Aluminum Extrusion History

Aluminum Extrusion History

Aluminum Profile extrusion is a process to give cross functional shapes by forcing through a die. The process is applied in many unique ways since its early beginnings more than hundred years ago. Aluminum extrusion is used in creation of pipes, profiles and wires to Construction applications mainly and is the core practice in shaping aluminum products.
In 1797 the first extrusion process was patented for making lead pipes, which was done with manual human labor until hydraulic powered press was introduced in 1820. During the end of 19^th century, extrusion methods also started using in for copper and brass alloys, but the application and uniqueness of aluminum extrusion remained same.

Aluminum Extrusion History

Aluminum is relatively young as compared to other metals like copper, bronze, iron and steel, which have been in use for thousands of years. In 1807 aluminum was declared as an element metal. Aluminum was considered as luxurious metal when first refined in 1825, which was more expensive than gold. With the invention of smelting process by Hall and Heroult, that the silvery metal became affordable for day to day purposes in late 1880. The initial working processes consisted of rolling, casting, and forging.

Development of Hot Aluminum Extrusion process was invented in 1894 by Alexander Dick which was feasible and applicable for non-ferrous alloys. In current world, aluminum is the most commonly extruded metal, and it can be used with both hot and cold extrusion processes. North America had its first aluminum profile extrusion press in 1904 in Pennsylvania, USA. The introduction of extrusion created a sharp rise in leading-edge applications for aluminum, particularly in the manufacturing of automotive parts. Now a day’s extrusion is a necessary process for metal company’s as they use in their day to day activities to produce their desired shapes for aluminum products.