Anodized Aluminum Sheet Specialized for Laptop Computer Shells

Flait Aluminum provides core material solutions for your thin, lightweight, robust, and aesthetically pleasing laptop designs.

The laptop shell is the “face” of the device and, more importantly, the “armor” that protects its internal components. It must simultaneously meet multiple requirements: lightweight, high strength, excellent heat dissipation, superior aesthetic appeal, and electromagnetic shielding. Among various materials, appropriately heat-treated and anodized 6000 series aluminum alloy sheets are undoubtedly the preferred choice.

I. Selection of Base Material

The most commonly used alloys for laptop shells are from the 6000 series aluminum alloys, particularly 6061 and 6063.

• 6061 Aluminum Sheet

🔹Characteristics: This is a magnesium-silicon alloy containing magnesium and silicon as its main alloying elements. It offers excellent machinability, medium strength, high toughness, and good corrosion resistance.

🔹Why Suitable: After T6 heat treatment (solution heat treatment followed by artificial aging), 6061 aluminum sheet achieves high strength, sufficient to protect the laptop’s internal structure and resist bending and impacts from daily use. Its outstanding machinability allows for precise CNC milling of complex, thin, and lightweight shell structures.

🔹Application Scenarios: Commonly used for shells of high-end business laptops, performance laptops, and workstations where structural strength is critical.

• 6063 Aluminum Sheet

🔹Characteristics: Also a magnesium-silicon alloy, but with slightly lower alloy content than 6061. Its greatest advantages are excellent extrudability and a very fine, uniform, high-gloss surface finish after anodizing.

🔹Why Suitable: If you prioritize ultimate aesthetic quality and uniform color performance, 6063 aluminum sheet is the ideal choice. Its strength is slightly lower than 6061-T6, but it is fully adequate for most ultra-thin and lightweight laptops.

🔹Application Scenarios: Widely used in Ultrabooks, thin-and-light laptops, and other products where aesthetic appeal is paramount.

🔹Conclusion: The choice between 6061 and 6063 can be simply understood as “Strength priority: choose 6061; Appearance priority: choose 6063.” Flait Aluminum can provide a full range of products in both materials and offer professional advice based on your design focus.

II. Why Choose 6000 Series Aluminum Alloy with Anodizing?

✅ Perfect Balance of Strength and Weight (High Strength-to-Weight Ratio): After heat treatment, the strength of 6000 series aluminum approaches that of steel, but its density is only one-third that of steel, perfectly meeting the requirements for thinness, lightness, and robustness in laptops.

✅ Excellent Suitability for Anodizing: 6000 series aluminum forms a dense, uniform anodic oxide layer. This oxide layer is key to the shell’s quality:

    ●Enhances Surface Hardness and Wear Resistance: The hard oxide layer effectively resists scratches, keeping the surface looking new for longer.

    ●Provides Diverse Aesthetic Effects: The anodizing process can achieve various colors like silver, space gray, gold, and pink, with long-lasting color fastness. By adjusting the process, different surface textures like sandblasted, brushed, or mirror finishes can be achieved, meeting diverse design needs.

    ●Improves Corrosion Resistance: The oxide layer isolates the aluminum substrate from the environment, significantly enhancing corrosion resistance.

✅Good Thermal Conductivity: Aluminum alloy is a good conductor of heat, effectively transferring heat from core components like the CPU and GPU to the shell, aiding in heat dissipation.

✅Excellent Recyclability: Aluminum alloy is 100% recyclable, aligning with the eco-design philosophy of electronic products.

III. Common Dimensional Specifications

The specifications for laptop shell sheets are very specific to the model design, but general ranges include:

🔹Thickness: This is the most critical dimension, determined by the laptop size and structural strength requirements.

🔹Common Range: 0.5mm ~ 1.5mm

🔹Ultra-thin Lids/Covers: Often use 0.6mm – 0.8mm

🔹Mainstream Performance Laptops/Bases: Often use 0.8mm – 1.2mm

🔹Ruggedized Designs: May use thicknesses above 1.2mm

✅Flait Aluminum Advantage: We can provide precision-rolled ultra-thin sheets with extremely tight thickness tolerances, ensuring stability during CNC machining and high yield rates.

Width & Length (Sheet/Plate): Typically large sheets for stamping or CNC machining.

Common sizes include: 1000mm x 2000mm, 1200mm x 2400mm, etc.

✅Flait Aluminum Custom Service: We can provide custom cut-to-size sheets based on your production needs, helping you optimize material utilization and reduce costs.

Temper: Usually supplied in T4, T5, or T6 tempers to ensure the material has suitable strength and plasticity before machining.

Why Choose Flait Aluminum?

We are not just an aluminum supplier but also your material consultant for laptop shell projects:

✅ Professional Material Selection Advice: Assist you in making the optimal choice between materials like 6061 and 6063.

✅ Strict Quality Control: Ensure uniform composition, stable mechanical properties, and zero surface defects in the sheets, laying a solid foundation for subsequent anodizing.

✅ Flexible Custom Cutting: Provide precision cutting services down to the millimeter, directly meeting your production material preparation needs.

Original Source:Anodized Aluminum Sheet Coil