to the private sector. Alcoa’s breakthrough Micromill technol- ogy delivers aluminum sheet that is 30% stronger and 40% more formable than today’s automotive aluminum, creating more design-friendly material for automakers. While Novelis’ Advanz 7000-series high-strength aluminum alloy builds on aerospace technology to produce automotive aluminum that further enhances weight savings potential with alumi- num while addressing automaker requirements for strength, formability and styling. The industry also progressed with advances in surface treatment systems, structural bonding, lubrication, forming and joining (complimentary copies of the “2015 Automotive Aluminum Joining Manual” are available at
www.drivealuminum.org).
The aluminum industry is also helping automakers trail blaze closed-loop recycling techniques to modern- ize scrap sorting and logistics. This highly choreographed process melts down aluminum scrap and recycles it back into usable metal for auto parts such as hoods and doors. Once melted, the aluminum is cast into ingots, fabricated
Finally, aluminum is investing. Customer orders are surg- ing and automakers are making clear their intent to use even more advanced aluminum alloys. The industry is in the midst of a faster, far-reaching materials evolution. Companies are investing signifi cantly in North American-based operations and personnel to expand near- and long-term capacity to meet this increasing need for 2025 and beyond. We have entered a multi-material world where no single material dominates the automobile. Aluminum, steel, carbon fi ber and plastics are coming together more and more in the same vehicles. The National Academy of Sciences reports these multimaterial cars and trucks should be “recognized as the longer-term, optimal approach to mass reduction.” Moreover, the overwhelming success of the mixed-material CT6 and aluminum-bodied F-150 makes clear this is only the beginning and points to where the US auto industry is headed. Aluminum has always been light weight, highly crash absorbent, easily formable and infi nitely recyclable. Now its mass market appeal and total value is proven.
New vehicles such as the Chrysler Pacifi ca (left), Cadillac CT6 are using more aluminum than their predecessors.
and rolled into sheet coils and delivered to automakers for stamping, assembly, painting and fi nishing. The leftover scrap then goes back into the same trucks to be shipped back to aluminum suppliers for remelting and recycling— then the process starts anew. Ultimately, closed-loop re- cycling creates less dependence on primary aluminum and more focus on innovation and technology to accelerate the use of recycled aluminum to save natural resources, energy and money.
The aluminum industry is united and focused on custom-
er-centric solutions. Our goal is not only to help automakers comply with increasingly more stringent regulations, but to go beyond and help facilitate a new wave of mobility options that are lighter, safer, greener and higher performing.
In addition to being technical committee chairman of the Alu- minum Association’s Aluminum Transportation Group (ATG), Doug Richman is also vice president of engineering, Kaiser.
21 — Motorized Vehicle Manufacturing 2016
Photo courtesy Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
Photo courtesy General Motors Co.
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