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Foil Making 3
Foil Making 3
FOIL MAKING
Introduction of Aluminium
How Aluminium is made
Properties of Aluminium
Aluminium Foil
Advantages of Aluminium foil
Comparison with Tin foil
Methods to manufacture foil
Defects in foil making
Quality control
Application of Aluminium foil
References
INTRODUCTION 3
• It is the third most rich element (approx. 8%) in the earth’s crust (after
oxygen and silicon) and most abundant metal on earth.
It can retain its strength at low temperature and so can be used for cryogenic application.
It can be easily recycled for large number of cycles without much affect in its properties
It resists chemical attack and provides excellent electrical and non-magnetic shielding.
The aseptic drink box, which uses a thin layer of aluminium foil as a barrier against oxygen,
light, and odour.
It also extends shelf life, uses less storage space, and generates less waste than many other
packaging materials.
COMPARISON OF ALUMINIUM FOIL WITH TIN FOIL
8
Before aluminium foil, thin leaf of tin was commercially available from the late nineteenth into
the early twentieth century.
• Tin foil was less malleable and gave • Aluminium was found as a
a slight tin taste to food wrapped in substitute of tin, which was
it. hygienic and maintained the
original flavour of the food packed.
• Tin foil cannot be heated above • Aluminium foil has a higher melting
160 °C because of its low melting point i.e. 660 °C so can tolerate
point. So, if you need barbecue high temperature. It can be
food or baked food, you cannot applied to common grilled and
use tin foil. baked foods.
METHODS FOR ALUMINIUM FOIL MAKING 9
Direct Strip
Rolling
Casting
process
process
Direct Strip 10
Casting
• Direct strip casting is a continuous casting
process directly from the molten metal
without undergoing any intermediary
process.
• This modern technique reduces the
requirement for further secondary processes
like rolling and reheating.
Advantages:
• Strips as thin as 2mm can be casted directly
without preparing ingots.
• It is a cost-effective technique that reduces
the need for rolling passes.
Rolling process can be of two types i.e. hot rolling and cold rolling.
Plates, strips and foil can be prepared from rolling process.
Ingots are the raw materials for this process. They are
prepared by pouring molten metal into a mould whose
walls are water cooled, so that when the molten metal
comes in contact with the mould walls, it starts
solidifying.
Image Source: TALAT Lecture 1301, The Rolling of Aluminium: the Process and the
Product, prepared by Roy Woodward, Aluminium Federation, Birmingham
Ingot to Bloom 13
The ingot is heated (500 – 600oC) and passed between the rollers. After each pass
the ingot is tilted by 90 degrees and again passed between the rollers until the
bloom is obtained.
The ends of the obtained bloom are cut off to remove the irregular shape. These
cut parts are again melted and used.
14
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2Fslide%2F3282372%2F&psig=AOvVaw2NtszBwRPooucToFVBfqkb&ust=1540830987642210
Bloom to Strip 15
Blooms are further passed through the rollers until their thickness
is reduced to 6-8mm.
The strip produced is wound around to produce a coil and left for
cooling at room temperature.
After cooling, coil is fed into four-high stand cold rolling mill.
The strip is passed many times until the strip for desired
thickness is obtained, then trimmed and coiled.
Image Source: Aluminium in Packaging Industry, GDA- Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie e. v. Am Bonneshof 5, Germany
Strip to Foil 16
Foil rolling mill consists of single or tandem roll stands. The annealed coil is passed through the
rolls and lubricating oils are used to avoid damage.
The thickness of the strip can be reduced upto a certain level in the foil rolling mill. Hence two coils
are simultaneously wound in one coil and fed into the rolling mill. This process is known as
‘Sandwich process’.
The side of the coil which comes in contact with the rolls become shiny and the other side which is
in contact with the other foil has matte or dull finish. The sandwiched foil is separated in the final
pass and cut into the desired lengths and widths.
Image Source: Aluminium in Packaging Industry, GDA- Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie e. v. Am Bonneshof 5, Germany
17
Shiny surface of the foil
Image Source:
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Defects in Aluminium Foil
18
FLATNESS
REMEDY:
To avoid this issue, mill force, oil flow rate, mill
spray oil pressure needs to be chosen
correctly for each reduction of aluminium.
19
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rg%2Fpaper%2FA-Low-Cost-System-For-Flatness-Monitoring-in-Metal-Lopera-
Villegas%2F708be3ebe47c4077fc3de170821e0b275ed2db8c&psig=AOvVaw1gZlkjehEuvmir6g3J608U&ust=1540909578752770
PINHOLES
• Pinholes are very minute holes which appear on the surface of foil during rolling.
• Pinholes are undesirable when the foil is being used for packaging mainly in pharmaceutical
and food industry.
• Pinholes let the moisture in and destroy the tablet.
• Beverage cans with pinholes will not be able to hold fluid in it.
Reasons:
• Impurities in the aluminium ingot (in the form of slag).
• Dust on rollers and foil during rolling process.
• If the rollers in the rolling mill are not installed properly,
it will lead to over-stretching of the foil thereby creating
holes.
• Due to usage of wrong rolling oil and its amount.
Image Source: 20
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orrosionpedia.com%2Fcoating-holidays-pinholes-chinks-in-the-armor%2F2%2F5245&psig=AOvVaw04xBNqfamOFAeWy2CD5ueK&ust=1540909948953077
IMPROPER ANNEALING
• Annealing is done to make foil soft and ductile so that it can be further
processed.
• Improper annealing may lead to reduction of wettability property of foil due
to presence of lubricating oils on the surface.
• This makes colouring, lamination, coating, printing operations difficult.
• Additional operation like degreasing and pickling is required for the removal
of oils which increases the cost and time of production.
21
WRINKLING
• Wettability test: A wettability test is used to determine the dryness. In this test,
different solutions of ethyl alcohol in distilled water, in increments of ten percent by
volume, are poured in a uniform stream onto the foil surface. If no drops form, the
wettability is zero. The process is continued until it is determined what minimum percent
of alcohol solution will completely wet the foil surface.
• Thickness test: Standard test methods have been developed by the American Society
for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Thickness is determined by weighing a sample and
measuring its area, and then dividing the weight by the product of the area times the
alloy density.
• Tensile test: The sample is placed in a grip and a tensile or pulling force is applied
until fracture of the sample occurs. The force or strength required to break the sample is
measured.
23
APPLICATIONS
Packaging
3. Aluminium in the manufacturing industry, GDA- Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie e. v. Am Bonneshof 5, Germany
5. Aluminium in the manufacturing industry, GDA- Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie e. v. Am Bonneshof 5, Germany
6. The Rolling of Aluminium: the Process and the Product, by Roy Woodward, Aluminium Federation, Birmingham
7. Aluminium in the manufacturing industry, GDA- Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie e. v. Am Bonneshof 5, Germany
8. Aluminium in the manufacturing industry, GDA- Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie e. v. Am Bonneshof 5, Germany
10. Website of Paper film and foil convertor, causes of wrinkles in foil