Design Considerations of Aluminium Components

As Aluminium components and profiles are becoming more and more popular to use as a material the design opportunities seem endless.

The process of extruding starts at the design stage.  Once the end use for the aluminium extrusion has been established, and machine and finishing requirements answered the choice of alloy can be decided upon.  The die will be designed around the profile for the extrusion.

Most shapes can be extruded however; there are some design considerations, which may need to be taken into account for your aluminium component.

Wall thickness
Simple shapes
Symmetrical
Sharp or Rounded Corners
Size to weight ratio
Tolerances – industrial standards

Wall Thickness

Differences in wall thickness on a section can cause problems and should be avoided.

Simple Shapes

Although a wide variety of aluminium component shapes can be extruded some factors need to be taken into consideration.  Simple Shapes are the most cost effective, as the dies will be relatively uncomplicated, the more complicated the shape the more expensive the die costs will be.  The more complex the design the more material could be required and hence a higher cost.

Symmetrical

If an extrusion shape is symmetrical it will be more accurate.

Sharp or Rounded Corners

Generally all corners are rounded and sharp corners avoided.

Tolerances

Tolerances are added to sections to allow for any distortions, which may occur during the extrusion process.

Capalex conform to standard tolerances on design & form supplied to BSEN 755.  Standard material composition supplied to BSEN 573.  Other standards of tolerance and composition can be considered on request.