Industry Knowledge Document: 3mm Aluminium Composite Panel (ACP)

Industry Knowledge Document: 3mm Aluminium Composite Panel (ACP)
1. Basic Structure & Standard Configuration of 3mm ACP
3mm aluminium composite panel refers to the total overall thickness of the finished sandwich panel being 3 mm, consisting of two thin aluminium face sheets + middle polymer core material, bonded by high-strength polymer adhesive under continuous hot pressing.
Standard layered structure
Front aluminium sheet: Normally 0.18mm ~ 0.25mm thickness (the most common specification: 0.21mm)
Back aluminium sheet: 0.15mm ~ 0.20mm, thinner than the front panel for cost control while guaranteeing flatness and anti-rust performance
Core material: Two mainstream types
PE polyethylene core: Low cost, good flexibility, the mainstream core for ordinary 3mm ACP
B1 flame retardant mineral core: Added inorganic flame retardant filler, for indoor public area decoration with fire requirements
Surface coating: PE polyester coating (standard match for 3mm panels); a small number of high-demand indoor projects adopt PVDF coating
Common size specifications
Standard sheet dimension: 1220×2440mm, 1500×3000mm
Available surface finishes: solid color, metallic paint, brushed aluminium, mirror finish, wood grain, stone grain
2. Core Physical Properties & Performance Features of 3mm ACP
2.1 Outstanding lightweight property
The areal density of 3mm ACP is only about 3.5–4.0 kg/㎡, far lighter than solid aluminium sheets, gypsum boards and decorative steel plates. It greatly reduces the load-bearing pressure of wall keels and support frames, lowers the requirement for basic wall structures, and cuts engineering auxiliary material costs.
2.2 Excellent machinability & formability
With thin overall thickness and soft PE core, 3mm ACP supports on-site grooving, bending, folding, arc processing, cutting and punching with conventional simple tools. It is easy to make wrap-around corners, curved walls, cylindrical decorative surfaces and special-shaped modelling, with low processing difficulty and high construction efficiency.
2.3 Good flatness & decorative presentation
The sandwich composite structure effectively overcomes the warping problem of single thin aluminium sheet. The panel surface is smooth and flat without ripples, uniform coating colour, rich decorative textures, and stable colour difference control in mass orders.
2.4 Basic sound insulation & moisture-proof performance
The polymer core can block partial air-borne noise; aluminium skins are completely impermeable to water vapour, not easy to get damp, mildewed or deformed, suitable for humid indoor environments such as corridors and shopping mall interiors.
2.5 Limitations brought by thin thickness
Poor wind pressure resistance: Thin overall structure, easy to vibrate and bulge under strong wind load, strictly prohibited for external wall exposed dry hanging
Weak impact resistance: Prone to dent and local deformation when subjected to hard object impact
Poor thermal deformation resistance: Larger thermal expansion amplitude compared with 4mm / 5mm thick ACP