input energy required to
and is used advantageously in applications where high produce virgin aluminium metal.
strength and low weight are required. This includes
vehicles where low mass results in greater load The combination of two remarkable properties of
capacity and reduced fuel consumption. aluminium makes the need to recycle the metal
obvious. These first of these factors is that there is no
CORROSION RESISTANCE difference between virgin and recycled aluminium. The
second factor is that recycled aluminium only uses 5%
When the surface of aluminium metal is exposed to air,
of the energy required to produce virgin material.
a protective oxide coating forms almost
Currently around 60% of aluminium metal is recycled
instantaneously. This oxide layer is corrosion resistant
at the end of its lifecycle but this percentage can still
and can be further enhanced with surface treatments
be vastly improved.
such as anodising.

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Aluminium Alloy: Introduction to
Aluminium and its alloys

ALUMINIUM PRODUCTION APPLICATIONS

Aluminium Production The properties of the various aluminium alloys has
resulted in aluminium being used in industries as
Aluminium is extracted from the principal ore, bauxite. diverse as transport, food preparation, energy
Significant bauxite deposits are found throughout generation, packaging, architecture, and electrical
Australia, the Caribbean, Africa, China and South transmission applications.
America. Open cut techniques are commonly used to Depending upon the application, aluminium can be
mine the bauxite. used to replace other materials like copper, steel, zinc,
The bauxite is purified using the Bayer process. This tin plate, stainless steel, titanium, wood, paper,
process involves dissolving aluminium trihydrate to concrete and composites.
leave alumina plus iron and titanium oxides. The iron Some examples of the areas where aluminium is used
and titanium oxides are by-products of the process and are given in the following sections
are often referred to as ‘red mud’. Red mud must be
disposed of with strong consideration given to Packaging
environmental concerns. Corrosion resistance and protection against UV light
Approximately two tonnes of bauxite are required to combined with moisture and odour containment plus
yield one tonne of alumina. the fact that aluminium is non-toxic and will not leach
or taint the products has resulted in the widespread
Smelting use of aluminium foils and sheet in food packaging and
The extraction of aluminium from alumina is achieved protection.
using an electrolytic process. A cell or pot is used that The most common use of aluminium for packaging has
consists of a carbon lined steel shell. This shell forms a been in aluminium beverage cans. Aluminium cans now
cathode. A consumable carbon anode is suspended in account for around 15% of the global consumption of
liquid cryolite (sodium aluminium fluoride) held within aluminium.
the pot at 950°C. Alumina is dissolved in the cryolite
by passing low voltages at high amperages through the Transport
pot. This results in pure aluminium being deposited at After the very earliest days of manned flight, the
the cathode. excellent strength to weight ratio of aluminium have
made it the prime material for the construction of
aircraft.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS
These same properties of aluminium mean various
The aluminium industry is very conscious of the alloys are now also used in passenger and freight rail
environmental impact of its activities. The mining and cars, commercial vehicles, military vehicles, ships &
smelting of aluminium, plus the disposal of red mud boats, buses & coaches, bicycles and increasingly in
can have a major environmental impact if not done motor cars.
properly. The sustainable nature of aluminium with regards to
The industry is proud of its efforts and achievements in corrosion resistance and recyclability has helped drive
rehabilitating open cut mine sites and the restoring the recent increases in demand for aluminium vehicle
flora and fauna to these sites. Such efforts have been components.
rewarded with awards from the United Nations
Environment Programme and red mud disposal areas Marine Applications
are now being successfully revegetated. Aluminium plate and extrusions are used extensively
Environmental requirements are met on pot line for the superstructures of ships. The use of these
emissions through the use of specialist scrubbing materials allows designers to increase the above
system. waterline size of the vessel without creating stability
problems. The weight advantage of aluminium has
allowed marine architects to gain better performance
from the available power by using aluminium in the
hulls of hovercraft, fast multi-hulled catamarans and
surface planing vessels.
Lower weight and longer lifecycles have seen
aluminium become the established material for
helidecks and helideck support structures on offshore
oil and gas rigs. The same reasons have resulted in the
widespread use of aluminium in oil rig stair towers and
telescopic personnel bridges.

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Aluminium Alloy: Introduction to
Aluminium and its alloys

Building and Architecture

Aluminium use in buildings covers a wide range of
applications. The applications include roofing, foil
insulation, windows, cladding, doors, shop fronts,
balustrading, architectural hardware and guttering.
Aluminium is also commonly used as the in the form of
treadplate and industrial flooring.

Foils
Aluminium is produced in commercial foils as thin as
0.0065 mm (or 6.5 µm). Material thicker than 0.2mm
is called sheet or strip.

Aluminium foil is impervious to light, gases, oils and

fats, volatile compounds and water vapour. These
properties combined with high formability, heat and
cold resistance, non toxicity, strength and reflectivity
to heat and light mean aluminium foil is used in many
applications. These applications include:
~ Pharmaceutical packaging
~ Food protection and packaging
~ Insulation CONTACT
~ Electrical shielding
~ Laminates Address: Please make contact directly with your local
service centre, which can be found via the
Locations page of our web site
Other Applications Web: www.aalco.co.uk
The above applications account for approximately 85%
of the aluminium consumed annually. The remaining
15% is used in a wdie variety of applications including: REVISION HISTORY

~ Ladders Datasheet Updated 18 July 2019

~ High pressure gas cylinders
~ Sporting goods
~ Machined components DISCLAIMER
~ Road barriers and signs This Data is indicative only and as such is not to be relied upon in place of
~ Furniture the full specification. In particular, mechanical property requirements vary
~ Lithographic printing plates widely with temper, product and product dimensions. All information is
based on our present knowledge and is given in good faith. No liability will
be accepted by the Company in respect of any action taken by any third
party in reliance thereon.

Please note that the 'Datasheet Update' date shown above is no guarantee
of accuracy or whether the datasheet is up to date.

The information provided in this datasheet has been drawn from various
recognised sources, including EN Standards, recognised industry references
(printed & online) and manufacturers’ data. No guarantee is given that the
information is from the latest issue of those sources or about the accuracy of
those sources.

Material supplied by the Company may vary significantly from this data, but
will conform to all relevant and applicable standards.

As the products detailed may be used for a wide variety of purposes and as
the Company has no control over their use; the Company specifically
excludes all conditions or warranties expressed or implied by statute or
otherwise as to dimensions, properties and/or fitness for any particular
purpose, whether expressed or implied.

Advice given by the Company to any third party is given for that party’s
assistance only and without liability on the part of the Company. All
transactions are subject to the Company’s current Conditions of Sale. The
extent of the Company’s liabilities to any customer is clearly set out in those
Conditions; a copy of which is available on request.

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Aalco is a registered trademark of Aalco Metals Ltd

© Copyright: Aalco Metals Ltd, Parkway House, Unit 6 Parkway Industrial Estate, Wednesbury WS10 7WP