Manufacturing process of rolled aluminum products.
There are roughly three types of rolling equipment: hot rolling mills, cold rolling mills, and foil rolling mills. Aluminum plates, sheets, and foils are usually manufactured by rolling thick aluminum sheets between industrial-grade rolls to reduce their overall thickness.
Usually, in the process of aluminum sheet processing, the hot rolling process is used first, and the aluminum slab with a thickness of about 600mm can be pressed into a plate with a thickness of 6mm to 250mm; and then through an additional cold rolling process, the aluminum manufacturer will further reduce these dimensions. Sheets as small as 2 mm thick.
hot rolled aluminum plate
If the rolling mill heats the aluminum, the process is called hot working. The specific temperature range for hot working varies by alloy. For example, 3003 aluminum is hot worked between 260 and 510°C (500 and 950°F). Hot rolling prevents most or all of work hardening and keeps the aluminum ductile.
If they don't heat the aluminum before rolling, the aluminum is cold worked. Cold rolling hardens and strengthens aluminum by changing its microstructure, but it makes the metal more brittle.
hot rolling vs cold rolling aluminum
The difference between cold rolled and hot rolled aluminum plate
| Hot Rolled Aluminum Plate | Cold Rolled Aluminum Plate | |
| Production Process | Heated by an aluminum ingot plate, smelted at a high temperature and cast into a slab, which is rolled by a hot rolling mill after being milled, homogenized annealed. | Cold rolled aluminum plate is processed by a casting machine into a cast roll and processed by a cold rolling mill; |
| Thickness | Usually the thickness of hot rolled sheet is 6-8 mm. The minimum thickness is 2.5mm-3.0mm. | Usually, cold rolled aluminum sheets can reach 0.5-4.5 mm. Advanced cold rolling mills can roll aluminum foil with a thickness of 0.1-0.2 mm. |
| Price | Cold rolled aluminum plate is simple in process and cheaper than hot rolled aluminum plate. | |
| Different properties | hot-rolled aluminium sheet has good surface quality, strong mechanical properties and ductility, and good oxidation effect. | |
| Different uses | Hot rolled aluminum plate is better for deep drawing and bending performance, so it is suitable for deep processing. | the cold rolled aluminum plate is mostly used in molds. |
Production Process Of Hot Rolled Aluminum Sheet
Huawei Aluminum Quotation
| Date | LME | LME Weekly Price | 2023-04 LME Average | 2023-04 SMM Average |
| 2023-05-03 | 2330$ | 2333.3$ | 2341.00$ | 2712.08$ |
| 2023-05-02 | 2353$ | |||
| 2023-04-28 | 2342$ | |||
| 2023-04-27 | 2302$ | |||
| 2023-04-26 | 2339.5$ | |||
| Notes
1. Prices are updated at 10:00 am on weekdays. |
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