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what stages for extruding aluminum profiles?

Extrusion is a very reliable and creative process that designers and engineers rely on to manufacture aluminum profiles. It has a relatively fast turnaround time. With the aid of an extrusion machine and steel die, it is possible to make very intricate shapes, forms and designs for various applications in building construction.

Various components make up the main extrusion machine, but the principal one is the hydraulic press. The extrusion process uses this hydraulic press to push solid aluminum through a steel die. This solid aluminum is usually called a billet. Billets are cut from very long aluminum alloy cylindrical rods.

The billet is placed into a billet furnace first. Inside the furnace, billet gets heated to a temperature of about 800 degrees Fahrenheit. While the billet is being heated in the furnace, the die is also pre-heated to maintain the correct temperature during the process. Then the billet leaves the furnace and it is transformed into the desired profile shape inside the extrusion press. Just before the billet comes into the extrusion press, excess material is sheared or removed from it. Then the billet gets pressed against the die with a hydraulic force of about 3,000 tons.

As the solid aluminum is pushed through the die opening, it is forced to create a fully formed profile of desired shape and thickness. After the profile comes out of the press, it passes through a cooling bath. This process of cooling the aluminum profile is known as quenching. Quenching is done to bring down the temperature of the profile at a controlled rate so it retains the desired mechanical properties. As the profile comes out of the cooling bath, it is picked up by a special device. This device, which is known as a puller helps to guide the long profile along the run-off table. The puller is very important because the profiles that come out of the extrusion press are usually more than 60 feet long.

Various forms of heating and cooling take place during the extrusion process. From the preheating of the die to the heating of the billet and the cooling of the profiles as they come out of the extrusion press, each aspect of the process needs to have proper temperature monitoring and control. This is accomplished with the aid of infra-red monitoring cameras. These cameras send feed back to the control room and the give a precise value of the temperature of the billet, steel die, quenching bath and the aluminum profile.

After the profile has been fully released from the extrusion machine, it goes through a stretching process on the run off table. This process helps to straighten and relieve stress from the metal. The straightened profiles are then conveyed to the sawing section where they are cut to the desired length usually in lengths of about 20 feet or less.

After cutting the profiles to the required length, they are placed on a conveyor or truck that allows them to be shipped to the heat treatment or aging oven.