sfogliabile_AL_n6_dicembre

Current Affairs
Figure 4:
Alcoa’s research
centre in
Pittsburgh,
renamed Arconic
Technology Center
(ATC), will be part
of Arconic. This is
the largest R&D
centre in the world
dedicated to light
metals
Figura 4:
Il centro
ricerche Alcoa
di Pittsburgh,
rinominato
Arconic
Technology Center
(ATC), farà parte
di Arconic Si tratta
del maggior centro
mondiale di R&D
per i materiali
leggeri
Focus on R&D and
innovative technologies
Sectors where the new society will be
present, as we said, are all growing fast
on a global scale and demand solutions
and proposals which should also be universal.Aboveall,thecoresectorsofArconicstandoutfortheirstrongneedfor
Research and Development activities. An
example can illustrate this aspect very
well. 3D printers are more and more frequently
used to manufacture aeronautical
details. Alcoa, at research centre in
Pittsburgh,hasdevelopedtheproduction
of special details in small series using
the traditional knowledge involved in
forging details obtained by means of the metallurgy of powders
and the new possibilities of 3D printing.
It is therefore possible to supply the aeronautical industry with
products not just made out of aluminium but of titanium and
nickel too. This is very important news because it paves the
way for the transformation in a company involved with different
types of materials. This type of special “micro-productions”
will typically be part of Arconic’s aeronautical business
unit. A multi-material and specialist approach that is hard
to find in a company concentrated on the commodity business.TheoverallArconicstructureisshowninfigure3,illustrating
the main activities of the three Business Units: EPS (Engineered
Products and Solutions), GRP (Global Rolled Product)
and TCS (Transportation and Construction
System).
In order to confer a top-notch technological
value to this spinoff, the Pittsburgh
Centre for Research and Development
(Arconic Technology Centre), that
is, the world’s greatest research centre
for the study of the metallurgy of aluminiumanditsalloyswillbepartofArconic.
The Center’s most recent successes
are linked to the development
of new Aluminium-Lithium alloys for extreme
applications in aeronautics; in this
same sector the development of forging
techniques should be recalled. In the
sectorofthedevelopmentofnewalloys
for car bodies, the R&D structures of Alcoa brought production
using the Micromill® process to industrial level.
Ford announced that for the production of the F150 Raptor
pick-up in 2016, rolled products produced using Micromill, Alcoa’s
continuous casting system capable of producing rolled
products with a very high deformation capacity during mouldingandwitha40%improvementoftheformingprocess,will
beused.TheentireMicromill“package”willofcoursebeapart
of Arconic, and the Alcoa-Danieli agreement will also be part
of the company.
In this way the former Aluminium Company of America moves
on in its process of innovation of the United States’ signature
industry: automotive.
❚
Figure 5:
Ford’s F150 Raptor pick up
will be distributed at the
beginning of 2017. For the
body parts, aluminium
sheets produced using
the Micromill®
process are used
Figura 5:
IlpickupFordF150Raptor
sarà distribuito dall’inizio
del2017.Perlacarrozzeria
sono impiegate lamiere di
alluminio prodotte con
il processo Micromill®
luppo delle tecniche di forgiatura. Nel settore dello sviluppo
di nuove leghe per carrozzeria auto, le strutture di R&D di
Alcoa hanno portato a livello industriale la produzione con
il processo Micromill®.
Ford ha infatti annunciato che per la produzione del pick up
F150 Raptor già nel 2016 saranno utilizzati laminati prodotti
con Micromill, il sistema di colata continua Alcoa in grado di
produrre laminati con un’elevatissima capacità di deformazione
in stampaggio, sino a migliorare del 40% la capacità di
formatura. L’intero “pacchetto “ Micromill farà ovviamente
parte di Arconic, cui afferirà anche l’accordo Alcoa–Danieli.
Così la vecchia Aluminium Company of America prosegue
nel suo percorso di innovazione del prodotto statunitense
per eccellenza, cioè l’automobile.
❚
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