Kaye Aluminium - Technical Manual

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You are in: Kaye Aluminium Technical Manual > Contents > Aluminium Comparison With Other Materials

Aluminium Comparison With Other Materials

Tensile Strength

Aluminium Extrusions	Roll Formed Steel	Copper Extrusions (Deoxided; Low Phosphorus)	Moulded Plastic	Wood	Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride)
Very good mechanical properties.	Very good mechanical properties.	Average to poor mechanical properties.	Variation in props. from .08 to .8 tensile strength of Al. for glass fibre composites.	Good compress. props, variable with the species & moisture in wood.	Poor mechanical properties

Density

Aluminium Extrusions	Roll Formed Steel	Copper Extrusions (Deoxided; Low Phosphorus)	Moulded Plastic	Wood	Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride)
Lightweight, about 1/3 that of copper or steel.	High density, high pounds per cubic foot.	Heavy, about 3 times the weight Al.	Very lightweight, about 2/3 the weight of Al.	Very lightweight, about 2/3 the weight of Al.	Very lightweight, about 2/3 the weight of Al.

Strength to weight ratio

Aluminium Extrusions	Roll Formed Steel	Copper Extrusions (Deoxided; Low Phosphorus)	Moulded Plastic	Wood	Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride)
Very Good.	Good.	Poor.	Poor-good.	Poor-good.	Poor-good

Corrosion Resistance

Aluminium Extrusions	Roll Formed Steel	Copper Extrusions (Deoxided; Low Phosphorus)	Moulded Plastic	Wood	Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride)
Excellent, it can be furthering increased, along with enhanced appearance, through anodising or other coatings.	Poor; usually requires protective coatings for corrosion service.	Excellent.	Excellent, choice of compound and colour important for weatherability (UV).	Not directly applicable, decomposes in the presence of some acids.	Excellent High resistance to alkalis and salts Attacked by organic solvents & strong acids.

Formability

Aluminium Extrusions	Roll Formed Steel	Copper Extrusions (Deoxided; Low Phosphorus)	Moulded Plastic	Wood	Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride)
Easily formable and extruded in a wide variety of complex shapes including multi-void hollows. Formable to net shapes, and extrusions provide for the placement of metal where it's needed.	Readily formable; thinner cross-sections than aluminium extrusions metal cannot always be located where best used in design.	Excellent formability and easily extrudable. Formable to net shapes.	Easily formed or moulded into complex shapes.	Poor; cannot be routinely formed.	Easily formed or moulded into complex shapes

Electrical Conductivity

Aluminium Extrusions	Roll Formed Steel	Copper Extrusions (Deoxided; Low Phosphorus)	Moulded Plastic	Wood	Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride)
Excellent, on a pound for pound basis, twice as efficient as copper, used in bus bar and electric connector applications.	Poor cannot usually be used as an electrical conductor.	Excellent electrical conductivity.	Poor used as an insulator, high dielectric capability.	Poor; cannot be used as an electrical conductor. Not usually used as an insulator.	Poor, electrical and thermal insulating characteristics

Thermal Conductivity

Aluminium Extrusions	Roll Formed Steel	Copper Extrusions (Deoxided; Low Phosphorus)	Moulded Plastic	Wood	Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride)
Excellent; ideal for heat exchanger applications	Poor. Cannot be used as a heat exchanger.	Excellent, Second only to silver industrially.	Poor. Low coefficient of thermal transfer.	Poor.	Poor.

Finishing

Aluminium Extrusions	Roll Formed Steel	Copper Extrusions (Deoxided; Low Phosphorus)	Moulded Plastic	Wood	Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride)
Almost limitless array of finishes inc. mech. and chem. Pre-finishing, anodic coating, painting and electroplating.	Protective coatings are employed along with electroplating	A variety of coatings and platings can be employed.	Colour can be integral with material as well as plated, painted, and hot stamped.	Paint and stain coatings can be employed.	Colour can be integral with material.

Re-cyclability

Aluminium Extrusions	Roll Formed Steel	Copper Extrusions (Deoxided; Low Phosphorus)	Moulded Plastic	Wood	Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride)
High scrap value; reprocessed to generate new metal.	Low scrap value.	Very high scrap value.	Routinely reprocessed but loses properties.	Low scrap value.	Low scrap value routinely reprocessed.

Tooling Economics

Aluminium Extrusions	Roll Formed Steel	Copper Extrusions (Deoxided; Low Phosphorus)	Moulded Plastic	Wood	Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride)
Relatively cheap. Simple shapes cost only a few hundred pounds. Short lead times.	Typical cost thousands of pounds. Long lead times.	Inexpensive tooling costs for extrusions.	Expensive, generally into thousands. Long lead times.	Very inexpensive.	Relatively inexpensive.

Energy Savings

Aluminium Extrusions	Roll Formed Steel	Copper Extrusions (Deoxided; Low Phosphorus)	Moulded Plastic	Wood	Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride)
Lightweight aluminium extrusions can offer energy savings for transportation vehicles.	Energy req. for vehicle components are 2x those for Al.	In transportation vehicles, copper is less energy-efficient than aluminium.	Savings for vehicles, processing, insulation.	In certain applications.	Can offer energy savings in appropriate transportation applications.

Combustibilility

Aluminium Extrusions	Roll Formed Steel	Copper Extrusions (Deoxided; Low Phosphorus)	Moulded Plastic	Wood	Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride)
Very low. Does not emit any toxic fumes when exposed to high temperatures.	Very low. Does not emit any toxic fumes at high temps.	Very low. Does not emit any toxic fumes at high temps.	High. May emit toxic fumes when exposed to high temps	High. Emits toxic fumes while burning.	High. May emit toxic fumes when exposed to high temps.