Custom aluminum extrusions are a cornerstone of innovation in industries ranging from automotive to construction, providing tailored solutions that meet specific engineering requirements. At Howard Precision Metals, we specialize in offering bespoke, high-quality aluminum extrusions designed to fulfil unique project needs. This article explores the key design considerations that are crucial when planning custom extrusion projects.
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Understanding the Basics of Aluminum Extrusion
Before delving into the specifics of design, it&#;s vital to grasp what custom aluminum extrusions entail. The process involves pushing an aluminum billet through a die, shaped to produce the desired cross-sectional profile. This technique allows for the creation of complex, lightweight, and strong structures. The flexibility in design is one of the greatest advantages of custom extrusions, enabling designers and engineers to craft components that fit their exact specifications in many situations.
Key Design Considerations for Custom Aluminum Extrusions
Profile Design
The shape of the extrusion profile has a direct impact on its functionality and manufacturability. It&#;s crucial to design a profile that not only meets the functional requirements of the application but also supports an efficient extrusion process and minimal material waste. Considerations include:
Wall Thickness: Uniform wall thickness promotes better flow of aluminum in the die and reduces issues like twisting and warping. Areas of thick and thin sections should transition gradually to avoid defects.
Complexity of Design: While aluminum extrusions allow for intricate shapes, overly complex designs can increase production difficulties and costs. It&#;s essential to strike a balance between the design complexity and the practicality of extruding such shapes. Also the more complex the die, the higher the cost of the die and the extrusion cost per lbs. Ultimately you are paying for pounds per hour off the extrusion press, so the more complex and extrusion is, the slower it runs driving up the cost per lbs.
Material Selection
Choosing the right aluminum alloy is another critical factor. Different alloys offer varying properties such as strength, ductility, corrosion resistance, and machinability. For instance:
Aluminum: Known for its excellent combination of strength, weldability, and corrosion resistance, making it ideal for structural applications.
Aluminum: Offers superior strength but less corrosion resistance and weldability, suitable for aerospace and military applications. extrusions are also much more difficult to extrude as the strength of the alloy requires a larger tonnage press to push.
The selection depends on the environment in which the extrusion will be used, the mechanical stresses it will endure, and the necessary post-processing operations.
Tolerances and Precision
The precision with which custom aluminum extrusions are made significantly affects their performance in final applications. Tolerances must be considered during the design phase to ensure that the extruded profiles fit seamlessly into further assembly or meet specific performance criteria without extensive modifications. Understanding the capabilities of your aluminum extrusion supplier in achieving tight tolerances is crucial.
Finishing Options
Aluminum extrusions can be subjected to a variety of finishes to enhance their appearance, increase corrosion resistance, or improve surface hardness. Options include:
Anodizing: Provides a durable and corrosion-resistant finish, also offering a variety of color choices.
Powder Coating: Offers a thick, protective layer with extensive color and texture options.
Mechanical Finishes: Such as brushing, polishing, or sandblasting to enhance aesthetic appeal.
Each finishing technique has its own set of considerations and suitability depending on the application of the extruded part.
Thermal Considerations
For applications involving temperature extremes or requiring good thermal conductivity, the design of the extrusion must accommodate thermal expansion and conductivity. Aluminum typically has good thermal properties, but the specific alloy and the shape of the profile can influence its performance in thermal applications.
Integration and Assembly
Designing for ease of integration and assembly can significantly reduce costs and complexity in the overall project. Features like snap-fit connections, dovetail joints, or built-in channels for hardware can simplify assembly processes and reduce the need for additional components.
Partnering with Howard Precision Metals
At Howard Precision Metals, we don&#;t just supply custom aluminum extrusions; we partner with you to ensure that every aspect of your extrusion project is optimized for success. Our partnered mill producers are available to help with design questions and to assist you throughout the design and manufacturing process.
Conclusion
Effective design of custom aluminum extrusions requires careful consideration of numerous factors, from material selection and profile design to tolerances, finishing, and assembly. By understanding these key considerations and working with a knowledgeable supplier like Howard Precision Metals, you can ensure that your custom extrusions meet all functional and aesthetic requirements, supporting the success of your overall project.
For more information or to discuss your next custom extrusion project, contact Howard Precision Metals today. We&#;re here to help turn your innovative designs into reality.
Aluminium extrusion is an industrial forming process that is used to produce long profiles of a constant cross-section. This cross-section is shaped by the opening in a steel tool known as a die.
A huge advantage of designing with aluminium is that extrusions can be designed to form virtually any shape or size, some designs will be more challenging for an extruder and complexity will potentially increase the cost and slow down production speeds.
Knowing where and how to make minor tweaks and changes will yield significant benefits, not only in extrudability but also with manufacturing and production costs too.
Function of the profile:
It may seem obvious but understanding the function of your profile is key to it&#;s form and fit being successful in its end use.
When designing a profile for extrusion, it&#;s not just the overall look that needs to be considered, you also need to consider what you want the part to be able to do once produced.
Start with a list of 3 questions to ask yourself;
- What is the profiles main functions?
- What shapes and dimensions will these functions require?
- Will there be any functional components that will connect to your part/profile?
Once you have an understanding of the essential functions of your profile you will then need to consider the following;
Shape
There are three general categories that extruded profiles are categorised in: Solid, Semihollow & Hollow.
Solid profiles are typically the easiest to extrude as they are usually the least complex.
You can produce a variety of forms with a solid profile as long as it&#;s cross-section doesn&#;t have any voids.
A Semihollow profile is defined by it&#;s tongue ratio as it partially encloses a void. A semihollow profile will be defined mathematically by comparing the area of the partially enclosed void to the size of the gap (to the mathematical square of the gap size). If that ratio is larger than a pre-defined number, the shape is classified as semi-hollow; if the ratio is smaller, the shape is considered a solid.
Hollow profiles contain a void or maybe even multiple voids on a single profile.
This is the most basic description of these three categories, there are other factors which need to be taken into consideration when deciding whether your profile is one of the above shapes.
The less complex and easier to extrude a profile is, the more likely it will cost less than a profile that is complex and that will take longer to go through the extrusion process.
Tolerances
When it comes to designing profiles for extrusion, understanding the end use of the profile is essential. Dimensional tolerances are absolutely critical, especially if the profile is going to have mating components.
Contact us to discuss your requirements of bespoke aluminium extrusion. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.
Tolerances will cover the characteristics of the profile such as the straightness, flatness, twist, thickness, angles, contours, corners and fillet radii.
It&#;s fairly easy to achieve standard dimensional tolerances but can be considerably difficult to achieve certain tolerances if the profile is more complex.
It is impossible to cover all of the standard dimensional tolerances that meet all situations which is why it&#;s recommended to talk to us about the tolerances that can be achieved first.
You can design a profile with dimensional tolerances that go beyond standard tolerances, these are called "special tolerances".
You will need to check with the us before going through the manufacturing process, special tolerances can be achieved but it's likely to end up being a more costly and timely process.
It's more cost effective if you can design your profile with a minimum requirement for special tolerances.
Wall Thickness
From a cost perspective, having a uniform wall thickness with a minimum aluminium thickness that meets the structural requirements is incredibly beneficial. It&#;s easier to extrude and costs less than a more complex profile.
Considerably uneven wall thicknesseses (especially if adjacent) can cause problems during the extrusion and cooling process which can lead to the profile not being able to hold its desired shape & also creates blend or witness lines which will become usually apparent after finish.
You should always avoid adjacent wall thicknesses that have a higher ratio than 2 -1 and use rounded corners to transition from walls which have different thicknesses. This is to help ease the flow of aluminium.
Factors that can determine minimal wall thickness;
Heat Generation &#; This is a key factor. When you push aluminium through a die, it produces heat. The larger the degree of forming, the more heat that is generated. When temperatures are high it can create problems on the extrusions surface in the form of pick ups and cracks.
Tolerances &#; Tolerances are affected by wall thicknesses, dimension size, location, profile type (solid or hollow) alloy used, cross section & the parts application. To get a better understanding on what tolerances should be used, contact us here.
Choice of Alloy &#; Your choice of alloy will determine the minimum achievable wall thickness. When an alloy has a high content of alloying elements, it&#;s harder to extrude than alloys with a lower content, thus requiring thicker walls.
Cross Section Complexity &#; Typically, it&#;s a lot easier to produce thin walls that are in simple sections as opposed to thicker walls in complex sections. Also, it&#;s worth considering that cavities are harder to fill in hollow sections with several channels. Speak to us for more information.
When designing your profile, It&#;s favourable to consider symmetry and constant wall thickness as it contributes to better flow characteristics.
Surface Finishes
Aluminium offers many options for surface finishing such as linishing finishing, satin finishing and buffing. Profiles can also be finished by clear or coloured anodising, powder coating & painting.
Knowing what finish your profile will require in the design phase can be important, often people overlook the dimensions a finish can add to your profile, although they can be very minor, it can lead to critical errors happening further down the line. Talk with us here to discuss what your finishing options and the dimensions it can add to your profile.
However, extrusion dies can be designed to orient the shape to protect the surface during the extrusion process, again, it&#;s worth talking to us about what finish you want to go for and what options you have available.
Alloy Selection
Your alloy choice depends on your profiles need and end use, there is a wide variety of alloys and tempers that are available which can be used to create your profile.
Understanding what strength your profile will need e.g. the weldability, forming characteristics, finish, machinability, corrosion resistance, etc. will be dependent on the alloy you choose to extrude your profile, some alloys are used more frequently than others.
Around 75% of alloys used are from the 6xxx-series, the most popular alloys are , & .
Find out more about selecting the right alloy here.
Conclusion
Increased profile complexity ultimately raises the overall cost as it can reduce production speed and cause other complications such as die failure and extended quality control. However, that doesn&#;t mean it isn&#;t possible to create a complex profile, these are just considerations to make before committing to the cost of your die being produced and your profile going through the manufacturing process.
Although there are many considerations to take into account, designing with aluminium gives you a lot of freedom with creativity and infinite opportunities of shapes and extrusions.
Design Advice and Prototypes
Find out if your profile is extrudable by getting a 3D printed prototype of it produced first. Not only does this eliminate potential design flaws, it&#;s also an opportunity to assess areas of the design and see if there are any tweaks or changes that can be made to reduce costs and make it easier to extrude.
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