Aluminum extrusion is the method of shaping metal into a desired profile, by forcing it through a die. It has varied usage in aluminum profiles manufacturing, which allows them to create an almost unlimited number of options and shapes of profiles.
What does the extrusion process consist of and how does it work?
Stages of aluminum extrusion process
First, you need to develop project documentation, including all the necessary parameters: overall dimensions, cross-section, forms, alloy strength, etc.
Temperature is the key matter to keep in mind during the procedure of extruding. It is the most crucial factor as it is namely the temperature that provides aluminum demanded properties and under influence of high temperatures it becomes as hard and strong as it is required. They have to get blanks to approximately 420-500°C hot.
As soon as the blanks get the temperature of required level, they are passed further to loading, whereat a delicate lay of smut or greasing is laid to the blank and traverse. The carbon black concentrate performs as a separation element (greasing) to avoid adhesion of the mentioned details to each other.
The blanks are sent to the trough, and from there they move inside the press-tool where under the pressure they change in length and width until they reach the utter connection with the sides of the form. As far the blank is shoved across the matrix, the latter is leaked around with a liquid nitrogen and is cooled by it. This procedure allows to multiply the lifetime of the form and produces an inert atmosphere that staves off the forming of oxides on the extruded surface. The cooling may be performed not with liquid nitrogen but with gaseous one. In such cases gaseous nitrogen does not cool the stamp, but it produces an inert atmosphere.
The billet begings to squeeze from a small hole in a die under the pressure application.
As the forced out billet goes out of the press-tool, a special instrument installed on the press plate measures its temperature. This measurement is important for keeping the press-tool on its speed max, and the sought-after temperature can vary relying on the type of metal alloy being used.
After the blank is out of stamp, the extrusion is guided onto an exit table by a tool called a stripper. As it moves, it is cooled by ventilators and, sometimes, by immersing it in water. The extrusion is carried (via a belt or movable beams) out of the working desk to a special work-table to cool down/
Then the extrusion is sent to a machine called a stretcher. This tools levels off the profiles and makes them stronger by rearranging the molecules within alloy.
Next, the billets are cut to the definite length required, then put onto a transport machine and sent to an aging furnace. Here, the blanks are heat treated in a controllable environ for a certain period. This increases such operating properties of extrusions as strength and hardness.
As in any production, there are certain rules and subtleties of the process that should be taken into account in the preliminary preparation for profile extrusion. Therefore, it is important to get professional and qualified advice from the very beginning. With over 20 years of industry expertise, Alupro specialists are ready to offer you our knowledge and experience so that you end up with the best solution for you.
