From golf clubs to tennis racquets, bicycles to kayaks, performance and health gains can be found in improving the materials used in leisure equipment. Whether it's weight saving, strength gaining, or ease of forming, winning or losing can be decided by material selection.
The human body is an amazing creation but, every now and again, it needs a little help from outside. The most important consideration in choosing materials to work with our bodies is bio-compatibility. Other requirements are their strength and shape. There are materials for all.
Refineries for oil and chemicals are some of the most complex and dangerous manufacturing facilities there are. They rely upon material strength, stability and corrosion resistance above all else. whether its processing equipment or conduit pipes, there can be no shortcuts.
Tubes and pipes are unique in that their shape is multi-purpose. Their hollow form allows them to be used as a conduit; carrying anything from acids to oil and gas. By distributing forces around their perimeter, they are a light, yet strong load-bearing shape, with extensive uses.
Sheets and plates are used extensively across the engineering industry. they may be employed as cladding for a building, the skin of an aeroplane, or the "walls" of a storage tank. Depending on their material, they may be structural, pressured or corrosion repelling.
Generally used to produce screws, nails, fixings etc., Bars and Rods' form make them an ideal starting point for milling or turning into finished products reflecting their original shapes, or cut to produce washers and shims.
They are also used in forgings and to produce wire.
A starting point for many different products, billets may be used as the basis for machined products, as well as an additive alloying element used in castings. A useful example is the same grade of aluminium either being cast or machined into an engine block, both from billet.
Wire, as a shape, has perhaps the most diverse range of uses of all. it may be spun to make cables for bridges, or made into jewellery as hoops and bands, and even as a filler in welding processes. Different metals will give their respective wires different characteristics.
If a non-standard mill product is needed and wrought manufacturing integrity is required, the resulting product would be termed as a shape or profile. These may be produced at mill level by drawing or extruding. Further processes may involve anodising or secondary machining.
Cast products are created by pouring molten metals into a mould in the form of the shape of the required product. Castings are used to cut the time and reduce the costs involved in machining from ingot. They are also used to create shapes where machining is unsuitable.
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Featured on this page is an example of the products which we are most frequently asked to supply, organised into Materials, Industry and Shape groups, for your convenience. If there are any products you require in a particular alloy, dimension, finish, grade etc., please do not hesitate to contact us and we are sure to meet your needs. We have an extensive network of mills, foundries and suppliers across the globe, so we have absolute confidence in furnishing you with the product you need at competitive prices and in the quickest times.