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AA AIRAM Document Information:
Title
Aluminum Industry Roadmap for the Automotive Market Enabling Technologies and Challenges for Body Structures and Closures
The Aluminum Association Inc.
Publication Date:
May 1, 1999
Scope:
This Aluminum Industry Roadmap for the Automotive Market: Enabling
Technologies and Challenges for
Body Structures and Closures is the third document to be produced by
the aluminum industry to plan
its future course in technology-driven markets. In 1996, under the
leadership of The Aluminum
Association, the industry published Partnerships for the Future, which
set forth its long-term
vision of how to maintain and build the competitive position of the
U.S. aluminum industry. In May
1997, the industry published the Aluminum Industry Technology Roadmap,
which presented the
industry's technology strategy for achieving the goals it has set for
itself for the year 2020
related to energy efficiency, environmental production, productivity,
and competitiveness in the
marketplace. Many of the research needs identified in this "generic"
roadmap directly or indirectly
impact the use of aluminum in the automotive market. These include
proposed efforts to
▪ develop processes and technologies to reduce the cost of ingot;
▪ improve understanding of the relationship of aluminum alloy
composition and processing and
its effect on microstructure and properties;
▪ develop improved casting processes (including continuous
casting) to produce low-cost,
defect-free sheet;
▪ establish alloy and testing commonization, i.e., reduce the
number of alloy variants and
test practices; and
▪ develop advanced methods for integrating product design and the
material and processing
selection.
Figure 1-1 summarizes some of the goals from the Aluminum Industry
Technology Roadmap that
will allow the aluminum industry to offer the automotive industry a
cost-effective product. The
aluminum industry's goals to reduce the energy intensity of producing
primary aluminum,
decrease emissions, enhance recycling, and improve metal quality are
particularly important to
the automobile industry because they could lead to significant
reductions in the cost of aluminum
for automotive applications.
This present roadmap, The Aluminum Industry Roadmap for the Automotive
Market, focuses on the
specific actions that the aluminum industry needs to take to enhance
the cost-effectiveness of
using aluminum in automotive applications, and has been structured to
support the automotive
industry's own efforts. The goal of the research identified here is to
increase the efficiency with
which aluminum is used and to reduce the cost of the processes to
convert it from an
ingot/sheet/extrusion product into a serviceable part or an integral
component of the vehicle.
Essentially every R&D effort proposed contributes directly or
indirectly to lowering the cost
of using aluminum in automobiles.
The technical topics addressed in the Aluminum Industry Roadmap for
the Automotive Market reflect
the entire automotive manufacturing process, from the production of
semi-finished aluminum shapes
through the assembly process to the recycling of automotive aluminum
scrap. The specific areas that
need to be considered when making an aluminum-intensive vehicle
include the product forms (sheet,
extrusion, and castings); the secondary processes that are used for
the product forms; and the
methods for putting the various product forms together (joining and
assembly). The crashworthiness
of aluminum-intensive vehicles is also covered, as is the use of
aluminum metal matrix composites.
Research that focuses on improving the production of primary aluminum,
which is germane to the goal
of reducing the cost of aluminum components, has been addressed
adequately in Section XI of the
Aluminum Industry Technology Roadmap.
The PNGV program's Technical Roadmap includes a list of key technical
projects on the automotive
industry's critical path to developing "new generation" vehicles.
These projects are organized
according to various technical topics such as feedstock, casting,
forming, joining, and recycling.
All of these topics will also be covered in the Aluminum Industry
Roadmap for the Automotive
Market, or were addressed in the more generic Aluminum Industry
Technology Roadmap. Figure 1-2
indicates the program needs of the PNGV effort and where related
information may be found in the
aluminum industry roadmaps. The research that is recommended in the
Aluminum Industry Roadmap for
the Automotive Market is intended to focus on a midterm time frame (of
3 to 6 years) to maximize
the opportunity to help the automotive industry reach the goals of the
PNGV program set for 2004.
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