The production process of aluminum coils involves multiple steps, from the selection of raw materials to the packaging of the final product, each link needs to be precisely controlled to ensure product quality.
The following is the basic production process of aluminum coils:
1. Raw material preparation
First, high-quality aluminum ingots need to be prepared as raw materials. These aluminum ingots are usually pure aluminum or aluminum alloys produced by electrolytic aluminum plants. The appropriate alloy composition is selected according to the needs of the final product. For example, manganese is added to the 3000 series aluminum alloy to enhance its performance.
2. Melting and casting
- Melting: The aluminum ingot is put into a melting furnace and heated to about 700-750 degrees Celsius until it is completely melted.
- Refining: Purifiers are added during the smelting process to remove impurities and gases to ensure the purity of the aluminum liquid.
- Casting: The molten aluminum liquid is cast into aluminum slabs (also called ingots) of different thicknesses by continuous casting or semi-continuous casting.
3. Hot rolling
After the ingot cools, it enters the hot rolling stage, where it is heated to a certain temperature and gradually thinned through a series of rolling mills until it reaches a predetermined thickness. This process can improve the internal structure of the material and improve the mechanical properties.
4. Cold rolling
After hot rolling, the aluminum sheet is pickled, annealed and then cold rolled to the required thickness at room temperature. Cold rolling can significantly improve the surface quality and dimensional accuracy of aluminum and give it better mechanical properties.
5. Annealing
In order to eliminate work hardening and adjust the hardness and ductility of the material, the aluminum coil is sometimes subjected to intermediate annealing or final annealing at a specific stage.
6. Surface treatment (optional)
In order to increase corrosion resistance, aesthetics or other special functions, the aluminum coil can be anodized, coated, laminated and other surface treatments.
7. Slitting and coiling
According to customer requirements, a slitting machine is used to cut the wide aluminum sheet into aluminum strips of different widths, and then it is coiled into coils for transportation and subsequent processing.
8. Inspection and packaging
Finally, the finished aluminum coils are strictly inspected for quality, including appearance inspection, dimensional measurement, and physical and chemical performance testing. Qualified products will be properly packaged and labeled for shipment.
The above is the general production process of aluminum coil from raw materials to finished products. The actual production may vary depending on the specific product type and manufacturer's equipment conditions.
