October 5, 2022 Seven Types of Metals Used for Industrial Purposes

A look at the types of metals used by various industries.

Various industries need different types of metals to make their products, which is why there are so many types of metals for industrial use. If you think about the items you use in your home or office every single day, you’ll understand that a lot of those items have at least a small amount of metal in them. Providing the right metal supply to other companies so their products can be completed is an important job, and below are a handful of the metals used by various industries.

1. Aluminium

Aluminium is a relatively new metal, having been discovered in the early 18th century. It is not a naturally occurring metal. Instead, it is extracted from bauxite which contains 50% alumina. It is a rather common metal and therefore isn’t usually terribly expensive, and it is used to make vehicles, kitchen utensils, aircraft parts, furniture, and even packaging and some large building structures.

2. Cast Iron

Cast iron is made with a combination of iron, carbon, and silicon. If it has a lot of carbon in it, it will naturally have better flow characteristics when the metal is being cast. Not only are manhole covers made out of cast iron, but it is also used in construction, kitchen appliances, bridges, engineering components, and various items you use in your home. It is indeed a very versatile metal that you can find in most metal supply companies.

3. Magnesium Alloy

Magnesium is a non-ferrous metal that is lighter than aluminium; still, it can be mixed with other metals and made into a high-strength alloy. Magnesium is easy to process and easy to recycle; it has good thermal conductivity, and it has the right amount of hardness and stiffness, making it easy to use for numerous items for industries such as aerospace, mobile communications, and automotive, to mention a few.

4. Titanium

This is a light metal but very tough and even corrosion-resistant. Depending on the chemicals used in its processing, titanium can even come in many different colours. This is a pure metal that isn’t affected by long-term exposure to humans, which means it doesn’t cause any allergies. Manufacturers use titanium to make things such as chemical appliances, marine equipment, tennis rackets, golf clubs, surgical implants, and aircraft skeletons.

5. Stainless Steel

If you take steel and add chromium, nickel, and other metals, you get stainless steel. Ever since the beginning of the 20th century, stainless steel has been used as a raw material in various products. It is tough and corrosion-resistant, and there are four main types: ferrite, martensite, austenite, and a composite of ferrite and austenite. Today, industrial pipes, building structures, tools, washing machines, and boiler parts use a lot of stainless steel when they’re being made.

6. Copper

Most people know what copper is, but many do not realize how commonplace it is in the making of other items. Partly because copper mines are so easy to mine, copper is now the second most-used metal in the making of various items. Today copper is used in items such as cookware, heating materials, printed circuits, wire, pipe materials, and even jewellery. It is a great electrical conductor, and even some of mankind’s early tools were made from it.

7. Chromium

Chromium is often added to stainless steel to make it stronger, and there are three types of chrome processing: hard chrome plating, decorative coating, and black chrome plating. In the engineering field, the use of chromium is very common, and the metal supply companies that carry it sell it to companies who then make items such as door handles and bumpers on cars and trucks, which typically use the decorative coating option.

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