Aluminium performance properties
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.
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.
High strength-to-weight ratio:
This unique property allows architects to meet required performance specifications, while minimising the dead load on a building’s supporting structure. Thanks to the metal’s inherent sturdiness, aluminium window and curtain wall frames can be very narrow, maximising solar gains for given outer dimensions. Moreover, the material’s light weight makes it easier to transport and handle on site, reducing the risk of work-related injury.
Hundreds of surface finishes:
Aluminium can be anodised 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.
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.
Heat conductivity:
Aluminium is a good conductor of heat, which may be a disadvantage in some applications. However, this property can easily be overcome by the profile design and the use of thermal breaks made of low conductivity materials.
Fire safety:
Aluminium does not burn and is therefore classed as a non-combustible construction material (European fire class A1). 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 minimising damage.
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.
Low maintenance:
Besides routine cleaning for aesthetic reasons, neither bare nor painted aluminium requires any maintenance, which translates into a major cost advantage over the lifetime of a product.
