THE ADVANTAGES OF ALUMINIUM

The development of applications for aluminium and its alloys, as well as the sustained rise in consumption can be attributed to several of its properties which are decisive criteria in users choice of metals, especially in the fields of transport, building, electrical engineering and packaging. 

The discoverers of aluminium were particularly impressed by the low density of this metal Aluminium is much lighter than any other common metal, and the kind of sensation which it gives you to carry an ingot of this metal is always amazing, even if you already know about this peculiar aspect [1].  

Lightness is the property of aluminium that first springs to mind, so much so that for a long time the term light alloy was used for what is now called aluminium alloys . Aluminium is the lightest of all common metals (Table A. 1.1). Its density is 2700 kg m , which is almost three times less than that of steel. The density of aluminium alloys ranges from 2600 to 2800 kg-m (Tables A.3.5 and A.3.9). 

Experience has shown that an aluminium alloy strucmre can be up to 50% lighter than its equivalent made from mild steel or stainless steel. This takes into account the modulus 

Several areas of technology take advantage of aluminium s lightness  

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