Why Liquid Cooling Is Raising the Bar for Aluminum Extrusions in Data Centers
- Northern State Metals
- 12 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The Shift to Liquid Cooling
As AI, HPC, and machine learning workloads grow more intense, air cooling is reaching its limits. Today’s high-density compute environments demand thermal performance that traditional methods simply can’t deliver.
Liquid cooling has emerged as the most viable solution for thermal efficiency. With thermal conductivity up to 3,000x greater than air, it enables tighter component spacing, better efficiency, and higher compute output.
The growth is undeniable. The data center liquid cooling market is projected to grow from $4.68 billion in 2025 to $22.57 billion by 2034, driven by hyperscale deployments and the need for sustainable thermal solutions. And 61% of data center operators plan to deploy direct liquid cooling in the near future.
Why It’s Changing Component Requirements
This shift isn’t just about coolant—it’s about the parts that move, contain, and manage it. Liquid cooling systems require aluminum components that are:
Long and seamless, to reduce joints and leak risk
Tight-tolerance, to support high-pressure flow and sealing
Built to integrate, with features for mounting and routing fluid
Applications include:
Cold plate-ready extrusions
Thermal housings and enclosures
Manifolds and fluid distribution systems
These components aren’t coming off a shelf. They require custom profiles engineered for performance, manufacturability, and system integration.
What’s Making Aluminum Sourcing More Difficult
Long-length, tight-tolerance extrusions are notoriously difficult to source—especially when fabrication, finishing, and delivery are handled by separate vendors. Lead times stretch. Quality suffers. Communication breaks down.
And global trade conditions aren't helping. Section 232 tariffs impose duties of 10–25% on imported aluminum products, making domestic and nearshore sourcing more appealing for OEMs managing cost and compliance.
While hard data on extrusion lead times can be scarce, industry reports suggest growing backlogs and delays across sectors like EV, construction, and infrastructure—all of which are now competing for capacity in a tight aluminum market.
A Smarter Way to Manage Your Extrusion Supply Chain
At extrusions.com, we don’t just extrude—we solve the sourcing problem from start to finish.
We’re a design-to-delivery partner that brings together a trusted network of pre-vetted extrusion, fabrication, and finishing partners—and handles all the coordination in between. You get one point of contact, one timeline, and a quality-controlled final product.
That means:
No chasing multiple quotes
No juggling vendors across processes
No wondering who’s responsible for quality
What You Can Expect with Northern States Metals
Whether you’re in prototyping or scaling production, we help prime manufacturers move faster and with less risk.
Here’s what you get:
Strategic sourcing of long-length extrusions for cold plates, enclosures, and manifolds
Design-for-extrusion support, so profiles are engineered for both performance and manufacturability
Integrated coordination of CNC machining, anodizing, drilling, and QA
Delivery-ready components—not a pile of loose parts
Because we’re not limited to one press or plant, we can find the right partner for each extrusion job—and deliver with consistency, speed, and quality control.
Who We Work With
Our customers include:
OEMs developing liquid cooling systems for AI, HPC, and cloud infrastructure
Prime manufacturers building immersion tanks, racks, and cold plate systems
Sourcing and engineering leaders frustrated by fragmented vendor chains and long lead times
If your current sourcing process is slowing you down, let’s fix it.
Let’s Talk
Liquid cooling isn’t the future—it’s already reshaping how data centers are built. With complexity rising and timelines compressing, you need a partner who can own the process, not just the part.
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