Product description
3004 aluminium foil at 0.18 mm in H18 is heavy technical stock for stiffener and reinforcing plates, supplied 1200 mm wide on 76 mm or 152 mm cores.
At this gauge the material is close to the top of the foil range, and the parts made from it are structural rather than protective. A stiffener does not carry the main load; it stops a panel from flexing, and it does that by being stiff itself and bonded over enough area.
3004 carries magnesium as well as manganese, which is why it is chosen over a plain grade when the part has to hold shape after it has been formed and bonded. H18 means the strength is already in the coil, so the part is not relying on the adhesive to give it rigidity.
Near the top of the range the behaviour changes. A web this heavy does not drape, it does not follow a tight radius, and it will not sit flat against a mating face unless it was flat in the coil. The tool has to be set for strip, not for foil, and the cut edge has to be clean because that edge is often visible in the finished assembly.
Bonding matters as much as the metal. A stiffener only works if the bond is continuous over the area it is meant to stiffen; a bond that is starved at the ends leaves the panel free to flex exactly where the load is highest.
Typical uses include stiffener plates, reinforcing panels and flat spacers where rigidity and flatness decide the purchase.
Minimum order quantity is 3 MT per size, and loading is from Qingdao, Tianjin or Shanghai. Send the panel drawing, the bond area and the fixing pattern, and we will confirm the specification that fits.
