Aluminium (its symbol is Al) is a widely accepted metal for electrical applications. The National Electrical code has allowed the use of Al wires since 1901. This was just four years after the first accredited national electrical code was released in 1897.

Rods and bars made of aluminium go through various processes like extrusion, coiling, and rolling, or they are made directly from molten metal. These steps elongate the metal to form a bar or rod shape piece that can be used for different applications. You can find a slew of machine parts made from Al rod and bar, such as screws, rivets, nails, bolts, and more. Those daily use items that you handle without giving a second thought, like zippers, chain-link fence material, twistable foils to keep food fresh, antennas, and more, are made from good old aluminium!

Thanks to its high electrical conductivity and the property of non-corrosion, aluminium has wide electrical applications.

Aluminium rod and bar

Rods and bars are made by a process called extrusion. This is similar to rolling of sheets. They are then elongated through dies. The major difference between rod and bar is that the former is circular in shape, while the latter can have multiple flat sides.

Wire is made from rod. Its diameter is less than 3/8 inches. When several wires are stranded together to form one piece it becomes a conductor. It is possible to draw and strand an electric conductor rod directly from molten metal.

There are various ways to produce Al rod, bar, and wire. A usual way resembles sheet rolling as mentioned earlier. A square, long ingot is heated. It gets reduced to cross-section by letting it pass through a string of rolls. Then it is coiled. Thereafter, the coils are heated. To make them into wires, the coils are pulled through progressively smaller dies.

When aluminium rod is hollowed inside it becomes a tube. Al tubes are used to supply liquids in water treatment plants, food processing equipment, heat exchangers, and other industrial applications.

More than a century of power transmission

Utility companies of North America have been using Al for more than a century to supply power across power grids of the country. They don’t think of any other metal for the simple reason that Al has the ability to transmit twice the voltage of electric current per pound than that done by copper. This leads to a cost effective power solution. Such power grid shows easy maintenance and is recyclable any number of times.

Dominating the electrical world

The widest use of Al is in electrical transmission. The metal proves to be unmatched in this regard. Besides, it is economical. You can find aluminium wires and cables almost everywhere that requires conduction of electrical impulse. It could be machines, industries, commercial buildings, homes, transportation, equipment, consumer durable products, and more.

Rajasthan Electric is a specialist, since 1959, in providing supreme quality aluminium rods and wires, besides offering an array of electrical products. You can easily get them online.