What is aluminium
Last time,we talk about stainless-steel.It’s time to refer to another important metal in people’s lives.That is aluminum.Speaking of aluminum, I’m sure it’s not new to you.Nowadays,this metal is everywhere. It’s in the soda cans you drink, in the smartphones you use every day, and it’s even wrapped around the airplanes soaring overhead. This “white” metal has quietly revolutionized industries and daily life since its discovery. But what makes aluminum so extraordinary and so indispensable? Let’s delve into its history to explore how it is born and why it becomes more and more important in lives of human.
Metal and aluminium
Mining for aluminum
Aluminum’s story is one of human ingenuity. According to the Wikipedia(Aluminium – Wikipedia), The discovery of aluminium was announced in 1825 by Danish physicist Hans Christian Ørsted.Later in 1856,French chemist Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville developed industrial production of this metal.However,production of this kind of metal is still troublesome limited to the technology.As a result, it was considered a precious metal—more valuable than gold!For example,Napoleon III famously reserved aluminum cutlery for royal guests. Though it’s the most abundant metal in Earth’s crust(even higher than ferrous!),it wasn’t largely used in human’s lives until 1886.In this year,Paul Héroult and Charles Martin Hall developed mass production of aluminum based on the outcome of Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville.Since then,aluminum has become a well-known material to everyone, it has been on the stage of history.
Raw aluminum
The aluminum,with symbol Al in the chemistry, is actually a kind of metal with a silver apperance.Because it has a strong affinity towards oxygen,so when it is exposed to the air,a protective layer of oxide will form on its surface.This is the reason why every time we take an aluminum sheet or piece,we can see a kind of white things wrapped around them,leading to generally-recognized white apperance of the metal.But when we pick out a polished aluminum without the white layer,the metal will depict its real color.This self-protective layer provides the metal with natural shield from the corrrosion,even in salty or acidic environments.
Alloy or aluminum
What’s more,the metal is relatively light-weight and possesses good ductility.Besides,it is relatively soft compared with iron or other common metals,for it only has a Mohs hardness of 2.75(to compare,iron is 4.5).It is mainly because that its crystal structure,FCC,is less stable than the HCP,causing metal constitued in this structure is easy to be altered.This special structure also provides the metal with a relative low melting point.Due to these characters,people have developed a kind of alloy:aluminum alloy to enhance the hardness and uplift the melting point as well.
This alloy is the mixture of aluminum and alloying elements.The typical alloying elements are copper,magnesium, manganese, silicon, tin, nickel and zinc.People add different alloying elements to gain different properties.Because most of alloying elements added possess the quality of high stiffness and high melting point,they provide the alloy with these characters as well.The alloy improves some innate defects in the aluminum while retaining advantages,so it is more widely used in industries than the pure metal.One of the most useful characters the alloy succeeds from the original one is the good ductility.This character combined with its light-weight lays a solid foundation for the versatility of aluminum alloy in different industries.
Recycle of aluminium
Compared with widely-used plastic which is hard to recycle and takes the nature more than 300 years to self-degradation.The aluminum is much easier to recycle.According to data from Aluminum Recycling.By 2006,nearly 30% of aluminum products are produced by reused ones.Nowadays,companies like Tesla are doubling down on aluminum for electric vehicle frames to cut weight and extend battery range. Besides,China,as the world’s largest demand for aluminum resources,reach 80.33% recyclement rate in 2023.As a result,the recyclement rate is largely higher thanks to the tireless efforts of those involved.
However,compared with 2000s,the demand for the metal in 2020s soars as well.According to the Takuma,Keisuke&Kenichi(2021)’s research,the demand for aluminum together with other common metals increase significantly.So we should still increase the recylement rate of the metal or streamline the recyclement process to uplift the energy saving.Accoding to Cui&Roven(2010)’s research.Nowadays,aluminum can be recycled in some old ways,like remelting and subsequent refinement.But new ways like solid state recycling utilizing compression and extrusion at room or moderate temperature can save lots of energy compared with old ones.As a result,though we have made great achievements on the recyclement of this metal,we should further on,promoting the complete recycling of resources and greenization of recycling.
What is aluminium used for
Aluminum uses in industry
Compared to steel, aluminum is only one-third as dense. However,it has surprising strength,making it ideal for industries where weight matters.Speaking of industry where focuses on weight,the aviation industry must be the first thing that comes to mind.Truely,airplane manufacturers,like Boeing or Airbus,use this material to build their products,but nowadays manufacturers are turning to composites with carbon fiber as the main raw material. For example,the new A350-1000 taps composites as the main material of plane skins,but it still uses the aluminum-lithium alloy as the main material for fuselage frames of planes,thank to preponderance of the alloy over other materials.
What’s more,the automotive industry is also a big fan of this alloy.Newly-introduced electric vehicles often rely on aluminum to offset heavy battery weight,in order to extend driving range of their products.
Aluminum electrical conductivity
Aluminum is also a superstar in transferring energy.Although its conductivity is only 60% of copper,which is the main material used as electric cable.But considering the low price of aluminum and its good ductility,aluminum wire acts as a good alternative to copper one for long distance power transportation.We may see aluminum conduit widely used in circuit in the near future.Some renewable energy companies also tap this material to produce solar panel frames and wind turbine components.Besides,aluminum may also acts as a superconductor in the future.Scientists from USC have found superconductor in this material which can work in relative high temperature.
What can our firm offer you？
We,Shanghai kaitao, are a company devoted to processing aluminum and its alloy for more than 25 years.We have cooperated with one of the best metal makers in the world,so that the quality of the raw material of our products is guaranteed.Besides,we possess advanced cnc machines,sheet metal machines,die casting machines to better process the material.We have a series of quality control process to ensure the appearance quality of our products.We also own quality control machines to recheck the quality of products,including surface roughness tester, salt spray tester and tension tester.As a result, worry about the quality of our products is superfluous.
We have cooperated with wide range of industries in the world,including automotive industry and scientific instruments industry.So our products include most of products in aluminum,including telescope body,control arm,aluminum brake and more.We will serve each customer with our best quality.Hope we can cooperate with you,offering you the excellent experience.