Aluminum production has been skyrocketing over the past few years as many manufacturing companies are swapping out steel for the handy metal. As a result, aluminum is quickly shaping up to be a cost-effective and efficient material to use for welding, as well as being sustainable!
But why exactly is aluminum becoming so appealing to welders? We have all the details – from weight to versatility; here are the main advantages of welding with aluminum:
Cost Effective:
The first major benefit that aluminum has over its steel counterpart is its cost efficiency. To someone who’s intimate with market prices of metals, this may be ringing alarm bells. Isn’t steel actually cheaper to purchase than aluminum?
While it is the case that steel currently costs less than aluminum, this doesn’t account for application costs! When steel is used to weld and is applied to objects, there are often hidden costs of application that are avoided when using aluminum, which actually makes it cheaper in the long run.
If you’re scouting around for a solid alternative to steel in regard to price without sacrificing the quality, then aluminum is the metal to go for. It’s also 100% recyclable and will always retain its properties – that means it can constantly be reused and repurposed for different projects, unlike steel.
Weight
Another major factor that sets aluminum apart from steel is how light it is. Aluminum tends to be around a third the weight of steel. This means that by using aluminum to weld, you can save a boatload of money on building, transportation, and packaging costs for aluminum.
This will help ease fuel-efficiency concerns since lighter transport vehicles such as planes, boats, and cars can reduce the consumption of fuel by up to 60%. That means that recyclable aluminum helps the environment in other ways than its property-retaining structure!
Versatile
The final advantage of welding with aluminum is just how versatile it is. Its qualities lend themselves to be used for a variety of applications that exceed that of steel. The first thing to note is its rust resistance in comparison to steel: there is no need to coat your aluminum to resist corrosion since it will naturally do this!
Aluminum is also extremely malleable in comparison to its steel counterpart, which means you won’t have to worry about it getting rigid or cracking during the process of welding. Because of this, aluminum can be shaped into plenty of different designs, giving it the versatilities that a welder could only dream of with steel.
Conclusion
These are just a few of the major advantages of aluminum welding in comparison to its traditional steel counterpart. With a lighter weight, more versatility, and increased cost-effectiveness, aluminum lends itself to be used for the manufacture of a variety of useful things while being environmentally friendly and cheap! These are the key reasons why people are moving to aluminum welding from steel, and there are plenty more reasons if you’re willing to do some extra digging! See our reviews and contact us today if you have a welding repair project that you need help with.
