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So this is a nation RP server set in Classical antiquity ( somewhere around 1st or 2nd century AD). The lore of this place is that around a thousand years ago, an advance civilization collapsed and from the ruins came out the new world. The technology from the past was lost but some ancient artifacts can be found in ruins.

So, some guy is offering me aluminum in exchange for my support in his wars. I was thinking whether aluminum will be of any use in this time period or not. I mean, it's rare but is there anything else it can do? I've done some research and it seems that it can't be forged into armor or weapons.

Further clarification:- The offer is that he will give me aluminium metal in blocks or in the form of coinage. So, i think I'd have to make the alloy myself.

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    $\begingroup$ What it is good for depends very much on what exactly he is offering. Actual aluminium is used just about only for making wire to carry electric power; everything else is an alumium alloy, and aluminium alloys have a wide variety of different properties. (And if the former civilization collapsed so recently there there will be tons of aluminium lying around. Think of all those high voltage overhead power lines, for example.) $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Oct 8, 2022 at 3:49
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    $\begingroup$ I suggest NOT wiring up your house with aluminum. Lot of house fires have resulted from not-quite-perfect job of connecting the wires to the fixtures. $\endgroup$
    – BillOnne
    Oct 8, 2022 at 12:56
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    $\begingroup$ @BillOnne: Houses are most usually wired with copper wire. On the other hand, the big thick long power distribution cables are almost always aluminium (plus the steel core which carries the weight of the cable, of course). (Because copper would be much too expensive for that application.) $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Oct 8, 2022 at 13:16
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    $\begingroup$ What is a "nation RP server"? $\endgroup$
    – Tom
    Oct 8, 2022 at 16:35
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    $\begingroup$ @AlexP Aluminum is actually also superior for that application. Aluminum is substantially more conductive per weight than copper (copper is more conductive per volume, however), so suspended cables made of aluminum will weigh less and thus require less support. (Many metals are even better in this regard than aluminum, in fact, but overhead cables made of sodium or beryllium have obvious downsides.) $\endgroup$
    – Hearth
    Oct 8, 2022 at 20:21

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Let's assume this is pure annealed aluminum. It is conductive, soft, mostly nontoxic, and not very strong...

Which is great for tableware! Especially considering that many pipes, cooking vessels, and other water or food related items were made of lead. (Ok, this is debated if it was significant, but certainly replacing lead removes the issue.) Hooray for your own dishes not poisoning you!

Now, if someone figures out how alloy aluminum, a whole new range of products opens up to you. Alloyed aluminum can see similar performance to steel at a fraction of the weight. For many applications where strength and weight matter, aluminum is at least worth a look.

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    $\begingroup$ You did mention it, but I want to emphasize: don't underestimate how soft pure aluminum is. The aluminum used industrially is alloyed with small amounts of copper and other elements to dramatically improve physical performance, but pure aluminum is very soft and weak. It would not be usable for anything like the structures we make out of aluminum today, any more than you could make a skyscraper out of wrought iron instead of steel. $\endgroup$
    – Hearth
    Oct 8, 2022 at 20:23
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    $\begingroup$ @hearth Yep, I have had the chance to work with some electrical cables... You can bend it with your hands quite easily! However, given the state of metallurgy at the time, I really do think these are the best uses for it. Yeah, people could potentially crush their cups like it were plastic, but it isn't a big deal to re-form either. $\endgroup$
    – PipperChip
    Oct 9, 2022 at 2:05
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    $\begingroup$ Oh yes, I definitely think this is the best use of it. Reasonably thick aluminum cups would be pretty crush-resistant. Just don't plan on building structures with it. Aluminum cables are made to be flexible, by using many very thin strands instead of one thick cable. (Same goes for copper.) I wouldn't extrapolate experience flexing cables to how it'd be to use it as tableware. $\endgroup$
    – Hearth
    Oct 9, 2022 at 2:09
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    $\begingroup$ Had the volume been there over the ages, aluminum would have replaced a lot of things: lead, ceramics, pewter, even some wood applications, to name only a few. $\endgroup$
    – JBH
    Oct 9, 2022 at 5:52
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    $\begingroup$ @Hearth : a bronze-age civilization won't have any problem with adding a small amount of copper into the mix. That's what they were doing anyway. $\endgroup$
    – vsz
    Oct 10, 2022 at 4:13
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It'd make a terrifying weapon

Does a substance that burns with unparalleled ferocity have an application? You bet!

Aluminium dust is part of many explosives and pyrotechnics. Paired with either anhydrous copper or iron oxide, you have thermite. Its ferocious heat and brightness is unlike anything else in the ancient world and would devastate enemy morale (and enemy...anything, for that matter).

You'd need a means to activate the aluminium, but mercury does that just fine. Steam under some circumstances does too. If making thermites, copper thermite is easy to ignite, as are various other exotic thermites.

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  • $\begingroup$ Aluminum is historically expensive. So, while technically true, this is roughly analogous to saying "gold is a great building material." $\endgroup$
    – fectin
    Oct 11, 2022 at 1:51
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    $\begingroup$ @fectin - gold is a terrible building material, though, ignoring price altogether. Extremely low strength, extremely high density, and very high thermal conductivity. $\endgroup$
    – TLW
    Oct 11, 2022 at 2:31
  • $\begingroup$ As framed, the only cost is support in a war and the quantity of aluminium that is delivered is unspecified. Anyway, burning a rebel general's vanguard to smithereens in an instant with fire brighter than the sun is worth rubies. $\endgroup$
    – user86462
    Oct 11, 2022 at 5:35
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One overlooked advantage of Aluminum is that it is nearly rust-less. Actually, a very thin outermost layer of aluminum will oxidize, but (unlike iron) the oxidized atoms interlock to form an oxygen-proof barrier. So aluminum corrodes hundreds of times slower than iron does.

And of course, aluminum is lightweight. It is not as tough as iron or steel, but it doesn't need to be: There are alloys of Aluminum (and simple coatings) that let you use it underwater, including under saltwater, in weather, etc.

Aluminum is not a complete pansy just because it isn't steel, just like steel is not as hard as diamond. Aluminum alloys can make, say, collapsible animal traps, that are lightweight and easy to carry. Including underwater fish traps.

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    $\begingroup$ The oxide layer is very tough, too. It's sapphire, which scores a 9 on the Mohs scale. $\endgroup$
    – Hearth
    Oct 10, 2022 at 4:15
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    $\begingroup$ @Hearth wait you mean my window frames are literally gilded with sapphires? $\endgroup$
    – user253751
    Oct 10, 2022 at 14:58
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    $\begingroup$ @user253751 Yes, if they're aluminum or aluminum alloy. Sapphire is just aluminum oxide. It's naturally transparent, but certain impurities can turn it various colors, usually either blue (your classic sapphire) or red (in which case it's called a ruby). $\endgroup$
    – Hearth
    Oct 10, 2022 at 15:32
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    $\begingroup$ @Hearth I'll be sure to write that in the listing when I sell the house. Sapphire-gilded window frames... $\endgroup$
    – user253751
    Oct 10, 2022 at 15:35
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Aluminium is castable.

It requires much lower temperature (600C) than iron or copper based alloys. If one already has Al slabs, casting it is trivial with pre-stone-age technology (guess where I know from).

Aluminium is malleable.

Again, much easier than the other metals mentioned above.

Aluminium is machinable.

Ditto. Stone tools are OK to machine Al.

Aluminium is corrosion-resistant.

To an extent, but still way better than steel or brass.

Aluminium is lightweight

(1/3 of iron and 2/7 of copper)

It wears faster and is soft, but can still be good for containers, tubes, coins or other 1st-2nd century BC things.

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    $\begingroup$ + Aluminium is (almost indefinitely) recyclable. Making it out of ore in significant (aka non-microscopic) quantities is very technology-reliant, this is why it's relatively new. However, if you already have a supply of it, you can very easily recycle it. $\endgroup$
    – vsz
    Oct 10, 2022 at 4:15
  • $\begingroup$ Trivial? With pre-stone-age technology? That's a bit exaggerated. Not to mention the danger of making an essentially unquenchable fire. And while aluminium is more easily bent than steel, it has nowhere near as nice malleability as copper or bronze. The other points are good. $\endgroup$
    – leftaroundabout
    Oct 10, 2022 at 15:56
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    $\begingroup$ casting it is trivial with pre-stone-age technology – I'm pretty sure "pre-stone-age technology" by definition excludes any sort of metallurgy. $\endgroup$
    – JohannesD
    Oct 10, 2022 at 16:38
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    $\begingroup$ @leftaroundabout you can melt aluminum in a pot using only wood as a fuel. You can then cast it with a ladle into ceramic forms. Yes, it is dangerous. Any kind of metallurgy is. $\endgroup$
    – fraxinus
    Oct 10, 2022 at 16:39
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    $\begingroup$ When was the pre Stone Age? Before we knew how to pick things up and hit stuff with it? $\endgroup$
    – candied_orange
    Oct 11, 2022 at 2:41
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Here is something you can make from aluminum that would be useful in the rough-and-tumble: watercraft.

Aluminum can be used to make small watercraft like canoes, skiffs, and runabouts, that won’t rot, won’t burn, and won’t hole as easily as wood, and are light enough to be carried by a single person.

While building an aluminum-hulled warship might be technologically infeasible for a Classical civilization, even fairly thin aluminum sheets would make shields stout enough to repel the kind of projectiles that were used in sea warfare at the time (arrows, rocks, and so forth), while being light enough to not reduce the ship’s seaworthiness.

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    $\begingroup$ From personal experience, I guarantee you that aluminum canoes (which were very popular in the US 1960s and 1970s) get holed. $\endgroup$
    – RonJohn
    Oct 8, 2022 at 15:33
  • $\begingroup$ @RonJohn — noted. $\endgroup$
    – Michael Lorton
    Oct 10, 2022 at 16:17
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    $\begingroup$ They get holed a lot more than wood, too. Don't expect magic. Wood is used for boats to this day. $\endgroup$
    – Therac - Peace for Palestine
    Oct 10, 2022 at 18:59
  • $\begingroup$ Aluminum is used for boats to this day too. I don't have data, but I'd guess fiberglass is the most common material for small craft, while aluminum would be second and wood a distant third. $\endgroup$
    – erickson
    Oct 10, 2022 at 21:44
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Aluminium chain gloves, aluminium mail vest

Some fantasy books describe an extraordinary material that permits making some very useful war equipment, say very light mail vests and chain gloves, things that stops knives and allows you to grab swords blades with your bare hands. Very hand in close combat!

Any material to make these types of war amenities need to be durable, light, incorruptible, and if it even resembles silver, then better. Sounds familiar?

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You can use the aluminum as a coating for iron/steel objects through the hot dipping process. It grants galvanic protection in addition to being a barrier against oxygen and moisture. It doesn't make your steel objects any stronger, but it does increase their weather resistance and useful lifespan. It can be great added value when applied to nails, pipes, sheet metal, and the like. Of course, everything said here applies equally well to tin and some other common metals, but it's something to keep in mind.

Pure aluminum is sufficiently inert to use as kitchenware, but whatever you're getting could have "trace" amounts of lead, arsenic, and who knows what else, so you might want to omit that use unless you can verify that it's pure.

Beyond that, you can use aluminum as you'd use any other soft metal with a low melting point. For example, in belt buckles, buttons, door handles, low-value coinage, candle holders, and other sundry applications.

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It depends how you are getting it.

Are you getting it in blocks that you will need to process on your own? In that case, unless you have or you are given the needed technology and knowledge, it's practically useless.

If instead it comes shaped based on your needs, it can be used as structural material in many applications in replacement of wood or iron.

Just imagine a ship or a chariot with its frame made of aluminum beams rather than wood, you would get less "ballast" and more payload.

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    $\begingroup$ (1) Aluminium is useless as a structural material. It is very soft, meaning that those charriot beam will have to be very thick. (2) You are thinking of some sort of duralumin or similar; but that is not aluminium, and is a material with very different properties. (3) Aluminium is very soft and very ductile. It can easily be drawn into wire with ancient technology, for example; it has a low enough melting point to be realtively easily castable with ancient technology. (4) Alumimium burns really hot, and it is not all that hard to ignite. $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Oct 8, 2022 at 4:01
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    $\begingroup$ @AlexP, not everyone is a nitpicker like you. Common folks talk about bike with aluminum frame, do not go down to the composition of the aluminum alloy. $\endgroup$
    – L.Dutch ♦
    Oct 8, 2022 at 4:03
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    $\begingroup$ @AlexP we wouldnt need the exact composition and mechanical properties sheet of the material do we? So where we place the line would be based on where the average Joe would likely put it. "Aluminum" that most people know about and see is the stuff we build bicycles, wheelchairs, some pots and pans and more basic items from. You can assume a mixture of structural aluminums would all be categorized as just "aluminum" by the survivors, and that mixture would be on offer. $\endgroup$
    – Demigan
    Oct 8, 2022 at 7:37
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    $\begingroup$ @Demigan: No we don't need the exact composition. But the reality is that there are two very different materials in widespread use called aluminium: the soft, malleabe, ductile, castable pure aluminium used for electric wire, which would be very useful in the antiquity, and the very different duralumin (or such like) used for bicycle frames, automobile wheels, aircraft parts, etc., which would be be basically useless in the antiquity. Post-apocalyptically they would both be available in large amounts. I don't think that the ignorant post-apocalyptics would even realize the commonality. $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Oct 8, 2022 at 9:45
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    $\begingroup$ The other aspects of aluminum I leave aside. But the flamable nature turns out to be less important than previously thought. For example it is far less of a problem wrt fire than previously thought. The Falklands Island war, upon examination, does NOT show ships were lost because of aluminum burning. $\endgroup$
    – BillOnne
    Oct 8, 2022 at 13:04
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Grade matters.

The strongest grades of aluminum are, after thorough heat treatment, significantly stronger than commodity steels. They are used to build aircraft, and, handling that piece of metal, you wouldn't think of it as the aluminum most of us are used to. It's stiff, springy, and doesn't bend at all.

Realistically, ancient or medieval technology will not allow for the kind of heat treatment high-strength aluminum requires. It was understood for steel, but it's just a different technology level to do anything other than simple quench hardening.

Soft aluminum is still useful. Most laptops are made out of 6061-O aluminum, not heat treated, "good enough for customers". It would be useful as a general purpose medium-strength metal, similar to copper and bronze, but at lower density.

Replacing lead would be very desirable, but, unfortunately, not very realistic. Lead has a yield strength of just 5 MPa, compared to aluminum's and copper's 80-100 and steel's 200+. It's not possible to cold work aluminum the way you can with lead.

None of the military uses would be revolutionary in nature. However, aluminum could be useful for a variety of tools and devices.

The most immediate military application would be shields. Steel reinforcement tends to be heavy, aluminum over wood is just perfect, and easy to use. Armor uses in general, to the extent that manufacturing is possible. And generally, structural uses where high strength-to-weight is required.

Personal experience: when I was learning the ropes of swordsmanship, I had a partial set of aluminum armor. Completely historically inaccurate, not even trying to look authentic, but it was way easier to carry to the training grounds and around than steel. And protected me from blows just as well as much heavier historically accurate steel reproductions did.

Even conventional low-strength alloys perform well for armor, where thickness is king. Bending stiffness scales as cube of thickness. At 80 GPa, 3mm of Al offer similar stiffness to 2mm of steel (200 GPa). At the same time, 3mm aluminum is easier to cold-work than 2mm steel, and only half the weight.

However, sharpened hard steel, as used in combat rather than training, would be effective at piercing soft aluminum, reducing the utility of aluminum armor. Still, the latter would be very useful for areas where bending rather than piercing is the expected failure mode. That's mostly the limbs. Basically, the smaller the armor element, the more use for aluminum.

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At the end of 19th century aluminum was widely used for making military mess kits - they were lighter than alternatives and weight is extremely important when you do not have hundreds of thousands motorized vehicles.

For example Russian army began to use aluminum kits in 1897, Germany in 1908's Essgeschirr, etc.

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