6 Benefits of Metal Cladding

What are the benefits of metal cladding?

1. Better durability
2. Fire-resistant
3. Eco-friendly
4. Low maintenance
5. Decorative
6. Improved insulation

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Cladding refers to a type of material that is primarily installed on a building&#;s exterior. While the main purpose is to improve the structural properties of that building, cladding has also found its way to contemporary architectural design, as a means of giving a building a beautiful exterior finish, as what can be found in metal cladding. If you&#;re planning a construction project, you may want to consider the many benefits of metal cladding. Not only does it make your building&#;s exteriors more structurally-sound, but it also gives off a contemporary aesthetic vibe that you won&#;t find with other materials.

Unlike wood, metal cladding makes your building more durable, fire-resistant, eco-friendly, decorative, and many more. Read on to learn more about the benefits of this type of cladding material.

Better Durability

Metal cladding offers your building better durability, compared to bare structures. For example, if your building&#;s bare concrete exteriors have not been protected with metal cladding, this can expose the building to various external hazards that take place on a daily basis.

High humidity levels can cause the growth of mold or mildew on your concrete, thus speeding up the level of wear and tear. When exposed to extreme temperature conditions, on the other hand, the concrete will expand, cause internal stresses, and will lead to cracking.

Metal cladding provides protection against these issues, and more. Having various steel sections installed on the outermost layer of your building walls will act as a protective layer against these conditions. Not only will you maintain the concrete structure, but you&#;ll also make your exteriors last longer without damage.

Fire-Resistant

Steel sections make one of the best cladding materials due to their fire-resistance and non-combustible properties. In the event that a fire emergency occurs in the location or near the vicinity of the building, the steel won&#;t combust. Meanwhile, if a fire emergency takes place inside the building, the cladding limits the spread of the fire in only a small portion of the area.

Wooden cladding may not be your best option, since it is a highly-flammable material. As such, the better level of protection offered by steel makes it preferable.

In the event that you may have to repair certain portions of your house or building due to fire, steel cladding greatly reduces construction costs and lowers any potential insurance premiums.

Eco-Friendly

Steel is also one of the most eco-friendly construction materials. For one, steel production doesn&#;t take up too much energy. More importantly, the material is infinitely recyclable without sacrificing its durability. Steel manufacturing plants and steel mills oftentimes repurpose scrap steel and transform them into structural products anew.

Using eco-friendly materials means that you&#;re doing your part in reducing your carbon footprint on the planet. You&#;re also using a resource that can be repurposed without losing its original properties.

Manufacturers would simply need to process the material and make sure that it is free from contamination by purifying it. Steel can then be melted again and transformed into billets that can be used to form cladding materials.

Low Maintenance

Metal cladding requires little maintenance compared to wood cladding materials. For the latter, you would have to apply wood finishes every two to three years because they do not last long. Steel, on the other hand, can be coated with a zinc layer to form galvanized steel. This makes your cladding more resistant to corrosion. It also makes the cladding last longer &#; from 50 years to as much as 170 years.

Using low maintenance materials is cost-efficient in the long run because you don&#;t need to spend too much on buying coating materials, undertaking repairs, or simply cleaning your cladding. You can put more money in your pocket and focus your efforts on other important matters.

Decorative

One advantage that metal cladding has over other types of cladding is that the former can offer your building a stunning exterior finish that&#;s fit for any modern structure. Depending on your preferences, your metal cladding can be shiny or can come in a metallic finish that can complement any project geared towards building modernization.

Metal cladding can make building exteriors more aesthetically-pleasing, be it a low-rise, mid-rise, or high-rise structure. You also have greater control when it comes to the design of your cladding. You can have steel materials cut into decorative shapes and sizes to transform the overall look of the building.

Improved Insulation

Finally, metal cladding is an excellent choice to improve your building&#;s thermal or even acoustic insulation properties. This means that the building can maintain a cool temperature during hot weather conditions. Alternatively, metal cladding also prevents excessive heat from escaping, especially under cold weather.

Better insulation means that you can reduce your building&#;s energy costs. The cladding also acts as a natural source of ventilation, thereby minimizing the need for air conditioning, electric heaters, room heaters, and the like.

Key Takeaway

When you&#;re designing a building, you should take into consideration the many benefits of metal cladding. They not only improve your building&#;s exterior appearance &#; but they also provide better durability, insulation, decorative appeal, and fire-resistant capabilities.

Looking for high-quality metal cladding parts? Regan Industrial&#;s wide array of products are the best choice. Click here to view more of our products and services. You may also get in touch with us for more inquiries.

6 Benefits of Metal Cladding

Mono-metal lose their shine in new Li-ion battery designs.

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Engineered Materials Solutions has sponsored this post.

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are everywhere. Current consumer electronics, power tools, electric vehicles (EVs) and industrial power systems all use the technology. However, the performance demands on these batteries are increasing, presenting engineers with challenges that complicate the technology&#;s future ubiquity.

For many applications, traditional Li-ion battery designs can be limited by the material properties of their internal and external metallic parts. Different alloys can be selected to improve those properties, but there are only so many available options for mass production and there are often tradeoffs to consider when selecting alloys. For example, one alloy with greater electrical conductivity may be difficult to weld. Another might be easy to weld but have corrosion or conductivity issues. Engineers are therefore required to make choices from a limited number of materials, limiting the optimization of battery system performance.

&#;Battery systems have challenges related to increasing efficiency requirements, getting more power out of the cells, as well as controlling temperature in the application,&#; says Paul Galipeau, director of Thermal Controls at Engineered Materials Solutions. &#;High temperatures are very detrimental to Li-ion cells, so a material&#;s electrical and thermal conductivity is important. Joints need to be reliable but could be between dissimilar metals that are difficult to weld. There are challenges related to electrical conductivity, soldering and corrosion. In motive applications, everyone is trying to shave a pound off, so weight is also a consideration. Balancing all those needs can be a challenge for any designer.&#;

The cold rolled bonding of a clad metal made up of layered copper, stainless steel and more copper. (Image: Engineered Materials Solutions.)

Galipeau suggests that clad metals &#; materials consisting of layers of different metals laminated and clad bonded together &#; can produce the bespoke properties engineers need to optimize their Li-ion applications. &#;You can tailor [them] to have unique properties that will enhance electrical/thermal conductivity or improve welding [when compared to] regular metals,&#; Galipeau says. &#;You can be creative and [utilize] unique properties that won&#;t be present in a mono-metal.&#; He presented five examples of how clad metals can benefit the design of Li-ion battery systems.

1.      Cylindrical Cell Connections 

Galipeau explains that cylindrical cell connections were traditionally made using nickel, bronze, other copper alloys or nickel-plated steel. But these solutions all come with limitations. For instance, &#;nickel-plated steel was fine for low amps,&#; he says, &#;but as power needs increased the current carrying capacity wasn&#;t enough to handle it. It could overheat and cause a catastrophic failure or [even] a fire.&#;

He added that bronze and copper alloys improve conductivity but are hard to join to the nickel-plated steel of a cylindrical cell&#;s can. They can also introduce corrosion concerns, which is why they are typically nickel plated. Pure nickel, on the other hand, improves conductivity and corrosion resistance but can be  expensive at the thickness needed for many applications.

SigmaClad consists of layers of nickel, stainless steel, copper, stainless steel and nickel. Here it is being used to connect cylindrical Li-ion battery cells. (Image: Engineered Materials Solutions.)

Alternatively, engineers can use a clad metal consisting of layers of nickel, stainless steel, a copper center and two more layers of stainless steel and copper, respectively. Engineered Materials Solutions calls this material SIGMACLAD. It also offers a version without nickel, called SIGMACLAD Lite.

&#;The copper center imparts a high current carrying capacity,&#; says Galipeau, &#;while the steel layer increases its strength and results in strong welds. The nickel layer offers a corrosion resistant and solderable surface. So, it&#;s highly conductive electrically and thermally, easy to weld and solderable.&#;

In other words, the clad metal can offer all the benefits of each mono-metal in the mix with minimal downsides.

2.      Cylindrical Cell Construction

Continuing the topic of cylindrical cells, Galipeau talks about the historical challenges of their internal connections. For example, he references the connection between the jelly roll (the rolled-up layers of anodes, cathodes and separation materials) and the anode connector (where current leaves the cell). Traditionally, this connection is made of a nickel tab that is welded to the jelly roll and the bottom of the can.

&#;The conductivity of nickel is 20 percent of copper, leading to internal resistance and efficiency loss in the cell,&#; explains Galipeau. &#;The cell&#;s resistance is dissipated as heat which can harm the battery. By using nickel clad to copper, or [copper sandwiched by nickel], you have [more efficiency] and lower internal resistance due to the copper layer.  This results in lower resistive losses and less energy lost to heat. While the exterior nickel layer provides a surface that is easily welded to the battery can.&#;

The internal connection between the battery&#;s jelly roll and terminal is made with a clad metal of copper and nickel. (Image: Engineered Materials Solutions.)

3.      Pouch Cell Construction

Galipeau moved on to discuss the design of pouch cell batteries. In this setup, instead of a jelly roll, plates of anodes, cathodes and separation materials are stacked inside a pouch. Cells are then packed into a housing traditionally made of aluminum.

Though aluminum is lighter than other options, its strength, ductility and puncture resistance can limit the volume of the cell and therefore its energy density. As an alternative to aluminum, the properties of a clad material can improve this application.

A battery pack housing made up of clad aluminum, steel and aluminum. (Image: Engineered Materials Solutions.)

&#;An aluminum, steel and aluminum clad metal (called Feran) can have more ductility and be formed into a higher volume cell compared to pure aluminum. The higher volume cell can accommodate more plates and have higher energy density in the stack,&#; says Galipeau. He adds that &#;the steel center of a clad metal also has higher strength and is more rupture and puncture resistant.&#; As a result, engineers can use this material to design a housing that can hold more current collectors, increasing the energy density of the cell.

4.      Pouch and Prismatic Cell Connections

Galipeau next discussed the designs for connecting completed pouch and prismatic cells into modules. In either case, this process would entail connecting parts with dissimilar metals.

Copper, aluminum clad metal tab connecting pouch cells. (Image: Engineered Materials Solutions.)

&#;Cells joined in series have one anode of copper and a cathode of aluminum. These are hard to join with a good conductivity path using a mono-metal,&#; says Galipeau. He adds that using clad metals consisting of copper and aluminum joined at an edge, overlay or inlay can address this challenge and ensure connections without welding dissimilar metals.

&#;We can be very creative in the solutions we come up with to join the materials, complete overlay, edge bonds and many more,&#; says Galipeau. &#;Depending on your need, we can facilitate the joining of two dissimilar metals and still maintain the copper-to-copper and aluminum-to-aluminum joint.&#;

Copper and aluminum clad metal connectors linking the terminals of prismatic cells. (Image: Engineered Materials Solutions.)

5.      Bus bars

Once all the cells are connected, Galipeau explains that large high current bus bars are used to connect modules in series to the system they are powering. &#;The bus bar is a thick material capable of carrying the larger current of the connected batteries,&#; he says. &#;It has to be thicker to handle the larger current and this is where weight becomes a concern.&#; Many opt to use copper, but it&#;s heavy and expensive. If you look at the savings of a copper-aluminum clad metal, you get equivalent carrying capacity at much lower weight and cost.&#;

The copper in this clad metal is used for its conductivity, while the aluminum helps to reduce the weight of the bus bars. The ratio of copper to aluminum, or other metals, can also be tailored to the specific current, weight and other considerations. For instance:

• Copper/aluminum material can reduce weight and cost, and maintain the same performance of pure copper.
• Nickel/copper/nickel has similar conductivity to copper and will have better corrosion protection due to the nickel surfaces.
• Nickel/aluminum/nickel has good conductivity, low weight and corrosion protection.

&#;There are lots of different varieties in the application of clad metals based on how you design the system,&#; concludes Galipeau. &#;There is a lot of variety in what can be in the clad and combined in different ways to suit the needs.&#;

In other words, Galipeau believes that the applications of clad-metals and the benefits they bring, compared to mono-metals, are limited only by the creativity of the engineering teams designing Li-ion battery designs. To help pique that creativity, he suggests learning more about Engineering Materials Solutions, a part of the Wickeder Group, which has over a hundred years of experience with clad metals and their applications.

To learn more please visit our web sites at Wickeder Group, Engineered Materials Solutions, LLC and Auerhammer Metallwerk.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website copper composite material.