Materials Used to Manufacture Folding Shipping Racks

Folding shipping racks are designed to provide easy storage capabilities while freeing space in a warehouse, storage facility, or ship containers. Also known as collapsible containers, they are designed to have the strength and durability of rigid containers, with the versatility of foldable racks. When it comes to custom shipping racks, the right type of material can add to the rack's performance. Here, we discuss the various materials and finishes, which can be used to construct and strengthen folding shipping containers.

List of Manufacturing Materials

Materials are divided into two sections – primary and secondary. The primary materials are the ones used to manufacture the rack itself. The secondary materials are used for smaller components like wire mesh or locking mechanisms.

Primary Materials:

• Stainless Steel: Generally, types 301, 304, and 316 stainless steel can be used to manufacture the racks. Common benefits of all these types include weldability, machinability, formability, and corrosion and chemical resistance. The use of any of these alloys makes the rack impervious to manmade and environmental contaminants. Thus, the racks provide safety for any type of cargo, be it plastic components, pulp and paper, automobiles, or manufacturing parts.

• Medium Carbon Steel: AISI 1040 Steel has a good balance of ductility with strength for good wear resistance. Economically a good choice allowing for designs to be simple, good weldability, with many options for material shapes and gauges of material.

• Aluminum: This metal is easily available commercially. It is known for its lightweight, and immense strength. It also possesses high levels of corrosion resistance and electrical conductivity. It can also be easily welded and machined to create strong folding shipping racks with excellent surface finishes.

Secondary Materials:

• Corrugated Steel: This metal is known for its low cost, and outstanding strength to weight ratio. It is also known for a high level of corrosion resistance. For these reasons, corrugated steel is used for decking or side materials.

• Wire Mesh: Wire mesh helps to save weight when compared to normal steel alloys. They are produced in exact dimensions with welding machines. They present a homogenous distribution of tensile strength. The monetary savings are increased by 10 to 20% when using wire mesh.

Surface Finishes

The standard choice for surface finishes of folding shipping racks is powder coating. As a surface finish, powder coats do not contain any solvents. Hence, they are known to be environment friendly and pollution free. Waste is minimal because the powder coating is bonding onto the metal via electrolytic process. Disposing of the coating that does not bond is easy. Powder coating also allows the manufacturer to coat the racks in different colors.

Having a knowledge of the various materials used in manufacturing folding shipping racks can be advantageous to prospective customers. When it comes to custom folding shipping racks, the customer can choose the metal and design that will meet his needs.