Aluminum C Channel

Aluminum C Channel: An Ultimate FAQ Guide

If you are looking for an excellent material for constructing different equipment for your commercial or industrial area, an Aluminum C Channel is the most appropriate choice.

It can be used for designing high-quality clean room windows, frames, rails, claddings, brackets, and many other everyday objects.

High corrosion resistance, rust-proof nature, easy cleaning, effortless maintenance, easy bending, high malleability, and affordability are beneficial properties of Aluminum C Channel.

This guide presents the Aluminum C Channel’s specifications, advantages, sizing, and different finishing options. Some common problems and solutions when dealing with this material are also included. Let’s begin.

Clean Room Window C Channel

What is an Aluminum C Channel?

An Aluminum C Channel is a general-purpose profile used to manufacture commercial, industrial, and different clean room products.

Its excellent resistance to corrosion and great strength and quality make it suitable to be used indoors and outdoor applications.

Due to its protection against rusting-related problems, it can be implied in various clean rooms without the fear of corrosion or losing the quality.

Moreover, its beneficial properties, including its lightweight and long life, make it the most suitable material for constructing frames, windows, rails, fittings, machinery, and different instructional parts.

Sunnyda Prime Quality Aluminum C Channel

What are the Key Specifications of an Aluminum C Channel?

Some significant specifications of an Aluminum C Channel include the followings:

• Its exceptional corrosion resistance makes it suitable for every type of environment.
• Its excellent strength-to-weight ratio makes it ideal for installation in situations to handle lightweight load-bearing.
• The formation of oxide coating, when exposed to the air of its aluminum, protects against rust.
• Due to the non-magnetic properties of this Aluminum C Channel, it can be used in situations where the magnetic character is not favorable.
• Its excellent heat and electricity conduction property is commonly implied in huge capacity overhead power lines.
• The low toxicity of this product makes it the least harmful to the clean room environment.
• Anodizing and other surface finishings are available to increase its corrosion resistance.
• Due to its non-sparking nature, there is less chance of flame, spark, or explosion while using in a semiconductor clean room.
• Its high reflectivity property makes it an ideal material for many industries.
• It has good heat shielding and transfer features.

Anodized Aluminum C Channel

What are the Uses of an Aluminum C Channel?

The high strength, excellent quality, lightweight, and durability of an Aluminum C Channel make it suitable to be used in various industries, including:

Architecture and Construction

Using this channel, you can make various products from the architecture, design, and construction industries, including railings, frames, bleachers, facades, fences, etc.

You can also use it to make canopies where the lightweight material is an essential requirement and its good strength. It can also be used to make suspended ceilings and construct walls.

In the construction industry, this material is commonly used for making tough and durable ladders that can withstand high pressure and weight.

Display Product

The Aluminum C Channel is used to make different clean room tables and stands where you can place various materials easily. This is because it can be designed as interlock pieces that are easy and quick to assemble.

Moreover, you can move it from one place to another quickly. The best thing is that you can design such stands with various finishings depending upon your clean room application’s needs and the surrounding environment.

It can also be used for designing clean room cabinets, picture frames, and clean room storage boxes.

Electrical Systems

Due to its excellent electrical conductivity is used in designing busbars and many other similar electrical items. Also, it can be used in the lighting industry.

Modern LED lights commonly face heat management problems. Using an aluminum material can quickly solve this problem due to its excellent radiation or heat exchange. The best thing is that it is light in weight, and you can add a variety of colors and coatings according to your demand.

It can also be used in solar panel supporting structures. These structures require a material with good strength, high corrosion resistance, and lightweight, and all of these properties are present inside the Aluminum C Channel.

Industrial

An Aluminum C Channel is a very suitable material for designing inspection tables, clean room workbenches, and other related products. This is because these are easy to cut, have lightweight, high strength, cost-effective, and can be trimmed easily.

If this is used in designing your workbench, you will have multiple chances to modify the color, finishing, and coating. This can also be used for making frames to guard and protect your machinery.

Transportation

Aluminum C Channel is ideal for RVs and trailers because it is lightweight and manageable. It has a neat finish like chrome, but it also gives a nice shine to the surface. The trailer weight must be low so that more torque can be applied on hauling, and less force is required to move the trailer itself.

Whether you are dealing with a 53 semi-trailer or a horse trailer, Aluminum C Channel is the best choice since it won’t rust and will be damage resistant against many reactive agents.

Clean Room Aluminum C Channel

What are the Different Sizes of an Aluminum C Channel?

The different sizes in which an Aluminum C Channel made from 6060 T5 grade is available to include the following. However, you can also customize the size as per your demand:

• 16 x 16 x 3 mm
• 80 x 25 x 3 mm
• 25 x 12 x 3 mm
• 109x 40 x 3 mm
• 20 x 16 x 1.6 mm
• 25 x 20 x 1.6 mm

Which Aluminum Grade is Most Suitable for an Aluminum C Channel?

Here are some essential factors you need to consider when selecting the most suitable aluminum grade for your Aluminum C Channel:

• What will be its applications?
• How are you going to build it?
• How might you like it to appear?
• For example, does it need to withstand corrosion, or how do you want it to respond in its environment?
• What is the alloy’s tensile strength?

6061 and 6063 are two of the most widely utilized Aluminum C Channel alloy grades. In terms of heat-treatable Aluminum C Channel alloys, AA6061 offers the most adaptability and retains most of aluminum’s desirable features simultaneously.

Corrosion resistance and a wide range of beneficial mechanical qualities are two of its many advantages. There are several methods for welding and fabricating it.

Also, it has a high degree of flexibility and workability in the annealed state. AA6061 is widely employed in many products and applications for these reasons and many others.

Compared to other aluminum alloys, AA6063 has a smoother surface and better corrosion resistance than AA6062 grade.

In contrast to the multifunctional 6061 aluminum, 6063 aluminum is more accessible to weld and more malleable. Moreover, AA6063 can be heat treated to increase the strength of the Aluminum C Channel.

6061 Aluminum C Channel

What is the Difference Between Aluminum C Channel and a Steel C Channel?

An Aluminum C Channel differs from a steel c channel in the following ways:

Strength

There is no doubt that stainless steel is far more robust than aluminum material. However, increased strength comes at a higher cost; this material is heavier, making the aluminum channel sturdier.

Strength to Weight Ratio

The Aluminum C Channel is employed in aviation and bicycle manufacturing due to its weight. It is also commonly utilized in the automobile and clean room industry. The main reason is that it has a more excellent strength-to-weight ratio than stainless steel.

Cost

Prices per kilogram for commercial quality aluminum and stainless steel are not that much different.

But still, the channels made from aluminum material are more cost-effective due to their lightweight and high durability.

Corrosion

With its excellent corrosion resistance, Aluminum C Channel does not rust. The stainless steel c channel, on the other hand, has chromium added to it, which provides a protective coating and excellent corrosion resistance. In addition, stainless steel material is non-porous, making it more resistant to corrosion.

Conductivity

An excellent electrical conductor is Aluminum C Channel, while the stainless steel c channel is one of the poorest. Aluminum is also a superior heat conductor to copper.

On the other hand, the stainless steel channels may be utilized at greater temperatures than aluminum, which softens when heated.

Malleability

Because of its excellent softness and ease of cutting, stretching, and manipulating, the Aluminum C Channel is more user-friendly.

It is much simpler to shape without breaking than stainless steel, which can be more challenging to work with due to its challenging formability.

Steel C Channel

What is Different Finishing of Aluminum C Channel?

Finishing is a good option since it may improve the corrosion resistance of the Aluminum C Channel and its aesthetic appeal. However, there are also additional advantages.

For example, a common form of anodization is thickening the metal’s naturally existing oxide layer. This improves corrosion resistance and increases the wear resistance, surface emissivity, and ability to receive various colored dyes by increasing the porosity.

The different finishing available for the Aluminum C Channel include:

Anodizing Finishes

This channel is submerged in an acid-based electrolyte in a tank throughout this procedure. It may retain its metallic brilliance and receive a long-lasting, bright paint finish.

Chemical Finishes

Dip it into a chemical mixture to apply the chemicals to its surface. Etching, which produces a matte or satin surface, and bright-dipping, a brilliant chrome-like finish, are the most prevalent chemical treatments.

Mechanical Finishes

Applying a chrome-like appearance to the surface or adding roughness. Polishing, sanding, grinding, blasting, or buffing is standard techniques used in this finishing.

Liquid Coatings

Acrylic, polyester, fluoropolymer, and siliconized polyester paint options are available for liquid coating of your Aluminum C Channel.

Because of the practically limitless color options available, these applications may be customized to suit any aesthetic preference.

Powder Coating

Paint-like finish that is more durable than regular paint is also implied. The surface is coated with a rough, matte, or shiny finish by melting plastic powder onto it. For the Aluminum C Channel trim finish, you can avail hundreds of powder colors.

Sublimation

This product can undergo sublimation after a powder coat has been applied to its outer surface. The technicians cover this in a pattern-printed film. Using the sublimation method, a design is transferred to the material directly.

Powder Coated Aluminum C Channel

What are the Common Methods Available for Bending of an Aluminum C Channel?

The most common methods used for the bending of an Aluminum C Channel are explained below:

Ram or the Push Bending Method

The Aluminum C Channel is pressed against a semicircular ram in this procedure. Pressure dies on each side of the ram support the section, which pivots as it encircles the ram.

The ram and the pressure die are both fashioned in the same way as the exterior section channel. Even if only one bend is created simultaneously, many bends can be positioned near together. The slightest bend radius achievable using this method is approximately four times the section’s diameter.

Rotary Draw Bending

This approach can produce a bend radius as small as the section’s diameter.

The bending die has a 270° surface mirroring the exterior contour of the Aluminum C Channel. A pressure die holds the portion in place when it is clamped against the die.

The portion is wrapped around the bending die as it spins. The spinning of the die may be precisely controlled to yield precise bend angles.

Three-Roller Bending Procedure

Two points for support are used to hold the segment while a die pushes it down in the middle. Rollers substitute the ram, and the pressure dies in this procedure. These revolve and pull the section through, generating a big radius shaped to fit the section.

Using the roll bending technique, it is possible to create full circles. In architecture and construction, it is frequently employed to shape huge portions for these purposes.

Compression Bending

It is attached to the side of an immovable ram with a 180-degree mirror profile. The Aluminum C Channel is wrapped around the ram using a compression die.

The circumscribing circle has a diameter three times higher than the minimum radius. Twin-head machines are frequently used for compression bending to create shapes with symmetrical bends on both ends.

Stretch Forming

Large-bend radius components benefit from this technique. The Aluminum C Channel is held in tension by clamping both ends together. To bend the product, a radiused die is pressed against the midpoint of the channel.

The tension controls the entire length, and there is minimal surface marking and excellent production of bend angles.

What is Water Staining of an Aluminum C Channel?

An Aluminum C Channel is susceptible to water discoloration, which appears small white spots due to water on its surface.

The water staining usually appears as a white powdery material on aluminum surfaces.

While on other materials, it might have a rainbow-like appearance due to the alloy or degree of corrosion. Moisture is trapped between the packed surfaces. The most water-stained alloys are those having high magnesium content.

This improves corrosion resistance, but the noticeable downside is that it looks terrible. This material must be permitted to dry before being stored completely. In this case, dry air should be used to evaporate.

Water stains cannot form until moisture is removed, and any existing water stains will stop growing if moisture is removed. Surface roughness can determine the number of existing stains on your product’s surface.

Brushing is all that is needed to remove the light stains. Soaking in an aqueous medium of 10% sulphuric acid and 3% chromic acid by weight may be necessary for removing stains from rough surfaces.

Conclusion

An Aluminum C Channel is a great quality material used for designing multiple clean room products, with minimum maintenance, and can be cleaned easily.

The most important thing to make it beneficial for your application is to select the most suitable aluminum grade considering factors such as usage, your budget, strength, and others. Also, solving the common problems with your product and keeping it clean and maintained will add more to its quality and durability.

100% Quality Tested Aluminum C Channel