Design Guide for Aluminum Extrusions

Aluminum extrusions can reduce assembly time and improve component appearance and performance. Use these basic design considerations to convert from other processes or create a new aluminum component.

The push to combine higher quality with lower costs has never been stronger than today. But nowhere do those goals compete more aggressively than on the design engineer's desk.

At General Extrusions, we offer the engineering support you need to meet your performance and cost goals without sacrificing quality.

An index can also be used to help identify pieces that are similar in appearance, or to distinguish an inside vs. an outside surface.

A knife edge is difficult to fill, and when extruded will appear wavy. Change the profile to blunt or rounded part.

When designing, visualize the die that will be necessary to produce the shape. In this case, by keeping the void symmetrical about the throat opening, the pressure on the die "tongue" is balanced and die breakage is minimized.

The preceding cross section has been further improved. The die tongue is now less likely to snap off.

Further improvement results if outline can be changed to reduce area enclosed. Reduced area means less pressure on the tongue; easier extrusion.

      A. Original void area
      B. Void area reduced