Capable of producing up to 650 high quality, custom-made, unitized wall panels per day, Cladtech International is the region‘s leading building envelope specialist.

Backed by our highly experienced team and end-to-end manufacturing capabilities – from aluminum and steel, to glass processing and coating – we can fulfill all your building wrapping requirements from design to build. No project is beyond our scope, and we have built our reputation on service excellence.

PRODUCTION CAPABILITIES
SECTION 1: STEEL
Cladtech International, LLC are specialists in the fabrication of steel, stainless steel and aluminum primarily concerned with the external finishes of the building envelope, but also substantially for interior design.

STEEL
Steel (sometimes known as mild steel) is a compound of iron containing a small additive of carbon to enhance its strength and ductility allowing it to be roll-formed and pressed into countless number of shapes. It is also very easy to weld.

In the construction industry, carbon-steel is used in immense quantities as a structural framing element and also as a re-enforcement for concrete.

However, carbon steel corrodes easily on exposure to atmosphere and has to be protected by heavy coating, usually red-lead paint, or by galvanising. Modern carbon steel is available in a range of strength, which is graded according to well-established international standards.

STAINLESS STEEL
Stainless Steel is an alloy of carbon steel and various metals, which provide corrosion-resistance, added strength, much higher operating temperatures and of course, enhanced appearance since there is no need for painting.

Stainless Steel is graded by International Standards and the selection of stainless steel will depend upon the environment of intended use. However, buyers must recognize that sub-standard (corrodible) stainless steel is available in the market and they must ensure, as per strict CTI policy, that only fully certified metal is used in their designs.

Typically, stainless steel is an alloy which contains nickel, chrome (nickel-chrome steel), manganese, vanadium, molybdenum, and tungsten depending on the application, for example, nickel chrome for cutlery, manganese for railway lines, vanadium and  molybdenum for armour plating and tungsten for internal combustion engines.

Since normal carbon-steel screws and bolts can generate an anodic corrosive reaction with aluminum, Cladtech International, LLC use high-grade stainless steel fixings in all installation-works. Involving aluminum as well as stainless steel elements.

USES
Carbon Steel and stainless steel are  used widely in all forms of construction including, buildings, railways, automobiles and, of course, ships. They also have specific uses in aviation and in the food and agriculture industries.

Many large modern structures employ structural steel to form the skeleton of the design and this is extremely well demonstrated in the T3 and T4 Concourses at Dubai International airport as well as the dramatic new Sheikh Bayed Bridge at Maqta, Abu Dhabi.

Re-enforced concrete, of course, requires steel "Ree-Bar" for structural stability.

APPLICATIONS:
The ability of stainless steel to resist corrosion and staining, it‘s low maintenance, attractive appearance and relatively low cost have made it an indispensable material in modern architectural design. Over a 150 grades of

stainless steel are available (some quite common, some quite exotic) to meet a multitude of end-uses. It can be milled, rolled, coiled, drawn and formed into tubes and its versatility in our modern world is a gift to mankind.

STAINLESS STEEL SHEET
This has been long-recognised as cladding-material for buildings and be formed into a  multitude of shapes. Sheet metal thickness can vary from the thinnest foil through to solid plate. For cladding purposes, coiled sheet is generally used in a range of gauge from 8 (thickest) up to around 30 (thinnest) depending on requirement.

Other metals, including aluminum, copper and brass can also be roll-formed as sheets, flat and coiled.

ALUMINUM
Aluminum is known for its combination of light weight and strength and is used widely in all forms of construction and transportation as well as in the food industry.

Aluminum is derived from the natural raw material, bauxite, which refined to an intermediate material,  alumina, which finally undergoes smelting and further refining to produce aluminum.

Aluminum, being ductile, can be extruded by means of pressing billets of aluminum through water-cooled steel dies, to produce an infinity of shapes.

The entire window / curtainwall industry depends on aluminum extrusions which can be used in a multitude of forms to create aluminum façades, even for the tallest of high-rise buildings.

In it‘s "Raw" form, aluminum is supplied as "mill-finish" which is liable to oxidize over time. It is also not an aesthetic finish. To create a durable non-oxidizing finish suitable for most architectural applications, the mill-finish aluminum must be either anodized or painted with a PPC (Polyester Powder Coat) paint.

Cladtech International Glass Division uses insulated glass spacer-tubes based on roll-formed aluminum sheet.

WELDING
Welding is a process which can be done mechanically or manually. In the case of manual welding, the process calls for considerable skill and the quality and durability of the work depends on the competence of the welder himself. There are a number of different welding processes

OXY-FUEL WELDING AND CUTTING
-    Oxy-fuel welding (normally known as oxyacetelene welding)
-    Oxy-Welding (sometimes known as gas welding)
-    Oxy-Fuel cutting

These are process that use fuel gases and oxygen to weld cut metals. In oxy-fuel welding, a welding torch is used to heat the two separate metal components to melting point at which a pool of molten metal is formed. Is formed.

This molten pool is usually enhanced by a metal filter depending on the metallurgical composition of the metal components to be welded.

Oxy-Fuel welding employs a cutting torch to heat the metal to kindling temperature. A stream of oxygen directed on the red-hot metal further raises the temperature to melting point and the liquid metal flows out of the cut as oxide slag (waste). The process is commonly used for cutting thick plates.

ARC WELDING
Arc welding uses a high-ampere current to create an electric arc between an electrode and the base metals to melt these metals where they are to be joined. The welded area is sometimes protected by various types of inert, or partially inert, gas which is known as a shielding gas, or by an evaporative filler material. Arc welding is a widely used and is a relatively simple and cost-effective process.

LASER CUTTING MACHINE
Laser cutting machines can accurately produce complex exterior contours. The laser beam is typically 0.2 mm (0.008 in) diameter at the cutting surface with a power of 1000 to 2000 watts.

Laser cutting can be complementary to the CNC/Turret process. The CNC/Turret process can produce internal features such as holes readily whereas the laser cutting process can produce external complex features easily.

GAS METAL ARC WELDING
Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) also known as metal inert gas (MIG) welding or metal active gas(MAG) welding and is a semi-automatic or automatic arc welding process in which a continuous and consumable wire electrode and shielding gas are fed through a welding gun.

SYSTEMATIC LASER CUTTING
The Laser Cutting Process
The beam from the laser is focused on to the surface of the material being cut by means of a lens. The focused laser beam heats the material surface and a very local melt capillary is quickly established throughout the depth of the material.

The great majority of CO2 laser cutting is performed using an assist gas. The significant feature of gas assisted laser cutting is that the molten material is ejected from the base of the capillary by a jet of gas coaxial with the laser beam. Stainless steel is cut utilising nitrogen as the assist gas, which prevents oxide on the cut edge, eliminating secondary processing prior to welding.

The general idea of this CO2 laser system is that a beam is directed down to a part for cutting. The part sits on a computer controlled platform which moves the piece around the stationary laser beam. Cutting is acheived (sic) by passing the beam through a focusing lens. A focused beam exits through the bottom of a cutting head nozzle. Gas, such as oxygen, is fed into the side of the chamber below the focusing lens. This gas exits the nozzle along with the beam and the laser beam/oxygen combination serves to vaporize the steel for cutting.

The cut is generated by either moving the focused laser beam across the surface of the stationary material or by keeping the laser beam stationary and moving the work piece.

Laser cutting takes direct input in the form of electronic data from a CAD drawing to produce flat form parts of great complexity. With 3-axis control, the laser cutting process can profile parts after they have been formed on the CNC/Turret process.

Lasers work best on materials such as carbon steel or stainless steels. Metals such as aluminum and copper alloys are more difficult to cut due to their ability to reflect the light as well as absorb and conduct heat. This requires lasers that are more powerful.

HOT – DIP GALVANIZING
This is an effective process for the Long-Term protection of steel from corrosion, even in the most aggressive environments.

The term "Hot-Dip Galvanizing" refers to a process of immersing iron or steel in a bath of liquid zinc to produce a robust corrosion-resistant, multi-layered coating of zinc-iron alloy and zinc metal. The coating is produced as a result of a metallurgical reaction between the liquid zinc and the iron in the steel. The coating forms as equal thickness on all surfaces of the steel component immersed in the galvanizing tank.

The galvanizing process has been in use for 260 years and continues to provide effective long-lasting, maintenance-free corrosion protection at moderate cost.

THERMAL SPRAY
Two zinc wires feed into a spray gun by a wire-feed system similar to the welding wire feeder except that two wires are used. At the gun, the wires intersect and an electric arc generated between them. By blowing compressed are across the arc-zone, the melting wire is atomized into droplets which are propelled onto the surface to be coated. The surface bonding is mechanical since there is no melting of the target.

THE ARC WIRE SPRAY PROCESS
The Arc Wire Spray process is the most economical and productive of all thermal spray coating systems and, with good equipment, can be applied more cheaply than conventional painting, while providing corrosion protection up to 50 years in some situations.

ANODIZING
Aluminum alloys are anodized to increase corrosion resistance, to increase surface hardness and to allow dyeing (colouring). Anodizing is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the natural oxide layer on the aluminum surface.

The process is called "Anodizing" because the part to be treated forms the anode electrode of an electrical circuit. Anodizing increases corrosion resistance and wear resistance whilst providing the metal with a greatly improved appearance suitable for a multitude of architectural applications, especially for windows, doors and curtain walls. The anodized coatings have a much lower thermal conductivity and coefficient of linear expansion than aluminum. As a result, the coating may crack from thermal stress, but only if the surface temperature exceeds 80?C. However, the anodized coating will not peel.

POLYESTER POWDER COATING (PPC)
PPC is a painting process by which a dry  polymer powder (thermosetting or thermoplastic)is applied to a metal component by means of electrostatic attraction. It is similar to the method created by nature to allow a Honey-Bee to collect pollen from the stamens of a flower. The PPC coating is then cured in an oven to allow it to melt and flow to form a skin, which develops a very hard finish, tougher than conventional paint. As with all "Paint" products, a huge range of PPC colours is available and has enabled PPC to become the dominant finish for architectural use in windows and curtainwalls