ALUEXPO 2011

Characteristics of Aluminium

Aluminium is a soft, durable, lightweight, malleable metal with appearance ranging from silvery to dull grey, depending on the surface roughness. Aluminium is nonmagnetic and nonsparking. It is also insoluble in alcohol, though it can be soluble in water in certain forms. Aluminium has about one-third the density and stiffness of steel. It is ductile, and easily machined, cast, and extruded. Corrosion resistance can be excellent due to a thin surface layer of aluminium oxide that forms when the metal is exposed to air, effectively preventing further oxidation. The strongest aluminium alloys are less corrosion resistant due to galvanic reactions with alloyed copper. This corrosion resistance is also often greatly reduced when many aqueous salts are present however, particularly in the presence of dissimilar metals.

The production base for industrial aluminium profiles, located in the Central Industrial Park of Sanshui District, Foshan City, has begun construction already. The planning area is 520,000 square meters, and the total investment amounts to RMB860 million, which will be used to purchase 20 production lines including extruders with big volumes (in metric ton). The first phase of the project has completed in 2007, with its annual capacity of 180,000 tons industrial aluminium profiles.

Knowledge of Aluminium

In the Earth's crust, aluminium is the most abundant (8.3% by weight) metallic element and the third most abundant of all elements (after oxygen and silicon). Because of its strong affinity to oxygen, however, it is almost never found in the elemental state; instead it is found in oxides or silicates.

Although aluminium is an extremely common and widespread element, the common aluminium minerals are not economic sources of the metal. Almost all metallic aluminium is produced from the ore bauxite.

Aluminium is a soft, durable, lightweight, malleable metal with appearance ranging from silvery to dull grey, depending on the surface roughness. Aluminium is nonmagnetic and nonsparking. It is also insoluble in alcohol, though it can be soluble in water in certain forms. Aluminium has about one-third the density and stiffness of steel. It is ductile, and easily machined, cast, and extruded. Corrosion resistance can be excellent due to a thin surface layer of aluminium oxide that forms when the metal is exposed to air, effectively preventing further oxidation. The strongest aluminium alloys are less corrosion resistant due to galvanic reactions with alloyed copper.