Aluminium is a light, strong material with a high corrosion resistance.
In addition to being light and strong, aluminium has a series of other characteristics:
Aluminium is typically alloyed with one or more additives, as pure aluminium or non-alloyed aluminium is fairly soft. To increase its breaking strength alloying elements are added to the aluminium or it is subjected to cold processing.
Traditionally, laser cutting of aluminium has only been possible for aluminium alloyed with magnesium (the 5000 series) which does not damage the dynamic parts of the CO2 laser cutter.
However, we have an advanced fiber laser cutter at our disposal, enabling us to cut through any type of alloyed or non-alloyed aluminium.
Aluminium comprises approx. eight per cent of the Earth’s crust, making it the most abundant metal here. In nature aluminium is found as aluminium oxide. Through electrolysis aluminium oxide is transformed into metallic aluminium.
Primary aluminium is aluminium produced by electrolysis, whereas aluminium that is melted down and reused is called secondary aluminium. The production of secondary aluminium only requires approx. three per cent of the energy consumption involved in the production of primary aluminium. For the production of tradable alloys – especially casting alloys – aluminium manufacturers today use a combination of primary and secondary aluminium.
The physical characteristics of aluminium (99.99 AI):