Aluminum Pipe Markers
Berntsen orbital forged aluminum survey caps for iron pipe with insulators attach to pipe with a few sharp hammer blows with a urethane hammer. The virtually straight walled socked and plastic insulator wedge create a strong compression fit between the pipe and the cap. The popular two-inch (50.8 mm) cap diameter is available to fit either 3/4" (19 mm) ID [PC6200 cap] or one-inch (25.4 mm) ID [PC8200 cap] standard pipe.
Our aluminium material is versatile and resistant to most environment conditions, however, if the survey markers are intended to be used in high traffic or caustic environments, such as roadways or salty conditions, we highly recommend using bronze survey markers to improve the lifetime of the markers.
Aluminum Alloys
In high purity form, aluminum is a soft and ductile metal. Aluminum of 99 percent or higher purity has many applications but has very low structural strength. Most commercial applications for aluminum require greater strength than can be achieved with high purity aluminum. Additional strength is achieved in aluminum by adding other elements to produce alloys. These elements, either alone, or in combination impart strength to the metal. Additional strengthening is also possible by means of heat treating techniques or other processes such as cold forging. (Cold forging provides only a moderate increase in strengthening high purity 1000 Series aluminum; 1000 Series aluminum is not heat-treatable). Commercially pure aluminum components can also function like anodes used to protect buried pipelines and sacrifice themselves to protect the (iron or steel) pipe.
Berntsen's Better Way
6000 Series Aluminum-Berntsen has always worked with strong corrosion resistant alloys. Alloys in this group contain magnesium and silicon (which form magnesium silicide) and make the alloy heat-treatable. Alloys in this series can also gain considerable strength through cold working techniques such as orbital cold forming, a Berntsen exclusive in survey monument components since 1986. Several components of Berntsen survey monuments and markers such as caps, pipe and rods are manufactured from this versatile alloy series, and, depending on the intended use, may be heat-treated for added strength.