Why is aluminum often used in industrial robot parts？

With the continuous improvement of factory automation, the degree of automation in all walks of life is constantly improving, automotive, food, semiconductor and other electrical industries have introduced industrial robots, the past by manual production of products are now more efficient production, these robots can achieve instead of manual completion of processing processes.

Compared with the bulkiness of the past, the new robots are lighter and can operate on multiple axes. Ability to repeat complex processing steps in a limited space.

Aluminum is often used as a suitable material to meet these requirements. What are the advantages of using aluminum to process parts for robots?

First, aluminum material has the characteristics of light weight.

Compared to materials such as iron or stainless steel (SUS) of the same size, aluminum materials weigh only 1/3 as much.

Light weight means easier processing and lower shipping costs. The weight of equipment using metal as a material will increase with the size of the equipment, and the weight will make it difficult to carry and install, in this case, the use of aluminum materials can reduce the weight.

The 2000-7000 series of aluminum is known for its superior strength, and it is used not only in industrial robot parts that require strength, but also in automotive parts and aerospace equipment parts.

Because 6000 series aluminum material has good extrudability, it is used in the production of industrial robots for many standardized Angle steel, channel steel, pipes and frames. Aluminum, which is strong and lightweight, is also often used in robot arms.

If you focus on strength and weight, magnesium alloys and titanium alloys can also be used, but these materials have poor machining properties and are difficult to cut.

In contrast, aluminum alloys (such as the 5000 series) have good machinability and are therefore suitable for complex or high-precision machining.

Aluminum materials can be processed not only by cutting, but also by bending and welding. However, aluminum materials scratch more easily than other metals, so care must be taken when cutting. If appearance is important, you can use shot peening to make the surface even.

Second, aluminum materials have good corrosion resistance, which is also the reason why aluminum materials are the most suitable for robot parts processing.

Metals usually corrode, but because the natural aluminum material is covered with an oxide film, it usually does not rust and does not affect the appearance of steel. Because the natural oxide film is very thin, it may strictly be corroded by the environment, so in the industrial field we commonly use anodizing to make aluminum less prone to corrosion.

Third, aluminum material is not magnetic, suitable for use around electronic circuits.

Other characteristics of aluminum materials, such as good thermal conductivity and low temperature resistance, also appear in ordinary families, as do POTS and pans made of aluminum materials. The material itself does not have magnetic characteristics, so it is often on the circuit board shield cover, motor shell and other parts.

The low melting point of aluminum, coupled with the rust-proof properties mentioned above, makes it an easy material to recycle.

This is also the reason why aluminum is collected separately in the field of resource recycling, but there is also a considerable amount of aluminum material used in industrial equipment, making it a very good material to recycle.