Making better equipment and structures require good parts that fit perfectly and work reliably. There are lots of advantages to using aluminum extrusions on your project. For starters, aluminum is recyclable, strong, and can be anodized to prevent rusting. It's the perfect material for building frames, equipment, or structures.

Using aluminum extrusions for your project offers even more benefits. For instance, aluminum profiles with a T-Shaped track have negative space, allowing two fitting pieces to interlock. The pieces can be secured together using fasteners or nuts, negating the need to weld them together.

But before that:

What are aluminum extrusions?

Aluminum manufacturers make aluminum extrusions by pushing the material through a die or cast with a specific cross-sectional pattern giving the material a uniform profile. You can equate this to the action of pushing toothpaste through the tube. The extrusion process is good since it helps create aluminum extrusions with complicated cross-sections.

Should you design custom aluminum extrusions?

Most people purchase ready-made aluminum extrusions, which is good. However, many other reasons may make you think twice before buying such products. Usually, purchasing custom products doesn’t have many benefits besides providing a unique design, but things are quite different with aluminum extrusions.

Benefits of custom aluminum extrusions

It’s environmentally friendly.

With everyone concerned about the environment, the best way to help the planet is by reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gasses when making consumer components and products. We can also make the planet better by using environmentally-friendly materials.

Aluminum is friendly to the environment because it’s available in huge quantities, reducing the need for extensive mining projects. Additionally, you can recycle the material after use without losing its inherent properties. The material’s non-toxicity and recyclability give it an edge over other materials in the construction industry.

However, we must admit that the material’s initial mining procedure is similar to most other metals. Recycling the material after use only involves melting it down, removing the impurities, and creating aluminum billets. The material is extruded through a custom process that prevents energy waste by only making the number of aluminum extrusions required.

Cost-effectiveness

Creating custom aluminum extrusions is more cost-effective for companies that require specific aluminum extrusion profiles. This makes the process good for companies performing projects on a tight budget. Using custom aluminum extrusions fits the bill because it allows companies to increase their work’s value without investing in more materials.

Also, the metal is easy to work with, which helps reduce labor and tooling costs. All you need to do is come up with custom aluminum extrusion profiles to complete a project, calculate how many pieces you need, and have them custom-made. Doing this helps reduce waste and time spent fitting standard extrusions together to fit your needs.

Additionally, custom-making aluminum extrusions provide you with various options, including custom coating solutions, since you can add them at the fabrication shops. Manufacturers can add various coatings, including painting, powder coating, and anodizing (which provides an extra hard finish and protects the metal from corrosion).

High precision and convenience

Finding custom solutions to workplace environments is critical to project efficiency. Even projects within the same industry have varying needs for several reasons. The projects could have varying production goals unique to specific environmental conditions.

Creating custom aluminum extrusions is convenient and helps improve precision during construction. Standard aluminum extrusions are perfect since they provide great results when joining parts of your structure; however, custom extrusions are even more beneficial. Designing and making required custom aluminum extrusions is better than working your way around standard variants.

Creating a custom aluminum extrusion gives you the option to create what you need to make your project work. You can calculate your structure’s loan, the potential load you need the structure to support, and create aluminum extrusions designed to make the structure. Working with standard aluminum extrusions requires estimating the required sizes, which can be dangerous.

Additionally, custom aluminum extrusions reduce waste since they are cut to exact, predetermined specifications reducing the need for any secondary operations. Custom extrusions are perfect for high precision applications like making computers, electronics, medical equipment and instruments, and in the military and defense.

Extreme versatility

Aluminum extrusions are more versatile than extrusions made from other materials. Getting custom aluminum extrusions from companies allows them to develop pieces of any shape or size imaginable. You can further customize the material to meet unique needs to fit its functions, look, and feel.

Doing this helps reduce labor for manufacturers and makes it easier to assemble the product. Currently, most manufacturers use custom aluminum extrusions to create unique structures, improve their equipment’s quality, and bring them to the next level. Using custom aluminum extrusions can make your work easier and more efficient.

Reliable performance features

Aluminum extrusions can be used for projects requiring special performance features. For instance, it's a good electric conductor; plus, it won't combust, spark, or become magnetized like other metals. The material is also a good thermo-conductor and is durable and strong. You can use it to make structures or housing sensitive equipment.

Aluminum’s shiny nature also makes it perfect for industries that require thermal management. Additionally, the material is non-corrosive, making it great for outdoor applications and use in abrasive or corrosive environments. Aluminum is also perfect for cold areas since it becomes stronger in cold environments and can be used instead of steel.

Conclusion

As mentioned above, there are lots of benefits to using custom aluminum extrusions. However, the benefits of custom designing your aluminum extrusions boil down to reliability and simplicity. Aluminum extrusions are perfect for building small and large-scale structures for several reasons, such as doors and windows, curtain walls, solar panels, etc. These reasons could be various attributes of aluminum metal and aluminum extrusions’ modular design capabilities.

Aluminum shows a reliable strength-weight ratio, i.e., its both light and highly durable. Additionally, making aluminum extrusion fabrications is cost-effective and relatively quick. Welding steel can also provide good results; however, making aluminum extrusions is much easier, cheaper, and doesn’t affect your construction’s structural integrity.