Sapa aluminium profiles

Quality one can happily rely on

Aluminium allows designers and engineers to implement their unique ideas and to fulfil, in an uncompromising manner, every demand made on it with respect to stability, weight, durability, visual appearance and shape. Aluminium opens up unparalleled opportunities for inspiration and creativity in all fields of application.

Aluminium is the second most widely used metal after iron and it offers unrivalled properties. It is lightweight and strong, corrosion resistant, eco-friendly, non-toxic and completely recyclable. And even processing and machining of the metal is relatively simple.

Sapa aluminium profiles are produced by hot extrusion. A billet weighing about 500 kilograms is first heated to 450-500 °C in an induction furnace. The material is an aluminium alloy chosen to meet the required properties and thus having the necessary level of strength.

High-tech extrusion presses ranging from 1040 to 7300 tonnes squeeze the soft aluminium through a custom-made die. The shape of the resultant profile corresponds precisely to the shape of the cavity in the die. The profile exits the die at a speed of up to 50 metres a minute. It is possible to extrude dimensionally stable parts up to 45 metres long. After cooling using air or water, the profiles are stretched about 0.2% to minimise internal stresses and provide optimum strength. At the same, Sapa’s specialists check critical dimensions and surface quality. Natural or artificial ageing gives the material its final strength.

Aluminium profiles are subdivided into solid profiles and hollow profiles. Solid profiles are extruded using a die that comprises a flat disc with an appropriate opening. The tooling for hollow profiles consists of two parts: a mandrel that forms the cavity in the profile and is attached to a bridge around which the aluminium separates during the extrusion

process; the other part forms the outer contour of the profile. Large or medium-size profiles are pressed through dies that only have a single cavity. Smaller profiles are mainly produced using multi-cavity dies, with up to 16 cavities in one die. The life of a die depends on the shape of the profile and the demands made on surface quality. The costs of possible replacement dies are included in the profile price.