Walk through almost any modern industrial operation – factory, warehouse, distribution center – and you’ll see T slot aluminum rail at work. Guards, workbenches, conveyor supports and material handling systems are just a few of the ways it’s used.

The reason isn’t that it looks good. Even though it does, that’s not why engineers, maintenance teams and others prefer it over alternative materials. They choose T slot aluminum rail for the five reasons listed below.

Speed

No one likes to wait, and when you’ve got a project to complete delays can make you look bad and cost you money. When custom framing, guards and structures are made from steel, they need welding and painting, which typically slows things down. Choosing aluminum extrusion saves time in design, it saves time in procurement and it goes together quickly and easily.

Strength

Aluminum is lightweight but it has a high specific strength. In other words, a pound of aluminum is stronger than a pound of steel. It’s also readily extruded into various profiles that provide stiffness and strength. (A length of T slot aluminum rail behaves like an I-beam, resisting deflection under load.)

Aluminum extrusion comes in a range of weights that provide the strength the application needs. Build a frame that won’t be subjected to any loads from light weight L5 profile but use heavy duty L8 profile for structures where loads are dynamic.

Aluminum structures are assembled with bolted joints. Heavy-duty extrusion uses larger diameter screws for higher torque loads, and add reinforcing brackets and gussets to create the strength and rigidity needed.

Weight

Low material density and hollow rails minimize the mass of structures assembled from aluminum extrusion. This is important when it’s used in applications like:

• Machine guards that need frequent opening and closing
• Workbenches and other equipment that might be relocated to improve workflow
• Shelving, racking and anything else going on mezzanine floors

Flexibility

Building with aluminum extrusion provides flexibility. Need to make a change? With bolted joints you just add on additional pieces or swap out rails as needed. It’s much faster than trying to modify or replace something that was welded together.

Maintenance-Free

Unlike steel, aluminum is naturally corrosion-resistant. That means structures assembled from aluminum extrusion don’t suffer from unsightly rust, which is almost inevitable with ferrous materials (unless you have the budget for stainless!) So there’s no need for painting and repainting, which gets expensive and can involve taking equipment out of service for a while.

Even better, with the occasional wipe to remove dust, aluminum will continue looking good for as long as you keep it.

Fast and Easy, Durable and Dependable

Aluminum extrusion forms the basis of the modular construction system we offer our customers. Combine T slot aluminum rails with brackets, gussets and reinforcing plates to build your structure, then finish it with solid or wire mesh panels, end caps, feet, wheels, handles and other accessories.

At Industrial Profile Systems we make it easy to design and build the equipment and structures you need. We’ve listed five reasons to work with T slot aluminum here, but you may have others; it all depends on the application.

For questions about T slot aluminum, advice on design, or to get a quote, contact us.