Materials are very important in metal construction, obviously. Steel is the most ubiquitous metal, found in virtually every aspect of the metal building envelope. But composite materials are found more and more, especially in wall panels, and this is an area that looks ripe for additional innovation.
Composite materials are just that, a composite of more than one type of material. Today composite wall panels are often found utilizing aluminum, steel and zinc. Titanium is also being used for these applications, and I expect to see some new metals finding their way into this category.
For me, one of the more interesting aspects of these composite material panels is the ability to combine these metals with other non-metal materials to create panels that have additional functionality. For example, sandwiching a mineral-based core material between two sheets of composite metal can create a fire-resistant panel. Of course, using different core materials like plastics and foams can result in an insulated metal panel.
I'm very interested to see how the metal panel market makes use of composite material panels in the future. Is it possible that a composite material panel becomes more "green" than its steel or aluminum counterpart? What other types of materials will find their way into a composite material panel, and how big will the role of actual metal be in these panels in the future?
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