Structural expertise extended to Aluminium Louvres

As a result, increased intricacies have seen the advent of bending aluminium louvre profiles, a demanding process that is only too familiar to Barnshaws Section Benders of Tividale.

Barnshaws Section Benders’ knowledge in fabrication and metal bending has seen the company offer a wide range of structural metal products to architectural projects. To complement its pedigree of working with ferrous metals, the Tividale-based business also lends its knowledge to non-ferrous aluminium, with a dedicated non-ferrous workshop ready to service even the largest orders.

The workshop combines a range of services - including the largest specialist aluminium bending machine currently in the UK. The facility can cater for one-off sections to orders of thousands, enabled by an aluminium engineering team and large machine capacity.

Such expertise and equipment makes even the smallest orders economic due to the reduced set up time for the bending process. Other notable services include advanced CNC bending machines and dedicated encapsulation systems as well as cutting and annealing, which are also available within the facility.

Extensive expertise within the company ensures that every project uses the most appropriate materials. Bending an unsuitable grade of aluminium can lead to cracking, an unacceptable outcome from a structural point of view. Barnshaws however ensure that an applicable grade of aluminium is selected for the required radii.

The principal challenge of bending an aluminium louvre is ensuring that the internal profile of the extruded section is kept consistent. Improper bending can cause kinks in the section, rendering it unusable. To avoid this outcome, Barnshaws utilises a technique that allows consistent profiles to be attained almost regardless of the required radii.

As louvres are generally visible on the outside of a building, achieving a polished finish is important to preserve the aesthetic qualities of a structure. When bending aluminium, Barnshaws utilises special rollers and equipment to ensure the preservation of surface finish throughout the process. This allows Barnshaws to guarantee no scratching of external surfaces for the vast majority of the curved aluminium sections it supplies.