What is Aluminum Extrusion?

Aluminum extrusion is the process of shaping aluminum material by forcing it to flow through a shaped opening in a die. When extruded in this way, the aluminum material comes out of the die as an elongated piece with a continuous cross-sectional profile, and this profile can be highly complex and detailed. For non-specialists, an easy explanation of extrusion is to think about how pasta shapes or Play-Doh are made. In both cases, dough is fed into a chamber, pressure is applied by turning a crank or handle, and strands of the stuff are squeezed out of a small hole. Changing the attachment for this hole affects the cross-section of the strands, giving you the choice between e.g. tagliatelle, penne, or something else.

Of course, aluminum billets aren’t quite as malleable as pasta dough, so the aluminum extrusion process requires a lot of force — typically via huge amounts of hydraulic pressure — and, in some cases, the application of heat.

Standard Aluminum Extrusion Profiles

Custom aluminum extrusion profiles can be cut to any 2D cross-sectional shape. However, there are several standard aluminum extrusion profiles suitable for many projects, including extruded aluminum bar and extruded aluminum channel of various forms.

Standard profiles include:Circular bar,Square bar,Circular tube,Square tube,L-shape,U-shape,T-shape,C-shape,J-shape,F-shape.

Profiles also come in standard sizes and series. These include:

2020 aluminum extrusion (20 mm x 20 mm) 

80/20 aluminum extrusion (T-slot aluminum extrusion)

2040 aluminum extrusion (20 mm x 40 mm)

3030 aluminum extrusion (30 mm x 30 mm)