What are Aluminum Billets?

Offshore Direct Metals works hard to save customers money associated with stock aluminum extrusions. Among the many different products offered are billets, which is a length of metal with a square or round cross section that measures no more than 36-inches. These are created by taking blooms or ingots and using hot rolling as a means of extrusion, continuous casting, or indirectly rolling and drawing.

For making circular tubes as billets, centrifugal casting is also used. Typically, this process is the preferred choice when trying to achieve an outcome of exact metallurgical structure. Most often, billets from this process are used as cylinder sleeves where diameters on the inside and outside are not machined and ground to length.

Overall, the size of billets is not dramatically changed. For this reason, they are sometimes classified something different than semi-finished casting products. To ensure 100 percent customer satisfaction, the professionals with Offshore Direct Metals works with only the most reputable suppliers of billets, as well as other products.

As part of bringing customers the highest quality of aluminum billets possible, sources that provide aluminum billets to Offshore Direct Metals are mandated to follow international standards specific to quality as defined in quality certificates from ISO and ASTM.

One of the unique aspects of aluminum billets offered by this company is that with this metal being relatively soft, the majority of billet accessories produced are machined using an aluminum alloy coupled with other types of metals. With this, the machined billets can be used for a wide range of industries.

Offshore Direct Metals is an established business that is capable of processing 180,000 tons of homogenized aluminum alloy billets every year thanks to high-end furnaces and casting pits. These come in a variety of sizes to include 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, and 16-inches.

The state-of-the-art foundry refines and redefines the casting of aluminum billets for the extrusion industry. The company utilizes the latest technologies as well, which makes it possible to produce the billets are requested by the customer. Based on the final product, characteristics of the aluminum billets are typically improved, making them easier to machine and finish.