ALUMINIUM

CONTENTS
1. Introduction.
2. Aluminium as a building material.
3. Advantages.
4. Disadvantages.
5. Properties.
6. Manufacturing process of aluminium.
7. Applications of aluminium.

Presented by :
Vidya
Aamina
Rahul
Sowbhagya
Inchara
INTRODUCTION

• Aluminium occurs in abundance on the surface of the earth.

It is available in various forms such as oxides, sulphates,
silicates, phosphates, etc. But is commercially produced mainly
from Bauxite.
• Aluminium is the third most abundant element (after oxygen
and silicon), and the most abundant metal, in the Earth's crust.
It makes up about 8% by weight of the Earth's solid surface.

• Aluminum is remarkable for the metal's low density and for

its ability to resist corrosion due to the phenomenon of
passivation. Structural components made from aluminium and
its alloys are vital to the aerospace industry and are important
in other areas of transportation and structural materials. The
most useful compounds of aluminium, at least on a weight
basis, are the oxides and sulphates.

• In nature, aluminum is found only in chemical compounds

with other elements such as sulphur, silicon, and oxygen.
• Pure, metallic aluminum can be economically produced only
from aluminum oxide ore.
•Occurs in all types of clay .
Aluminium as a building material

• AIR TIGHTNESS:
A well-designed aluminum door, window etc. is perfectly
air tight and sealed out for dust and rain water, when
closed.
This is useful in fully air-conditioned buildings.

APPEARANCE:
• Aluminium can be anodized or painted in any colour, to
any optical effect, number of surface touches, in order to
meet a decorative needs.
• It serves to enhance the material’s durability and
corrosion resistance, as well as providing an easy- to-clean
surface.
CRYOGENICS:
• Where as steel becomes brittle at low temperatures,
aluminum increases in tensile strength and retains
excellent toughness.

EASE IN FABRICATION & ASSEMBLY:

• aluminum can be easily fabricated into various forms
such as foil, sheets, geometric shapes, rod, tube and wire.
• Aluminum could be easily assembled using welding.

HANDLING AND TRANSPORTION :

• Require fewer joints, producing fast and economical

installation.
 • Aluminium can be sawed, drilled, riveted, screwed, bent,
welded and soldered in the workshop or on the building
site.

HIGH CORROSION RESISTANCE:

• Aluminium building products are made from alloys, which
are weather-proof, corrosion-resistant and immune to the
harmful effects of UV rays, ensuring optimal performance over
a very long serviceable lifetime.

HIGH REFLECTIVITY:

• This characteristic feature makes aluminium a very

efficient material for light management. Aluminium solar
collectors can be installed to lower energy consumption
for artificial lighting and heating in winter, while
aluminium shading devices can be used to reduce the need
for air conditioning in summer
HIGH SCRAP VALUE :To produce aluminium from
recycled material, for example, requires only 5% of the energy
required to produce aluminium from bauxite. In addition, every
ton of recycled aluminium saves four tons of bauxite.

• HIGH STRENGTH TO WEIGHT RATIO:

• Aluminium sections are generally thinner and deeper
than equivalent steel sections to achieve the required
strength and rigidity of same level.
. MAINTENANCE COST :
• While Aluminium has a natural, built-in durability (it
forms a protective layer of oxide as soon as it is exposed
to air), most Aluminium construction products are treated
or coated. One way in which the oxidization process can
be enhanced is anodization .

Advantages of aluminium
• Lightweight : Light yet strong
Aluminium is one of the lightest available commercial
metals with a density approximately one third that of steel
or copper.
• Excellent Corrosion Resistance:
Aluminium has excellent resistance to corrosion due to the
 thin layer of aluminium oxide that forms on the surface of
aluminium when it is exposed to air
• Strong at Low Temperatures:
Where as steel becomes brittle at low temperatures,
aluminium increases in tensile strength and retains
excellent toughness.
• Easy to Work
Aluminium can be easily fabricated into various forms
such as foil, sheets, geometric shapes, rod, tube and wire.
• Easy Surface Treatment
For many applications, aluminium requires no protective
or decorative coating; the surface supplied is entirely
adequate without further finishing
• Slim profile.
• Durable.
• low maintenance.
• Available in anodised and baked with finishing long
lasting colour.
• Water resistant.
• Salt and even air resistance.
DISADVANTAGES:
1. Thermal insulation Will be almost insufficient: aluminium
being a good thermal conductor.
2. Poor water proofing due to the inadequately
designed/executed joints between the roof aluminium sheets
3. General noise caused by rain or hail falling on aluminium
roof and wall sheets.

PROPERTIES OF ALUMINIUM
1. Durability:
Aluminium building products are made from alloys, which are
weather-proof, corrosion-resistant and immune to the harmful
effects of UV rays, ensuring optimal performance over a very
long serviceable lifetime.
2. Design flexibility:
The extrusion process offers an almost infinite range of forms
and sections, allowing designers to integrate numerous
functions into one profile. Rolled products may be
manufactured flat, curved, shaped into cassettes, or sandwiched
with other materials. In addition, aluminium can be sawed,
drilled, riveted, screwed, bent, welded and soldered in the
workshop or on the building site.
3. Hundreds of surface finishes:
Aluminium can be anodized or painted in any colour, to any
optical effect, using any number of surface touches, in order to
meet a designer’s decorative needs. Such processes also serve
to enhance the material’s durability and corrosion resistance, as
well as providing an easy-to-clean surface.
4. High reflectivity:
This characteristic feature makes aluminium a very efficient
material for light management. Aluminium solar collectors can
be installed to lower energy consumption for artificial lighting
and heating in winter, while aluminium shading devices can be
used to reduce the need for air conditioning in summer.
5. Fire safety:
Aluminium does not burn and is therefore classed as a non-
combustible construction material. Aluminium alloys will
nevertheless melt at around 650°C, but without releasing
harmful gases. Industrial roofs and external walls are
increasingly made of thin aluminium cladding panels, intended
to melt during a major fire, allowing heat and smoke to escape
and thereby minimizing damage.
6. Optimal security:
Where high security is required, specially designed,
strengthened aluminium frames can be used. While the glass
for such applications may well be heavy, the overall weight of
the structure remains manageable thanks to the light weight of
the aluminium frame.

• It is a very good conductor of heat and electricity.

• It is a silvery white metal with a bluish tinge and it
exhibits bright lusture on a freshly broken surface.
• It is a non-magnetic substance.
• It is highly resistant to corrosion.
• It is light in weight(Its specific weight is 2.7 g/cm3, which
is one-third that of steel.), malleable, and highly ductile.
• It is very soft.
• It possesses great toughness and tensile strength.
• Readily dissolves in HCl 13
• Non toxic.
• Good strength
• Impermeable and odourless.
• Recyclable.

MANUFACTURING PROCESS OF ALUMINIUIM

MANUFACTURE
• The element aluminium in the form of oxide (alumina, Al-
O) comprises 15% of the earth’s crust and is second only to
silica in abundance.
 • The most important ore is bauxite, which contains over 50%
alumina Extraction of metallic aluminium from the ore is
done in three basic steps, namely, mining, refining and
reduction.

Description of the Process:

Step 1-Mining
Crushed bauxite ore is first treated with a solution of hot caustic
soda (NaOH) to dissolve
oxides of iron and silicon is removed by filtration and
decantation alumina hydrate from the ore. The insoluble
residue termed as red mud mostly containing Bauxite Hot
caustic soda Sodium aluminate solution
Step 2-Refining
The hot sodium aluminate solution is pumped into
precipitators, where it gets crystallized to Al203.3H2O. The
precipitated crystals after size classification are filtered and fed
into a rotary kiln, where the heat and mechanical tumbling
convert the hydrated crystals into fine white alumina powder

Step 3-Reduction
An electrolytic process is used for converting the oxide into
metallic aluminium as follows:
• Alumina is charged into steel vessels called smelting pots.
Some quantity of cryolite, which another mineral
compound of sodium, aluminium and fluorine, must also be
present in the vessel but it does not get consumed.
• Carbon electrodes, which are dipped into the vessel, from
the anode of the DC supply.
• The vessel shell forms the negative electrode (cathode).
• On passing electric current, the oxide gets reduced to
molten aluminium, which forms a pool at the bottom where
it is siphoned off periodically for further processing.
• The carbon anodes get consumed as the oxygen combines
with carbon di oxide to form CO2 gas.
• Suitable alloying elements added to the molten aluminium.

Aluminium is manufactured in two phases:

• The Bayer processor refining the bauxite ore to
obtain aluminium oxide, and the Hall-
Heroult process of smelting the aluminium oxide to
release pure aluminium.
• During the smelting operation, some of the carbon is
consumed as it combines with oxygen to form carbon
dioxide.

The Bayer process:

• 1 First, the bauxite ore is mechanically crushed. Then, the

crushed ore is mixed with caustic soda and processed in a
grinding mill to produce a slurry (a watery suspension)
containing very fine particles of ore.
• 2 The slurry is pumped into a digester, a tank that
functions like a pressure cooker. The slurry is heated to
230-520°F (110-270°C) under a pressure of 50 lb/in 2 (340
kPa). These conditions are maintained for a time ranging
from half an hour to several hours. Additional caustic soda
may be added to ensure that all aluminium-containing
compounds are dissolved.
• 3 The hot slurry, which is now a sodium aluminate
solution, passes through a series of flash tanks that reduce
the pressure and recover heat that can be reused in the
refining process.
• 4 The slurry is pumped into a settling tank. As the slurry
rests in this tank, impurities that will not dissolve in the
caustic soda settle to the bottom of the vessel. One
manufacturer compares this process to fine sand settling
to the bottom of a glass of sugar water; the sugar does not
settle out because it is dissolved in the water, just as the
aluminium in the settling tank remains dissolved in the
caustic soda. The residue (called "red mud") that
accumulates in the bottom of the tank consists of fine sand,
iron oxide, and oxides of trace elements like titanium.
• 5 After the impurities have settled out, the remaining
liquid, which looks somewhat like coffee, is pumped
through a series of cloth filters. Any fine particles of
impurities that remain in the solution are trapped by the
filters. This material is washed to recover alumina and
caustic soda that can be reused.
• 6 The filtered liquid is pumped through a series of six-
story-tall precipitation tanks. Seed crystals of alumina
hydrate (alumina bonded to water molecules) are added
through the top of each tank. The seed crystals grow as
they settle through the liquid and dissolved alumina
attaches to them.
 • 7 The crystals precipitate (settle to the bottom of the tank)
and are removed. After washing, they are transferred to a
kiln for calcining (heating to release the water molecules
that are chemically bonded to the alumina molecules). A
screw conveyor moves a continuous stream of crystals
into a rotating, cylindrical kiln that is tilted to allow
gravity to move the material through it. A temperature of
2,000° F (1,100° C) drives off the water molecules,
leaving anhydrous (waterless) alumina crystals. After
leaving the kiln, the crystals pass through a cooler.

The Hall-Heroult process:

Smelting of alumina into metallic aluminium takes place in a

steel vat called a reduction pot. The bottom of the pot is lined
with carbon, which acts as one electrode (conductor of electric
current) of the system. The opposite electrodes consist of a set
of carbon rods suspended above the pot; they are lowered into
an electrolyte solution and held about 1.5 in (3.8 cm) above the
surface of the molten aluminum that accumulates on the floor
of the pot. Reduction pots are arranged in rows (potlines)
consisting of 50-200 pots that are connected in series to form
an electric circuit. Each potline can produce 66,000-110,000
tons (60,000-100,000 metric tons) of aluminium per year. A
typical smelting plant consists of two or three potlines.
• 8 Within the reduction pot, alumina crystals are dissolved
in molten cryolite at a temperature of 1,760-1,780° F (960-
970° C) to form an electrolyte solution that will conduct
electricity from the carbon rods to the carbon-lined bed of
the pot. A direct current (4-6 volts and 100,000-230,000
 amperes) is passed through the solution. The resulting
reaction breaks the bonds between the aluminum and
oxygen atoms in the alumina molecules. The oxygen that
is released is attracted to the carbon rods, where it forms
carbon dioxide. The freed aluminum atoms settle to the
bottom of the pot as molten metal.
The smelting process is a continuous one, with more
alumina being added to the cryolite solution to replace the
decomposed compound. A constant electric current is
maintained. Heat generated by the flow of electricity at the
bottom electrode keeps the contents of the pot in a liquid
state, but a crust tends to form atop the molten electrolyte.
Periodically, the crust is broken to allow more alumina to
be added for processing. The pure molten aluminum
accumulates at the bottom of the pot and is siphoned off.
The pots are operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• 9 A crucible is moved down the potline, collecting 9,000
lb (4,000 kg) of molten aluminum, which is 99.8% pure.
The metal is transferred to a holding furnace and then cast
(poured into molds) as ingots. One common technique is
to pour the molten aluminum into a long, horizontal mold.
As the metal moves through the mold, the exterior is
cooled with water, causing the aluminum to solidify. The
solid shaft emerges from the far end of the mold, where it
is sawed at appropriate intervals to form ingots of the
desired length. Like the smelting process itself, this
casting process is also continuous.
Characteristics of Aluminium:
• Aluminum can be recycled easily.
• Almost all aluminum are used in construction.
• High scrape value .
• Non corrosive and non toxic so used for both indoor and
outdoor application.
• It resist corrosion by water, snow and moisture without
any coating.
• Light weight and high strength and flexible.
• It dose not strikes spark nor get brittle under extreme cold
or heat.

TYPES OF ALUMINIUM ALLOYS AND THEIR IDEAL

USES
1. Commercially pure aluminium alloys- the closest
thing we have to a pure aluminium material. Although
they can be put under the non-heat-treatable aluminium
alloy category, they are separated from the rest because
 these alloys are comprised of aluminium that has 99% or
higher purity. Only one alloy series is included in this
category and it is the 1xxx series.

2. Heat-treatable aluminium alloys- The strength of

heat-treatable alloys is produced through a process that
starts with heat-treating and ends with quenching or
rapid cooling. Heat-treating is when the alloys are heated
to specific temperatures often reaching 900 to 1050 °F.
After which, they are rapidly cooled in order for the
solute atoms to freeze in place.
3. Non heat-treatable aluminum alloys- Unlike the heat-
treatable alloys which are strengthened through heat-
treating, non-heat treatable alloys obtain their strength
through cold-working or strain hardening. This is a
process were the metal is strengthened by continuously
changing its shape without the use of heat. It involves
rolling and stretching the aluminum into thin gauges in
order to get stronger. There are also 3 series under this
type namely the 3xxx, 4xxx, and 5xxx series.
APPLICATIONS OF ALUMINIUM:
• The application of aluminum are numerous. Ranging from
aluminum foil for food packaging and easy open aluminum
cans for beverages to the structural members of the aircraft
in which we travel.
 • It is used for making electrical wires.
• Aluminum is widely used in food packing and cooking pots.
• It is used in mirrors and other decorative architectural
components
• Aluminum is also used in making windows, doors and roofs
of factories.

• House hold and consumer items such as utensils.

USES OF AL IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION:

The best application can be obtained in some typical cases,
which are characterised in getting profit at least of one of the
main basic properties: lightness, corrosion resistance and
functionality. The structural applications which best fit these
properties in the field of civil engineering are the following:

1. Long-span roof systems in which live loads are small

compared with dead loads, as in the case of reticular space
structures and geodetic domes covering large span areas, like
halls and auditoriums.

2. Structures located in inaccessible places far from the

fabrication shop, for which transport economy and ease of
erection are of extreme importance, like for instance electrical
transmission towers, which can be carried by helicopter.

3. Structures situated in corrosive or humid environments such

as swimming pool roofs, river bridges, hydraulic structures and
offshore super-structures.

4. Structures having moving parts, such as sewage plant crane

bridges and moving bridges, where lightness means economy
of power under service.

5. Structures for special purposes, for which maintenance

operations are particularly difficult and must be limited, as in
case of masts, lighting towers, antennas towers, sign motorway
portals, and so on.
FORMS OF ALUMINIUM AND THEIR USES:

• Casting Based.
• Extrusion Based.
• Foil and Powdered Based.
• Sheet Based Forms of Aluminium.

1. CASTING BASED (fig 1)

USES:
•Baluster head
• Hardware and fittings
• Security and decorative grills
Fig 1

2. SHEET BASED:

• Cable trays.
• Flat type false ceiling.
• Prefabricated houses.
• Rain water.
• Ridging and angel of roof.
• Roofing and sliding.
 3. EXTRUSION BASED:
• Doors and Window frames.
• Panels and curtain walls.
• Geodesic domes.
• Green house and roof tops gardens.
• North light glazing frame.
• Space divider and partition

4. FOIL AND POWDER BASED:

• Decorative laminates
• Insulative foils
• Paints
• Water proofing sheets

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