Aluminum slugs come in a variety of common shapes, with round slugs being the most common. The dimensions of aluminum slugs vary significantly depending on the alloy and application.
Common shapes of aluminum slugs:
Round aluminum slugs:
The most mainstream shape, suitable for stamping, deep drawing, and other processing techniques. It can be with or without holes and is commonly used for tubes, cans, bottle caps, capacitor housings, and small hardware accessories. It offers excellent processing convenience and versatility.
Round aluminum slugs
Square aluminum slugs:
Offers better stability and contact area than round shapes, facilitating bolt fixing or splicing. Suitable for electrical housings, brackets, mounting hardware, and other components requiring stable assembly. It also improves stacking efficiency.
Rectangular aluminum slugs:
Combines a certain length and proportion, suitable for extrusion processes. Widely used in automotive parts, radiator components, and packaging tubing. It ensures uniformity of product shape during processing.
Custom aluminum slugs shapes:
Can be made into hexagonal, elliptical, conical, dome-shaped, and special shapes with a large central hole, etc., according to requirements. For example, hexagonal shapes are often used for valve parts; domed aluminum slugs shapes are suitable for airbag components and containers; aluminum slugs with central hole are commonly used in transmission piston manufacturing; and there are also custom shapes that fit brand logos or the outlines of special tools, reducing subsequent processing steps.
General specifications of aluminum slugs:
The size ranges of aluminum slugs from different alloys overlap, but some differences also exist. The following are some commonly used specification ranges in the industry:
Round aluminum slugs:
The common diameter range is 3-240mm, with 5-150mm being the most prevalent range. Sizes such as 20mm, 45mm, 63.5mm, and 89mm are frequently used. Thickness is typically 0.8-30mm, with 2-15mm thicknesses commonly used in packaging and electronic components. For example, the diameter of 1070 alloy round aluminum billets can reach 3-220mm, and the thickness 0.8-25mm.
Rectangular/square aluminum slugs:
There are currently no unified fixed size standards. The typical length and width are 10-150mm, and the thickness is similar to that of round aluminum billets, ranging from 2-30mm. When the length and width are ≤10mm, the tolerance is controlled at approximately ±0.05mm; when they are 10-20mm, the tolerance is approximately ±0.08mm.
Aluminum slugs of different alloys have commonly used sizes adapted to their respective application scenarios. For example, 3003 alloy aluminum slugs are often used as raw materials for corrosion-resistant parts, and their common sizes include diameter 13.15mm × thickness 2.8mm, diameter 54.7mm × thickness 5.4mm, and diameter 87.7mm × thickness 8.2mm, etc.; 1070 aluminum slugs have higher purity, with thicknesses mostly ranging from 2 to 30mm and diameters from 6 to 140mm, with tolerances controlled at around ±0.05mm, making them suitable for packaging products that require high material purity.
