Obtainable in a wide selection of thicknesses, aluminum sheet is thicker than aluminum foil but thinner than metal plate. It typically ranges from 0.006 inches around 0.080 inches. For the reason that range, its slitting capabilities generally run from a slit width of one-quarter inch around 36 inches wide, with core sizes of 6 inches, 12 inches or 16 inches. Its sheet capabilities in that same range are 2 inches wide around 180 inches long, non-tissue interleaved.
Construction MMI recently ran articles titled “European Aluminum Sheet Price Drops 5.9% On Weekly Construction Index.” Additionally, “carrying out a steady week, costs for Chinese aluminum bar closed flat.skid steer stump grinder ” These falling prices are good news for businesses that require it as part of their daily operations. One of the industries which will most take advantage of this drop in cost may be the automotive one.
In a bright paper titled “An Economic Analysis of Aluminum Sheet Production” culled from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT’s) archives, the author “evaluates the prospects of aluminum sheets as a cost-efficient option to steel in autobodies with the unibody design.” Specifically, the research studies the “processing technologies and alloy selection” behind it for the automotive industry. It then examines these factors impact.
The paper stresses that “the volatility in the price of aluminum ingot features a critical influence on the price of the sheet.” Published in the year 2000, the research concluded that “the expense of aluminum sheet is currently far too much to be always a viable replacement of steel.”
But a whole lot has changed in the 12 years since the research was conducted and its results were published. Indeed, the Aluminum Association, Inc. estimates that in 2009, 6,228,000,000, or 6.228 billion, pounds of aluminum were employed by the transportation industry as a whole. That figure represents 28.1% of total aluminum consumption. In addition, it makes the Transportation sector the biggest North American market for aluminum.
Whilst the white paper highlights, “The large fixed costs associated with aluminum sheet production end in economies of scale and favor large fabrication facilities”… like those who manufacture automobiles. Couple the advancing technologies being developed for aluminum with the lowering costs of the commodity and aluminum sheet will probably become an even more in-demand product for automotive manufacturers in the years to come.
One of those advancements is the ability to weld it utilizing a high-powered diode laser. Another welding research white paper took a glance at fillet welds in the lap joints of alloy aluminum sheet. “It was found that production of fillet welds lap joints in aluminum sheet with the diode laser is feasible for industrial use and might be especially helpful for welding of hem joints in automotive closure panels.”
But transportation isn’t the only industry take advantage of the cost drops. Domestically, Containers & Packaging and Building & Construction, in conjunction with Transportation, account fully for 62% of industrial aluminum usage. Consumer Durables, Electrical, Machinery & Equipment and Other round out the nation’s aluminum use while exported aluminum constitute the remainder.