Life is full of decisions. Tea or coffee? Pepsi or Coke? Sometimes the answer doesn&#;t matter that much. Other times it matters a great deal.

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Take extruded aluminum tube for example. This comes in two forms: structural and seamless. Structural extruded tube is made by the porthole process, and for that reason is sometimes referred to as &#;porthole.&#; Seamless is made by the seamless extrusion process.

Generally speaking, seamless extruded tubes are a little more expensive, which might push you to specify structural. However, this is one of those situations where saving a few bucks could end up costing a lot more. Let&#;s take a look at when it&#;s okay to use porthole extruded tubes and when you should pay the extra for seamless.

Process Overview

Structural and seamless tubes are both extruded. That means a billet of material is forced through a hole in a die shaped to form the two-dimensional cross-section you need. (We&#;ve called it the &#;toothpaste process&#; in the past and compared it to squeezing icing through a shaped nozzle to decorate a cake.)

Sometimes you want that extruded material to have a hole down the center. The simplest example is a circular tube or pipe. (Read &#;Your Guide to Hollow Cylinders&#; for an explanation of the difference.) Porthole and seamless are different ways of forming that hollow internal section.

In porthole, metal is forced around a shape that matches the hollow section you want to extrude. Physics being what it is, the tooling needs ribs to hold that shape in place, and the metal has to flow around them. That separates the metal as it extrudes, so a second die forces those sections back together. That forms a longitudinal seam running the length of the extrusion.

As the name suggests, seamless extruded tubes avoid this. In this process, a forming mandrel is inserted into the billet of material from the rear and pushed through until it&#;s very close to the opening in the die. The material flows through the gap between the mandrel and die, emerging with both internal and external dimensions fixed and without any seams.

Seams Affect Microstructure and Properties

Looking at the seam through a microscope often reveals a different crystal structure to the aluminum elsewhere in the extrusion. This is a result of the grain distortion caused by the deformation and subsequent pressure that welds the separate pieces together. The extent of the difference depends on how much deformation and pressure the metal undergoes, which in turn is related to extrusion speed, temperature, pressure, and alloy series.

The net effect of this distortion is to create a weaker region along the seam. However, the size and impact of this weakness depend on profile shape and alloy.

Deciding Which to Use

Choosing between these two types of hollow section aluminum extrusion comes down to the application. Structural tubes are preferred in some and seamless work better in others. Here&#;s a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Structural Aluminum Tubing Pros:

• Very consistent wall thickness around the cross-sections
• Can be extruded faster than seamless (which brings down the price)
• When extruding small cross-sections it&#;s sometimes possible to fit multiple opening in a single die, increasing efficiency and lowering the cost per foot

Structural Aluminum Tubing Cons:

• Welded seams create a region of weakness where the tube could rupture if subjected to high internal pressure or significant bending
• Seams may be visible on the surface and will be highlighted by anodizing
• The seam is where corrosion is most likely to start, (although most grades of aluminum don&#;t corrode to any significant extent.)

Seamless Aluminum Tubing Pros:

• Higher-strength/resistance to deformation and internal pressure
• Uniform appearance when anodized

Seamless Aluminum Tubing Cons:

• Slower extrusion process (which can increase the price)
• Inferior concentricity of internal to the outer diameter

We can summarize the arguments this way: If the application involves internal pressure or the extrusion will be subjected to significant deformation, choose seamless. If neither of those apply, ask how concerned you are about appearance. If the answer is, a lot, seamless is probably the correct route. However, if the highest priority is keeping the cost down, pick structural.

Applications for Seamless and Structural Aluminum Extrusion

Seamless extruded tubes are used in applications that involve internal pressure. Hydraulic cylinders, pipes, and fittings are good examples. They are also used when the extrusion will be put through significant deformation. A good example of this bending electrical conduit or bus bars.

Another group of applications are those involving high loads that will deform the tubing or extrusion if it isn&#;t strong enough. Examples of this type include aircraft seat frames, baseball bats, and driveshafts.

You might also choose seamless when appearance is important. This is especially true if the extrusion will be anodized as that tends to highlight the seam.

Structural tubing is appropriate for all those applications that don&#;t apply high forces. Railings and window frames are examples, along with wall framing and other architectural and decorative uses. Frames for enclosures, material handling carts, and machine guards are more industrial examples. Many applications in trailers and RVs are well-served by structural tubing too.

An Important Decision

As structural tubing is less expensive it tends to be the default choice. Before specifying structural tubing though, remember to consider the application. It will work most of the time, but in some situations, it could be an expensive mistake. If you&#;re unsure which direction to go in, we&#;ll be happy to discuss your application with you.

What is extruded aluminum?

If you have ever asked yourself what extruded aluminum actually is, well, you should know that it is nothing less than the result of an extrusion process. This one allows you to obtain basically any kind of extruded profiles in the shapes and dimensions you need - even the tiniest ones.

 

As a matter of fact, aluminum is employed in several sectors - for instance, we see it in door or drawer handles, window frames, handrails etc. A recent forecast by Technavio, a global market research company, states that the aluminum market has the potential to grow by 6.76 million tons in the years between and .

But where do aluminum extrusions come from? And how does aluminum extrusion work? Discover it in this page:

 

What is aluminum extrusion?

Aluminum extrusion is a process used to transform aluminum alloy into objects by forcing the material through a die under high pressure with a specific cross-sectional profile, to create complex shapes. The process involves heating a cylindrical billet of aluminum to a temperature where it becomes malleable, and then pushing it through a die to produce the desired shape.

Aluminum&#;s malleability allows it to be easily machined and cast; at the same time, being one-third the density of steel, the resulting objects are characterized by remarkable strength and stability.

During the extrusion process, a ram pushes the aluminum through the die and it emerges from the die opening in the same shape as the die. It is then pulled out along a runout table.

The resulting shapes can be either simple or complex depending on the die shape, and can also have very tiny dimensional tolerances, like those Profall is able to achieve. In fact, a variety of aluminum profiles and objects can come out of the extrusion process. We can divide them into three main categories:

• Solid, with no enclosed voids or openings like round tubes, beams, and angles
• Hollow, with one or more voids such as square or rectangular tubes
• Semi-hollow, with a partially enclosed void like C-channels

To get a better idea on what you can obtain from aluminum extrusion, take a look at our Aluminum Extrusion Catalog.

 

 

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How does aluminum extrusion work?

The following ten steps briefly explain how aluminum is extruded from the moment we design the die until extrusions are moved to the saw table.

 

#1 Designing and manufacturing the die

The first step involves designing the die for extrusion and making it from H13 steel. Before extrusion, it is preheated to between 450°C and 500°C: it is a way to maximize its life and ensure metal flow.

It is now the moment to load it into the extrusion press.

 

#2 Preheating a cylindrical aluminum billet

A solid, cylindrical billet is cut from a log of aluminum alloy, and preheated in an oven between 400°C-500°C. The preheating step makes it malleable enough to undergo the extrusion process, but not molten.

 

#3 Transferring the billet to the press

A lubricant or release agent is applied on the surface of the aluminum billet and to the extrusion ram to prevent them from sticking together. The billet is now mechanically pushed to the extrusion press.

 

#4 Pushing the billet into a container

The hydraulic press applies up to 15,000 tons of pressure on the aluminum billet, which is pushed into the container of the extrusion press, expanding in such a way to fill the walls of the container.

 

#5 Obtaining the extruded profile

A continual pressure is applied to the billet, which now goes out through the openings in the die: it emerges in the shape of a fully-formed aluminum profile. To avoid the formation of oxides, nitrogen in liquid or gaseous form is introduced through the sections of the die. This creates an inert atmosphere and increases the life of the die.

 

#6 Cooling the extruded profile

To be made, the extruded aluminum profile needs to pass onto a run-out table and be uniformly cooled by a water bath or by fans above the table.

#7 Shearing the aluminum profile to table length

Once the profile reaches its full table length, it is sheared by a hot saw to separate it from the extrusion process. At this point, the extruded profile has not yet fully cooled.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website extruded aluminum tubing shapes.

Related links:
Color Coated Aluminum Coil Manufacturer & Exporter In China

 

#8 Cooling aluminum to room temperature

It is now time to transfer table-length extrusions to a cooling table, where fans cool the newly created aluminum extrusion. It will stay here until it reaches room temperature.

 

#9 Stretching into alignment

During the cooling process, it may occur that aluminum extrusions undergo some natural twisting which, of course, need to be corrected. So, they are moved to a stretcher for straightening and work hardening.

 

#10 Cutting extrusions to length

The hardened extrusions are brought to the saw table and cut to the required length.

 

#11 Heating aluminum inside an age oven

You may think that now extruded aluminum profiles are fully made. Not yet. As a matter of fact, the very last step of the extrusion process consists of treating the aluminum with heat inside an age oven that hardens the material while speeding up the aging process.

In the oven, aluminum profiles are usually aged until T5 or T6 temper. This is necessary to improve its mechanical properties such as tensile strength and yield stress.

 

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How we make custom aluminum extrusions

Additional complexities may be applied during the extrusion process to customize the extruded parts. For example, pins or piercing mandrels are placed inside the die to create hollow sections.

Depending on the final use of the extrusion you require, you may also need some surface finishing to adjust the color, texture and brightness of the aluminum&#;s finish or to make it resistant to rust and corrosion.

We can divide surface finishing treatments into three main categories:

• Anodization
• Coating
• Punching, drilling, cutting, etc.

 

Anodized aluminum

Anodization is a galvanic, or electrochemical, process that aims to create a layer of oxide on the surface of the extrusion. The final purpose is to improve aluminum&#;s resistance to corrosion caused by atmospheric agents or rust by improving surface emissivity. In addition, the layer of oxide makes the surface porous so that it can accept various colored dyes - from neutral tones to bronze shades ranging from light champagne to dark.

Powder coating

If you have specific aesthetic requirements, powder coating is the solution as it applies a layer of colored material upon the extrusion surface. It is commonly an epoxy or electrostatic polyester powder coating that adheres to the surface, which needs to undergo a secondary treatment to render the coating layer uniform.

Profall makes coated extrusions in all the RAL colors - including special aesthetic effects such as wood-like textures.
 

Learn more about powder-coated aluminum profiles

 

Punching, drilling, cutting aluminum

These are just three of the many available options that allow us to create a piece of extruded aluminum with the exact dimensions and specifications you need.

For instance, we can drill screw holes into a structural piece or cross machine fins to obtain a specific pin design.

Other mechanical and finishing processes include:

• Shearing through a state-of-the-art software to transform the various profiles and match your needs
• Aluminum packaging, with the chance of applying logos, bar codes and specific IDs

 

The tiniest dimensions on the aluminum market

Customization is really Profall flagship. Getting a bit into details, it means that:

• You can choose among standard or special profiles in our catalog, and ask for customization
• You can contact us to make fully tailor-made aluminum extrusions

Most part of the requests we receive is focused on the production of extruded aluminum pieces with extremely tiny dimensional tolerances, which are quite hard to find on the common aluminum market. For instance, tubes have standard dimensional tolerances of +/- 0.15 mm per side, but we can produce them also with smaller dimensions and all the mechanical characteristics and complexities you need.

 

Aluminum alloys

The choice of which alloy to use is directly depending on the final use of the extruded profiles and their mechanical features. At Profall we basically extrude aluminum from three different alloys:

• series ( &#; ) with a minimum purity rating of 99.5% - these alloys have high electrical and thermal conductivity properties, and are extremely resistant to corrosion
• series alloys ( &#; &#; ) are mainly made of Manganese - extremely resistant to corrosion, this series of alloys is mainly used in automotive applications and for braze welding purposes
• series ( &#; &#; ), which contains Silicium and Magnesium, is easily processed and welded - one of the most used alloy is the aluminum, employed to manufacture square, rectangular and round bars and tubes.

 

You can learn more about this topic here: Aluminum Alloy Extrusion: How to Choose the Right Alloy for Your Product

 

The most common alloys requested by our clients are , , and , with which we manufacture:

 

 

What are aluminum extrusions used for?

Aluminum extrusions have several applications across various sectors, such as:

• Construction - Elevator shafts and stairwells are all made from extruded aluminum which, in addition, is also used to aid the structure of the interior of the building
• Automotive - Aluminum resists the long-term environmental effects of temperature, moisture, and the corrosiveness coming: as such it is used to make the body, frame components, radiator enclosures, drive shafts and cylinder liners
• Electrical sector and electronics - Due to its non-magnetic, electrical and thermal conductivity, extruded aluminum is also used for producing electronic chassis, racks and housings, power units, computer cases and the likes
• Energy - Having high electrical conductivity which is quite two times that of copper on an equal weight basis, aluminum also takes part in the construction on alternative energy generation and distribution systems, such as solar panels
• Lightning - Aluminum LED totem, lamps fixtures offer remarkable benefits in terms of energy saving and production costs. In addition, the extrusion dissipates the heat generated by the lighting elements themselves.

 

Profall's excellence in extruded aluminum services

At Profall, we specialize in providing top-tier extruded aluminum services, tailored to meet the diverse needs of our clients. Our expertise in extrusion technology allows us to produce aluminum profiles with exceptional precision and quality, even with the most challenging shapes and sizes. 

Whether it's for construction, automotive, electronics, or any other industry requiring the strength, lightness, and corrosion resistance of aluminum, Profall stands out as your go-to partner. We offer a wide range of customizable solutions, from standard shapes to complex custom designs, ensuring that each product not only meets but exceeds our clients' expectations. 

With a commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction, Profall's extruded aluminum services are designed to deliver efficiency, durability, and aesthetic appeal. Choose Profall for all your extruded aluminum needs and experience a partnership that drives your projects to success.

 

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