Aluminum Extrusion Terminology - T - Z

Strength/Weight Ratio – The correlation between a material’s strength and its weight, or the structural strength divided by its density. A material that is light but also strong would have a high strength-to-weight ratio, such as aluminum.

Stretching – Also known as stretch-down, this process involves straightening an extruded product by pulling the aluminum so that the length increases with a corresponding slight decrease in the cross-sectional dimensions.

Temper – The process creates hardness combined with strength and induces elastic properties in a metal, or artificially ages it. The goal of tempering is to improve the properties and stability of the metal substance by subjecting it to mechanical or thermal treatments.

Tensile Strength – Also termed as ultimate tensile strength, it denotes the maximum stress a metal can withstand without breaking during stretching, on gradual application of uniform load. It is expressed as the ratio of maximum load to the original cross-sectional area.

Thermal Conductivity – The ability of a material to conduct heat, calculated in terms of the amount of heat that is diffused from a unit area of the material. It is the reciprocal of thermal resistivity. Aluminum is a good heat conductor with thermal conductivity values of 250 W/mK or 0.50 °C/cm, having widespread applications as a heat exchanger.

Tolerance – The range of permissible limits of variation or deviation of an object’s properties from a predetermined value. In the process of aluminum extrusion, this may encompass variances in conditions, dimensions, or properties of a produced component, without compromising the process or quality.

Tooling – Providing machinery or tools required for production, such as the reusable parts in case of an extrusion press, which are required for producing a specific shape, such as dies, mandrels and other supporting parts.

Weld Chamber – The covered space provided for the welding of a billet before its extrusion through a die opening in an extrusion press.

Workability – The feasibility or practicality of an operation that is capable of the formation of various alloys with relative ease, by extruding, forging, rolling, or other processes.

Yield Strength – The strength of a metal to undergo stress or gradual progressive force, up to a level that it does not bring permanent deformation in the metal or changes the dimensions, as in the case of aluminum extrusion. The maximum stress at which the metal starts deforming plastically is called the yield point.