Home The Industry -Wire, Rod & Bar

Wire, Rod, & Bar

Wire is a long, thin string of aluminum that can carry electric current or screen bugs from your home. It is made from rod or bar, and by definition wire is less that three-eighths inch in diameter, while rod and bar are larger. Rod is round and bar can have any number of flat sides.

The Production Process

Aluminum rod, bar, and wire products can be produced by several different processes.

One method of making these products is similar to rolling sheet (click here to learn more about the sheet production process). A long, square ingot is heated, progressively reduced in cross section by passing through a series of rolls and then coiled. The coils are heated to soften them and if the coils are slated to become wire, the rod is pulled through smaller and smaller dies on a wire-drawing machine. Electrical conductor is made by stranding several wires into a single length.

Bar, rod, and tube can also be made by the drawing method directly from stock produced by hot extrusion (for more information on the extrusion process click here). This process is also completed by the progressive thinning of the aluminum material through the use of dies.

Electrical conductor rod can also be drawn and stranded directly from molten aluminum.

Products

Electrical transmission lines are the largest users of aluminum rod/bar/wire products. In fact, this is the one market in which aluminum has virtually no competition from other metals. Aluminum is simply the most economical way to deliver electrical power.

Aluminum wire and cable are also used almost everywhere there is an electrical impulse to conduct . . . in commercial buildings, in machinery and equipment . . . in transportation and consumer durables. Wire and cable performs little jobs we never think about . . . the non-rusting staples in tea bags, the re-twistable twist in twist-ties.

Rod and bar become the rivets, nails, screws, bolts, and parts of machinery and equipment. As chain link fence material, aluminum wire keeps the dog at home and up on the roof, aluminum keeps lightning out of the home. Non-rusting nails keep redwood fences and decks looking prettier.

Drawn tube carries liquids in heat exchangers, food processing equipment, water treatment plants, and other industrial applications.