Aluminum extrusion shape designing

One of the major advantages of aluminum extrusion is that it can be designed in virtually any shape that meets the designer’s structural and aesthetic requirements.

It can be designed to aid in assembly, reduce or eliminate forming or welding operations, reduce machining requirements, and many other purposes.

There are three general classifications of extruded shapes: hollow shape, semihollow shape and solid shape.

Hollow Shape

A hollow shape is a shape that completely encloses a void anywhere in its cross-section.

Hollow shapes contain a minimum of one enclosed space, such as a pipe

Hollow shapes are sub-divided into three different classes.

Class 1 hollow shape

There are three requirements for a shape to be classified as a Class 1 hollow:

The internal void is round
The void is 25.4mm or more in diameter
The shape is symmetrically balanced around the void by two or more axes

Class 2 hollow shape

There are three different requirements for a shape to be classified as a Class 2 hollow:

The shape is not a Class 1 hollow
It has a single void no smaller than 9.525mm in diameter or 70.96 square millimeters in area
The entire shape fits within a 127mm circumscribing circle

Class 3 hollow shape

A Class 3 hollow is any hollow shape that cannot be classified as Class 1 or Class 2. For example, a shape with multiple voids would be a Class 3 hollow.

Semihollow Shape

A semihollow shape is one that partially encloses a void. If the void or voids are symmetrical about the centerline of the gap, the semihollow is classified as a Class 1 semihollow. If the void is not symmetrical about the centerline of the gap, or the wall thicknesses on either side differ, then the semihollow is classified as a Class 2 semihollow

Solid Shape

Solid shapes have no enclosed spaces, similar to channels or flat stock.

A solid shape is any shape that is not a hollow or a semihollow shape.

Honstar Aluminum Products Co., Ltd has been an aluminum industry leader for over 12 years in manufacturing precision aluminum parts, custom aluminum extrusions and standard aluminum profiles.

We focus exclusively on producing the smallest, most complex, precision aluminum parts, custom aluminum extrusions, standard aluminum profiles and floor covering aluminum profiles.

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