Here’s everything you need to know about the different types of aluminum, including a discussion of the features and drawbacks of this metallic element, the various ways it can be used at home, and other helpful tips.
Whether you’re going to build a home, make repairs, or shop for appliances and household wares, you’ll encounter aluminum. Here’s everything you need to know about the different types of aluminum—including the products manufacturers make with it.
Table of Contents
I. Aluminum Buying Guide
A. What Types of Aluminum Are There?
Many types of aluminum alloys apply to different products and jobs. It’s challenging to list every kind of aluminum, but here are the most common varieties and their applications.
1. Hardest Aluminum: 2024-T351
Aluminum with a classification of 2024-T351 is the hardest, but it’s not easy to work with. This type of hardness is common in airplanes and riveting projects, but you can’t weld it.
2. Most Flexible Aluminum
Aluminum alloy foil is the most flexible type of aluminum because its manufacturing process flattens the aluminum into thin sheets. Consumers wrap food with foil, and many companies package products from consumables to cosmetics to household items in it.
3. Sheet Aluminum
Sheet aluminum is formed by stamping or spinning, and it requires alloy to make it strong. Pots and pans may contain alloyed aluminum, for example, with common alloys like magnesium, copper, and bronze combining with the material for strength and durability.
4. Clad Aluminum
Clad aluminum—AKA treated aluminum—involves zinc, silicon, copper, stainless steel, nickel, or magnesium coating. Cladding increases corrosion resistance because bare aluminum is highly susceptible to corrosion.
Clad aluminum is standard in the aircraft and food processing industries because of how durable it is.
5. Bare Aluminum
Bare aluminum corrodes, and as it oxidizes, it loses its reflective properties. But the corrosion seals out moisture and air, so the interior material is still strong. If you have a project where looks don’t matter, letting the metal corrode on its surface might be a good game plan.
6. Aluminum Manufacturing Alloys
Other common aluminum types are aluminum alloys for manufacturing. Each class is a series and starts with a number from one to seven. Each series uses a different alloy in its manufacture, and within the series, there can be many variations in use and characteristics.
- 1000 series is the purest at 99 percent minimum aluminum. It’s used in chemical tanks and conductive bus bars.
- 2000 series aluminum has copper alloy and is common in aircraft and aerospace applications.
- 3000 series have manganese alloy—common in cookware and in vehicles.
- 4000 series use silicon, lowering the alloy’s melting point. Welders often use this alloy.
- 5000 series have magnesium and silicone and make up structural pieces like beams, tubes, and angles.
- 7000 series have zinc alloys and offer high strength in aerospace and sporting industries.
High-strength aluminum alloys can be challenging to work with—and costly—but emerging research is making things simpler.
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory uses an alloy powder to manufacture seamless aluminum parts, removing costly and energy-consuming steps. The aluminum resulting from this process is more ductile, too, making them resistant to breakage.
