2 - ALU-WEB.DE

APT ALUMINIUM NEWS 4 | 12-2009
The ET Foundation—the
educational and scientific
organization devoted to
promoting and advancing
aluminum extrusion processes
and technologies—is
seeking entries for the 2010
International Aluminum
Extrusion Design Competition.
Professionals along
with students studying
design and engineering are
invited to enter their exceptional
aluminum profile
designs for an opportunity
to win cash prizes. Hydro
Aluminum once again will
be the sole sponsor for
the cash awards, totaling
USD18,000, including a
Grand Prize of USD3,500.
The ET Foundation will
accept entries for the 2010
International Aluminum
Extrusion Design Competition
until February 15,
2010. Entry in the competition
is free.
The 2010 competition is
divided into two classes: professional
and student. Winning
entries will be those that
best demonstrate the benefits
of aluminum extrusions. The
designs submitted should
address any combination of
the following objectives:
ease of fabrication and
assembly
cost-effectiveness
innovation and/or customization
in design
new application capability
demonstration of aluminium
extrusion’s product
and process advantages,
and
likelihood of market success.
Designers Encouraged
to Innovate
Innovation is a key objective
of the competition,
which encourages extruders,
designers, fabricators, engineers,
manufacturers and students
to hone their skills and
develop new techniques and
uses for aluminum. “Often,
designers and engineers are
at the forefront of innovation;
thinking outside the box is
standard practice,” said Tom
Schabel, chairman of the ET
Foundation Board of Trustees
and CEO of Alexandria Extrusion
Company in Alexandria,
Minnesota. “The Aluminum
Extrusion Design Competition
encourages these innovators
to use aluminum profiles
in their product designs, and
in turn, learn more about the
countless material and process
advantages of aluminum
extrusions.”
Professionals to
Compete for Cash
Prizes
Individual architects,
designers or engineers, as
well as companies, are eligible
to enter the Design Competition.
Aluminum extruders are
encouraged to team up with
their customers and enter the
competition. Entries received
in the Professional Class will
be divided into three categories:
Structural, Transportation,
and Engineered Products.
First-place cash prizes
in the amount of $2,000 will
be awarded to the best design
in each category.
The Structural Category
may include designs for such
applications as architectural
façades, fenestration products,
modular building systems,
exhibit display booths,
ladders and scaffolding,
bridges and bridge decking,
and office component systems.
The Transportation
Category may include designs
for applications in the automotive,
truck/trailer, recreational
vehicles, rail, aerospace,
and marine markets. The
Engineered Products Category
may include designs for
applications such as sporting
goods components, lighting,
furniture, appliance and electronic
components, scientific
or industrial equipment, and
food display and refrigeration
equipment. These are only a
few possible applications for
aluminum profiles.
Students Compete
for Thousands of Dollars
in Scholarship
Awards
Exposing students to new
ideas and challenges stimulates
their creativity and encourages
them to explore unique
concepts of their own. Scholarships
will be presented as
cash awards to the top student
designs, including USD3,000
for first place, USD2,000 for
second place, and USD1,000
for third place. Students also
may compete for the Hydro
Sustainable Design Scholarship
Award of USD2,500. The
Sustainable Design Scholarship
Award is presented to
recognize the student design
that best addresses environmental
and/or societal concerns,
and must be a viable
extrusion-based product that
meets the demands of the
environment while contributing
to the quality of life for its
DESIGN 15
Innovative Designs Sought for Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition
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NEWS
Financial restructuring
of Honsel completed
successfully 3
LME approves listing
of ENRC Aluminium 4
UC Rusal agrees
terms of debt
restructuring 4
New Roskill Report:
China dominates the
global aluminium
industry 6
AUTOMOTIVE
SuperLIGHT-Car
project 7
KS Aluminium-Technologie:
Concepts
and technologies for
downsizing 7
EXTRUSION
Automated section
transport in a rapidly
expanding extrusion
plant 8
Aluminium extrusions
key to more fuel-
efficient vehicles 10
Sapa’s agreement
with Indalex
complete 10
ROLLING
Alcoa Russia’s Samara
plant launches new
coating line for aluminium
sheet 11
FURNACE TECH
Alro invests in new
annealing furnace 14
Zenergy to supply
innovative induction
heater to Sapa
Profili 14
BWG GmbH acquires
metal treatment technology
from VITS 14
MACHINING
EiMa: Cutting aluminium
rod optimally to
length 15
JOINING
Aluminium welding
in the Chinese market
16
Of lemmings and destinations
– Remarks
about the psychology
of the crisis 16
HI-LIGHTS
SMS Lubrication:
Process-optimised
media improve rolling
performance 12
The London view 20
Signature
APT ALUMINIUM NEWS 2 | 06-2008
Volume V / Issue 3 . September 2009
Stud Welding
Giesel Verlag GmbH
Postfach 120 158
30907 Isernhagen · Germany
Tel. +49 511 7304-125
Fax +49 511 7304-157
www.giesel-verlag.de · vertrieb@giesel.de
intended users. Past Sustainable
Design winning entries
included a portable modular
shelter for disaster victims, a
mobile sediment pond barrier,
and a streamlined traffic-light
post.
A call for entries for the
Design Competition will
be available to download at
www.ETFdesign.org, or to
request a copy to be mailed
contact the ET Foundation at
mail@etfoundation.org.
• Manual Units
• Semi-automatic Systems
• Automated CNC Machines
• Welding Elements
www.etfoundation.org
New weight-saving alloys from Aleris
for use in modern aircraft construction
New aluminium alloys
allow weight and fuel
saving components to
be manufactured for
use in modern aircraft.
Aleris Europe recently
presented an alloy
variant that offers high
strength, damage-tolerant
properties and low
weight thanks to the
addition of scandium.
In addition, the company
has developed a new
conventional 7000series
alloy for aircraft
plate with significantly
improved properties.
Aircraft construction
today is characterised by the
quest for innovative materials
and production technologies
that make weight-saving
and thus cost-reducing
structures possible. For the
Airbus A350XWB and Boeing
787 (Dreamliner) widebodied
aircraft the development
engineers are increasingly
turning to composites
and carbon-fibre reinforced
plastics (CFRP) for the fuselage
and wings, but given the
repeated delays to the maiden
flight and delivery of the new
Airbus exhibit of an AlMgSc
alloy, shown at the Paris Air
Show 2009
aircraft, the initial euphoria
has evaporated. The very high
manufacturing costs associated
with these materials and
the disproportionately small
weight savings they bring
mean designers are again
focussing their attention on
metallic materials, and of
course here on the lightweight
metal aluminium.
This was clearly apparent
at the CFK-Valley Stade Convention
held in June this year.
At this international forum for
experts from the field of CFRP
lightweight construction, sev-
Innovative technologies and procedures ensure the A350 XWB’s
eco-efficiency from takeoff to landing
eral high-ranking managers
from Airbus warned the representatives
of the CFRP sector
that Airbus would revert
to aircraft constructions with
a metal fuselage if the sector
did not manage to achieve
more economical production
and processing of composites.
In any case it is not as if
the aluminium industry has
stood around with its hands
in its pockets doing nothing
in recent years. Not only is
it possible today to produce
structural components using
very thin and thus weightreducing
aluminium sheet,
the sector has also pressed
ahead with the development
of new, even lighter aluminium
alloys. This is true, for
example, for the new aluminium–scandium
alloy that
Aleris Europe has developed
jointly with Airbus, which
is both a metallic alternative
to composites and a possible
substitute for aluminium–
lithium alloys.
New scandium alloy
is AA registered
To be precise, it is an
AlMgSc alloy that is characterised
by very low density,
comparable with that of the
AlLi alloys. Furthermore, the
AlMgSc alloy is very corrosion
resistant and exhibits
excellent damage-tolerant
properties with respect to
crack propagation. This is
significant particularly for
the upper fuselage area which
is subjected to especially
large tensile stresses with the
consequence that cracks can
propagate here more quickly.
In addition, the alloy has
very good welding properties.
This is particular interesting
for Airbus because
laser-welded 6000-series
alloys are already being used
for the lower fuselage area of
the A318, A340 and A380.
Laser welding allows very
high welding speeds and in
addition production costs are
reduced compared with components
that were traditionally
riveted.
The manufacturing process
for the 6000-series alloy
panels is quite complicated.
The rolled components
and the extruded stiffeners
(stringers) are first solution
annealed, then quenched,
stretch formed and welded in
the as-shaped condition. Ageing
is then carried out artificially.
This results in distortion
so that the components
have to be straightened again
afterwards.
This complex process
can be simplified considerably
using the AlMgSc alloy.
Matthias Miermeister, who is
responsible at Aleris Europe
for maintaining close technical
contact with the development
departments of the aircraft
manufacturers, explains:
“With aluminium–magnesium–scandium
alloys, parts
can be welded flat without any
prior treatment. The sheet
does not have to be shaped
in a complex manner and the
stringer can also be welded to
the flat sheet. The curvature
of the stiffened component
required by the aircraft fuse-
lage is produced using creep
forming. In this process there
is no distortion or spring back
of the material, the finished
panel can be installed immediately.
The AlMgSc highperformance
alloy made such
cost-efficient manufacturing
possible for the first time.”
Creep forming is a patented
EADS process in which
the sheet is placed in a mould
and a vacuum is produced,
thus causing the sheet to take
up the shape of the mould
under the influence of the
temperature.
An added benefit of this
process: when heat is applied
in the weld seam area during
welding, there is a loss of
strength. Thanks to the scandium
in combination with a
special heat treatment during
the creep-forming process,
the strength of the material
is restored to that of the starting
material and at the same
time the sheet is given its final
shape, which is sometimes
complex.
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At Airbus, the AlMgSc
alloy from Aleris Europe,
in the form of AA5024 that
recently attained the status of
an internationally registered
alloy, has successfully negotiated
nearly all of the stages
of qualification. Aleris has
already sold the first quantities
of the alloy for pilot
projects being undertaken by
Airbus and Premium Aerotec,
a spin-off of Airbus with factories
in Nordenham, Varel and
Augsburg. These are projects
that are also being funded by
the German federal ministry
responsible for technology
as part of its LuFo aerospace
research programme. The aim
of the programme includes
developing new technologies
for the cabin, fuselage and
engine.
Photos: Airbus
Improved damage
tolerance compared
with today’s aluminium
alloys
Aleris Europe has now
developed another AlMgSc
alloy that exhibits even better
properties than AA5024,
however this alloy has not yet
been AA registered.
Calculations of the statics
and analysis of the stability
carried out for fuselage
lower shells made of different
alloys for sheet metal skin and
stringer have shown that the
AlMgSc alloy makes it possible
to achieve weight savings
comparable to AlLi alloys in
the loading case considered
(see chart next page). Compared
with a conventional
2000-series alloy, however, the
AlMgSc alloy offers a weight
saving of 27 percent. There
are also significant weight
savings compared with conventional
6000-series alloys.
Continued on page 2
Heinz Soyer
Bolzenschweißtechnik
GmbH
Inninger Straße 14
82237 Wörthsee
Tel.: +49 8153 885-0
Fax: +49 8153 8030
export@soyer.de
www.soyer-shop.de
R
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