Aluminium can be formed into a variety of products by extruding, rolling or casting. Australian operators provide products to key sectors of the market, including the construction, automotive and packaging sectors.
Pure aluminium is a very soft metal, but its strength can be increased significantly by alloying with one or more of the following:
- manganese
- silicon
- copper
- magnesium or
- zinc
Once aluminium is alloyed, it can then be processed in a number of ways in order to produce a huge range of products that we use in our everyday lives.
Castings
The automotive industry is the largest market for aluminium castings, and cast products make up more than half of the aluminium used in cars.
Extrusions
Extruded aluminium is the material of choice for countless applications. Designers and materials specifiers choose aluminium profiles because extrusion offers so many design advantages. Various alloys can be readily formed into complex shapes; extrusion tooling is inexpensive; lead times for custom shapes or prototypes are relatively brief; many different finishes are available; and the lifecycle value of the product remains high due to aluminium’s recyclability.
Rolled Products
Rolled products include flat sheet, coiled sheet, plate, and foil. A wide range of thicknesses and sizes, and alloys and tempers are available from distributors. Non-standard products that must be produced on a special mill order will have minimum item sizes.
Mill Products
Aluminium mill products are semi-fabricated products such as sheet, plate, foil, extruded products, drawing stock, wire, pigments and powder, forgings, and impacts.