Stainless Steel Clad Aluminum

Stainless steel clad aluminum is a unique engineered material, which is manufactured by roll bonding followed by thermal treatment to produce a strong metallurgical bond.  No intermediate layers are formed.  A layer of relatively pure aluminum is required to effect bonding to the alloy of aluminum.  The aluminum contributes excellent thermal and electrical conductivity to the composite while the stainless steel contributes superior corrosion and abrasion resistance. The bonding of stainless steel to aluminum forms a material with excellent stiffness-to-weight ratio.  Often an economic savings as well as engineering advantages are realized by using the stainless steel aluminum composite.  The composite can be formed, machined, and joined by standard manufacturing techniques.

Because of the unique properties of stainless steel clad aluminum, the potential applications for this material are unlimited.  Presently this material is being used in such diverse applications as:  cooking utensils, aircraft components, transition joints, electronic packaging, and structural application.  Stainless clad aluminum plate also is used for transition joints in cryogenic applications for thermal management devices where a transition from aluminum to stainless steel is desired.  The bond between the stainless steel and aluminum is equal to the shear strength of the aluminum and offers vacuum integrity.

Stainless steel clad aluminum is available as a one-sided clad product, ALCLAD^TM, or as a two-sided clad product, ALCOR^TM.  The range of thickness which can be supplied are typically from .062" to 1".  The ratio of stainless steel to aluminum supplied is established to meet specific customer requirements.  The composites can be provided in widths to 40" and lengths to 120".  Other thicknesses, widths, and lengths can be provided on an individual application basis.  Round blanks of any diameter between 8-3/8" and 23-3/4" are available.