Aluminum Etching

Aluminium is the second most used metal in the earth, standing only after iron. Across industry where durable but lightweight metals are required, aluminium with its alloys are the best options available. These alloys are made by mixing other metals with aluminium at varying composition. Aluminium has low density, easily workable, good conductor and naturally corrosion resistance. These are the reasons for which aluminium is so popular across industries all over the world.
Uses of Aluminium in the Industry: Pure aluminium also used in the electronics industry. They are mainly used to produce hard disc drives, capacitor foil and conductor track on silicon chips. But its alloys made by mixing aluminium with various other metals like copper, magnesium and with silicon is used in various other industries. If we compare the use of aluminium with its alloy in industries, we can see it is 36% in the transport industry, 14% in engineering, 17% in packaging, 26% in building industry and rest are used in other industries.
What is Etching Process: Metal etching is a subtractive metal matching process where etchant chemicals are used to produce precision metal components like circuit boards. It is also called chemical milling, photo etching or chemical etching. Traditionally it is the process of creating the design in metal by passing strong acid or mordant to cut into unprotected parts of metal.
The Aluminium Itching Process: The aluminium etching process is a highly specialized process. It can get really difficult easily if not proper care taken, resulting in poor edges and rough finish edges. By the aluminium etching process material properties are retained, stress and burr free components are produced with no heat affected zones. The factors in the process are etchant chemistry, temperature control and the cleaning and preparation of the metal. The process can be easily done again. Because of all these reasons, the resultant process is cost-effective and highly accurate compared to traditional processes. The aluminium etching process is done at a rate of around 0.178 cm/h.
Application: Aluminium is a fuel efficient metal, due to its lightweight. The aluminium etching is a process that has opened many avenues to use aluminium further. It is used heavily on aircraft engineering. There is something called Heat exchanger plates which are used for thermal management of aircraft. They can be etched with complicated channel and pin arrays to improve thermal management. The etched helicopter air intake grilles are another one. The heater plates used in aircraft dehumidifiers is done by this process. It causes smooth channels to improve airflow. Etched aluminium is used in car components like dials, dashboard components, etc.
Conclusion: The application of aluminium etching is numerous, and the demand of the resultant products are up all the time. It is not one single industry that is benefited by this process. Multiple sectors across the globe are benefited, which in turn helps the customers to have better service and products. As discussed earlier, the process is a highly specialized one, where complicated steps are taken precisely to get the perfect finishing product. It is, therefore, a process of high importance.