Each building after construction is subject to finishing. This is done both to protect the walls from environmental influences, and for a beautiful design. A relatively new construction material on the market, alucobond cladding, perfectly copes with these tasks. Alucobond is made of two thin aluminum sheets coated with a special protective film, paint and varnish. A plastic or mineral filler is inserted between them. All components are glued together using high temperatures and pressure on special equipment.
For the arrangement of hinged ventilated facades, aluminum composite panels turned out to be simply indispensable. It’s all about weight, aluminum weighs 70% less than stainless steel sheets. Composite products are mounted on a galvanized subsystem, which consists of:
- horizontal profile;
- main vertical profile;
- intermediate vertical profile;
- aluminum corner;
- brackets;
- thermal break plastic.
Composite panels are loved by architects. This material can be given any radius of curvature, making it ideal for cladding protruding parts of buildings. Simplicity in processing and installation, which allows giving the panels almost any shape, is the basis for the unlimited use of this finishing material. It is also used in advertising structures, when facing pavilions.
Basic Properties
The use of alucobond in Sydney has no limits. They are used for facade cladding, for interior finishing work. You can find them in public institutions, in private homes, in modern business centers. Alucobond panels have a number of important advantages:
- durability (guarantee – 25 years);
- strength;
- good flexibility, the ability to quickly restore the initial shape;
- the ability to endure any impact of the atmosphere without changes;
- rich color palette;
- resistance to fire, to mechanical stress;
- low weight (5–8 kg per 1 m²);
- smooth surface;
- soundproofing properties;
- resistance to corrosion;
Alucobond cladding does not have heat-insulating properties. It has a different purpose. The main parameters of these panels contribute to the equalization of the temperature of the outer and inner sheets of aluminum. The main purpose of the material is ventilated facades, so it creates an effective heat transfer.
The alucobond ventilated façade is not only reasonably priced, but also easy to operate, which in general has a positive impact on its choice by many homeowners and construction companies. In order to bend alucobond in Sydney, it is necessary to make V-shaped cuts with a circular saw from its reverse side. In this case, it is impossible to completely cut through the plastic layer, otherwise it will be damaged.
After finishing the entire facade and completing the complex of works, it is necessary to remove the protective films from the cassettes and panels. It is advisable to do this within a month, since with a longer exposure there is a risk of complete polymerization of the adhesive. Of course, it will be possible to clean it off later, but labor costs will increase significantly. Its complete fire safety allows it to be used for finishing buildings with increased requirements for fire safety standards.
The History of Aluminum Use in the Construction Industry
Aluminum was practically not used in construction because it was too expensive to produce in sufficient quantities. Eventually, it changed in 1920 when the electrolysis process (the process by which electric current is traveled through a substance to effect a chemical change) reduced the cost of Aluminum by 80%. The metal was prevalent for roof and dome finishes, gutters and wall panels, and decorative purposes.
Aluminum is named after alum, which means “a lumen” in Latin. The name was given by British chemist Humphrey Davy, who discovered in 1808 that aluminum could be produced by electrolytic reduction from alumina (aluminum oxide) but still needed to prove the theory in practice. Aluminum became the newest metal discovered by humanity with the development of chemistry and the advent of electricity, as aluminum does not occur naturally in its purest form. In just a century and a half, aluminum has made a fascinating journey from a precious metal to a material used in nearly every aspect of human life.
In 1894, in New Haven, New York, the Hartford Railroad, an American railroad company then owned by banker John Pierpont Morgan (J.P. Morgan), began producing unique lightweight passenger railroad cars with aluminum seats. Only five years later, Karl Benz presented his first sports car with his aluminum body at an exhibition in Berlin.
The first building in which aluminum was popularly and widely used as the Empire State Building, New York’s famous skyscraper, in 1931. Aluminum became widely used in all basic structures of buildings and was also commonly used in interiors. Dubbed as “winged metal,” aluminum application in construction and architecture decreased in the 1940s as the metal became more widely used for producing planes.
However, in the middle of the 20th century, aluminum became increasingly popular in constructing skyscrapers and bridges. Window frames, panels, domed roofs, and other long structures and ornaments were increasingly made of aluminum. Today, aluminum is used in many construction industries due to the longevity of its service life, ranging to 80 years. Within this period, aluminum can be used in all climatic conditions and does not lose its properties in the temperature range from –80 °C and +300 °C.