Although aluminum is the third most abundant element on the planet, it’s only been commercially viable for about a century due to historically restrictive production costs. As a lightweight and resilient metal, the versatility of aluminum lends itself to a variety of applications, such as construction materials, aircraft parts, HVAC units and consumer products. Aluminum is…
Even in its simplest form, aluminum can be found in the objects we use in everyday life. From consumer goods such as kitchen foil to integral parts of modern architecture and transportation, this lightweight material is becoming increasingly crucial to many industries. However, by itself, aluminum has low strength, which can limit its application. To…
How Silicon Is Typically Used in Metals In the landscape of today’s high-tech world, you’ve likely heard about silicon and its use in microchips for everything from cars to personal computers. Silicon’s primary feature, the one that makes it popular for use in electronics, is its semi-conductivity. This trait makes it more or less conductive,…
When considering working and manufacturing with metals, particularly with aluminum, the first thoughts are centered on the heating process with hot furnaces where the metal is heated to extremely high temperatures and then wrought or cast into form. However, there is another type of process to strengthen the metal that involves adding other alloys to…