There are numerous applications for the versatile aluminum, whether you prefer it in configurations such as bars or sheets. Aluminum bars are especially a useful configuration for many and they can be found as square, rounded, or aluminum flat bar.
Aluminum is a soft and malleable metal that is used in a wide range of applications. Its durability and weight, plus its non-magnetic character allow it to be used as an electrical and thermal conductor. Aluminum’s colors range from the rather dull grey to shiny and silvery, depending on the treatment process it has undergone. The material is also a third denser and stiffer than steel, and can be easily extruded, machined, drawn and cast.
The greatest benefit of aluminum is that it is a corrosion-resistant metal due to a thin surface layer of aluminum oxide that forms when on the metal on exposure to air. This reduces oxidation drastically. The galvanic reaction that occurs in stronger aluminum alloys makes the material to be less corrosion resistant.
Aluminum flat bar is used in just about every conceivable industry. Some of the applications include:
* In the transportation industry to manufacture bicycles, marine vessels, aircraft, trucks, automobiles and railway cars in flat bar configuration
* Several uses around the home including manufacturing flat ware and cooking utensils
* The construction world is in particular need of aluminum flat bar for siding, windows and door manufacture
* Consumer electronics like televisions and radios
* Some magnets and photographic equipment carry cases
* In LED lighting
* Packaging materials such as aluminum foil and cans
* The entertainment and sports industry for creation of watches and baseball bats
* Manufacture of street lighting posts, ship masts, walking canes and poles
* To create heat sinks for computers, appliances and transistors
* Powdered aluminum is used as paint and pyrotechnics (thermite and solid rocket fuels)
The list above is incomplete because there are thousands of applications for aluminum flat bar, bar or sheet. The fact that Aluminum is everywhere – literally – is an undeniable fact. This is the most abundant, naturally occurring metal in the world that is essential to every facet of modern life. Virtually everybody in the United States, and indeed the whole world, uses aluminum every day.
Aluminum flat bar is available in an assortment of alloys that offer you a range of machinability, corrosion resistance and weldability. Aluminum flat bar size is determined by the wall thickness of 1/16″, 1/8″, 3/16″, ¼”, 3/8″, ½”, ¾” and 1″.
