Knowledge

Aluminum tread plate, also known as aluminum diamond plate or aluminum checkerred plate, have many applications in all industries. From truck kits to warehouse loading docks, aluminum tread plate can be used in a variety of industrial applications and workplaces. Often, walking on a metal surface can cause slips and falls, but it's likely that you don't even notice that you have passed through countless aluminum tread plates. This is due to the high tread pattern in which it acts as a tread to reduce the risk of slippage. Aluminum tread plates are available in a variety of metals, including hot rolled steel, stainless steel and aluminum, and can be coated to help increase traction or polish to improve their appearance

Despite the complexity of the diamond pattern, the process of making a diamond plate is relatively simple. When making a standard sheet or plate, the material passes through a series of large rolls until the desired thickness is reached. However, there are large differences in the production of tread plates. In the last set of rollers, one of the rollers has a pattern of engraving a diamond shape on the plate. If you look at most tread plates, you will find that only one side has a diamond pattern. This is because only one of the rolls in the set has a diamond pattern so that one side of the metal is exposed and the other side is smooth.

For aluminum, the process "embosses" the pattern on the board, while for steel, hot rolling is typically used. This involves heating the slab above its recrystallization temperature and passing it through a series of smooth rolls to the desired thickness. Heating the metal above its recrystallization temperature helps to avoid significant changes in mechanical properties due to hardening of the workpiece. Once the material reaches its final shape, it is allowed to cool slowly.

Although there are other techniques for making diamond plates, the rolling method is more common because the only important difference between the laminate and the aluminum tread plate is the roller used. This makes the process very economical and this is why aluminum tread plates can often be found at relatively affordable prices compared to conventional plates of the same material and size.