Aluminum Plate
An aluminum plate is a flat, thin sheet or piece of aluminum, usually of uniform thickness. Aluminum plate's excellent strength-to-weight ratio makes it highly utilized in shipbuilding, automobiles, military vehicle armor, and airplanes. It may also be used for storage tanks, such as spacecraft fuel tanks. Because aluminum strengthens at low temperatures, it is especially useful for storing cryogenic materials.
Aluminum plate is produced from aluminum ingots, which are large chunks of aluminum typically twenty feet long, six feet wide, and at least two feet thick. These ingots may weigh as much as 20 tons.
After the material is produced, the plate is then manufactured at a breakdown mill. At the mill, an aluminum ingot is rolled until it reaches its desired thickness, generally just a few inches. From there it may be shipped off or it may be further flattened into aluminum sheet.