12 02, 2014

Analysts See A Boom Period For Aluminum

2015-06-18T15:33:06+00:00February 12th, 2014|

We’ve been saying for a while now that the biggest paradigm shift that the aluminum industry will see (at least in modern history). It looks like the outside perspective is catching on to this, particularly from an investment and financial perspective. From StreetInsider.com:

“We believe gradual conversion of automotive exposed body to aluminum (Body-in-White or BiW) will be a game changer for downstream aluminum use, with a growth rate higher than any other end market for specialty metals for the rest of this decade,” said analyst Sal Tharani.

“In the US, the CAFE rules require a 50% reduction in auto carbon emissions by 2025, leading OEM’s to look at alternative materials for light weighting vehicles. As OEMs turn to aluminum, we expect to see significant growth in the automotive aluminum sheet market. Some industry sources, including consultant agencies on environmental regulations, expect aluminum auto sheet to grow at a 14% CAGR from 2012 through 2025. Ford unveiled its 2015 F-150 model at the Detroit Auto Show, with an all-aluminum body that weighs 700 pounds less than its predecessor and has 30% better fuel efficiency, based on data provided by the company. We believe that Ford F-150 is the tip of the iceberg, and expect several other automotive platforms from all major OEM’s to move toward partial or full aluminum BiW in coming years.”

The F-150 was a watershed moment for the industry in many different ways. Internally, it changes how we allocate our focus and resources. Externally, it changes the perception of what our materials are capable of, despite aluminum being used in bodies and frames for military and other purposes. Let’s see what else 2014 has to bring.

28 01, 2014

Bloomberg TV On The New F-150

2017-01-26T23:37:29+00:00January 28th, 2014|

The Detroit Auto Show has come and gone, and now that the curtain has been lifted on Ford’s aluminum-based 2015 F-150 trucks, mainstream pundits are looking at the impact of aluminum on the auto industry. Bloomberg TV dedicated an entire segment to this topic, and you can see the whole video here.

Some highlights include:

  • The fact that the aluminum body makes the F-150 700 lbs less.
  • Audi has been using aluminum for more than 20 years.
  • The F-150 is “the most important” unveiling of the year.

Now that the public has seen the F-150, dealerships are considering the logistics of this new model, particularly the repair. More on that in the coming weeks.

22 01, 2014

Ford Finally Unveils Aluminum-Based F-150

2015-06-18T15:33:06+00:00January 22nd, 2014|

It’s finally here — the largest shift in the American auto industry in years. Just a few days ago, Ford unveiled the 2015 version of the long-running F-150 truck. With the unveiling came plenty of questions and reaction, and there’s going to be much more of that as we get closer to the vehicle’s official public on-sale. For now, though, let’s see what some of the critics say.

 

From The Car Connection:

 

At the top of that list of changes is an aluminum body. Far from the flimsiness of a beer can, the high-strength aluminum alloy in the F-150’s body is, Ford claims, tougher than ever. The material also allowed Ford to execute an exterior design that’s more aerodynamic while retaining the “signature Built Ford Tough appearance” derived from the “machined cubic-style shapes,” according to the F-150’s chief designer, Gordon Platto. Inside the 2015 Ford F-150, the look isn’t such a great departure from previous versions of the pickup, though there’s a new level of upscale look and feel on premium trims. Blocky shapes and sturdy structures are the visual theme to back the F-150’s chosen mission.

 

From CNET:

 

Aluminum bodies are nothing new, but putting an aluminum body on a machine destined for as much punishment as your average truck seems like a recipe for disaster. The rust-free nature of aluminum is an obvious advantage, but the durability of aluminum is lower than steel. To ensure that the aluminum bed could cope, Ford started by making prototype bodies that were visually identical to the current truck. Without telling anyone, the company deployed them in the real world.

 

The company went through four separate generations of previous-gen aluminum bodies, making subtle revisions each time to get the right thickness where needed for durability, the right thinness where possible to save weight and cost. These were mounted on the previous truck’s frame, and Ford engineers were even so bold as to give these prototypes out to privileged customers for testing — unbeknownst to them. One aluminum-bodied prototype F-150 was sent to a Utah gold mine, its drivers told to treat it like any other truck. They did, and the 1.4mm-thick aluminum used in the bed proved even more durable than the steel in the current model.

 

This is just the beginning, though the early reports are positive. Of course, traditional thinking can sometimes be hard to break, but in the end, performance usually wins out — and given the potential of the aluminum-based F-150, that’s a good thing.

16 01, 2014

Unique Uses Of Aluminum: Kitty Repellent

2017-01-26T23:37:29+00:00January 16th, 2014|

Yes, there’s a nonstop flow of news about cars and mobile devices using aluminum. But given the onslaught of criticism and/or praise we’re going to hear in the next few weeks over Ford’s big unveiling, we thought we’d lighten the mood a little bit here and focus on the internet’s favorite thing ever: cats.

Thanks to the internet, cats are no longer just our furry friends, they’re an endless source of fascination. The idea of using aluminum foil to keep cats off counters has been one thrown around anecdotally for ages, but now we’ve got video proof of it — and it’s pretty funny.

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_jTM_w3wnc

In some cases, you might need to tag-team the aluminum foil with some packing tape.

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLSejSn6nYI

Why does this work? The simple idea is that cats don’t like the texture or noise of aluminum foil, so landing on it instead of a counter tile throws off their sensibilities. For some cats, it only takes a few times before the lesson is learned. Of course, cats can be pretty darn stubborn, so there’s no guarantee this will work — but if you’re recording it, you’ll at least have funny memories to share.

8 01, 2014

Aluminum’s “Tough” Side On Display At Detroit Auto Show

2015-06-18T15:33:06+00:00January 8th, 2014|

For years, Ford’s slogan has been “Ford Tough!” Now, with the North American International Auto Show less than a week away and the new aluminum-bodied Ford F-150 ready for its big coming out party, Ford is looking at how to reinforce that familiar statement. Despite aluminum being a significant part of the manufacturing process for many successful vehicles, including Tesla’s award-winning Model S, the notion of being “tough” is still a sticking point with the core buyers of F-150 trucks. Enter Ford’s marketing gurus (courtesy Clean Technica):

Ford has asked suppliers at Alcoa to provide a sample of “military grade aluminum” for display alongside the new 2015 Ford F-150 set to be unveiled at January’s Detroit Auto Show. It’s believed that the move is meant to put a tough “spin” on Ford’s extensive use of aluminum, rather than steel, in the construction of the new pickup, and keep the marketing message away from any comparisons to pop cans.

Ford’s switch to aluminum in the new 2015 Ford F-150 is part of a recent Ford trend to tech-ify its trucks, improve the fuel economy of its truck fleet, and is a logical next step in the modernization of Ford’s truck line-up, along with better suspension, more isolated cabins, and the addition of the Ecoboost 6-cylinder turbo engines which supplanted the old-tech “Modular” V8 engines in Ford’s half-ton trucks a few years ago.

Whether or not the public will “buy” the idea of tough aluminum, though, remains to be seen. “This is already the most significant debut at the auto show,” explained Joe Langley, a production analyst for industry research firm IHS Automotive in a telephone interview with Bloomberg a few days ago. “Everybody’s going to be dissecting (the 2015 Ford F-150) for a long time, especially since Ford will be taking such a big gamble.”

The NAIAS opens its doors on January 13. Chances are, you’ll see plenty of aluminum-related chatter across the motor industry in the coming weeks due to this, so stay tuned.

7 01, 2014

Aluminum, The Instigator For African Crime Enterprises

2015-06-18T15:33:06+00:00January 7th, 2014|

2013 saw plenty of big news for the aluminum industry. As we gear up for significant debuts at the Detroit Auto Show in a few weeks, let’s usher in the turn of the calendar with something more along the lines of the absurd. That’s right, it’s time to beware of aluminum — foil, no less — as a low-tech means of stealing candy and cigarettes from gas stations.

 

How does that work? The FBI wants you to know, via Businessweek:

 

Here’s how the theft goes down. First, someone climbs onto the roof of a store and uses aluminum foil to block the satellite antenna that the store uses to receive data from credit card companies to authorize sales—a gadget called a feed horn that looks like this.

 

With the signal blocked, stores can’t validate credit and debit card transactions. That opens the door, so to speak, for bandits to enter the store, load up their carts with electronics or cigarettes, and pay with stolen credit cards. Retailers often permit sales even if the link with the credit card company is down, figuring the transactions will go through once the connection is back up.

 

When contacted on Friday, FBI spokeswoman Whitney Malkin said no one was available to answer questions about the scheme.

 

The agency has blamed “African criminal enterprises” for the crimes. The stolen loot is “taken to New York, where it may be sold at pawn shops or exported to Africa,” the FBI’s Mollie Halpern explains in this podcast (yes, podcast) about the scam.

 

The effectiveness of this technique sounds a bit dodgy, but who knows? While we don’t recommend scaling buildings to their satellite antennas with rolls of aluminum foil, we have to admit that part of us is curious to see if it actually works!

19 12, 2013

An anthill aluminum sculpture?!

2015-06-18T15:33:06+00:00December 19th, 2013|

If you’ve got an ant problem, there are the usual problems: traps, spray, or perhaps finding an eco-friendly way of exterminating the pests.

However, if you have access to molten aluminum, you could try something much different. And yes, it’s a little harsh on the little buggers (but really, is it any different than poisoning them with traps?) but it does create one very unique side benefit: a frozen-in-time sculpture of an ant hill. From Sploid.com:

Though probably insensitive to the fire ants who called this ant hill home, pouring molten aluminum into the ant hill reveals the intricate labyrinth of tunnels and passageways hidden underneath the ground. It’s incredible and beautiful and almost looks like a Christmas tree.

Anthill Art basically casted the ant colony to create the aluminum sculpture.

The molten aluminum was poured inside the ant hill’s opening until it hardened and then excavated from the ground. Anthill Art then had to blast the sculpture with water to remove the excess dirt surrounding the tunnels to get the beautiful sculpture above. Harsh for the ants, yes, but an endlessly fascinating look at an ant’s life for the rest of us.

Click on the link above to get a good look at the final sculpture. However, if you believe in karmic retribution, the artists involved might want to stay away from any places that melt metal or dump concrete for the foreseeable future.

12 12, 2013

When Aluminum Met Grapefruit

2015-06-18T15:33:06+00:00December 12th, 2013|

You don’t usually think about fruit when discussing metals or manufacturing. However, German scientists have found a way to bring the two together in conversation. Their new innovation has produced possibly the most advanced aluminum-based alloy we’ve ever seen, and the inspiration comes from the peel of a simple piece of fruit — specifically, the pomelo, which is an Asian grapefruit. From Popular Mechanics:

Materials scientists in Germany figured out how to build the same type of structure of aluminum. They say their new fruit-inspired composite has the best attributes of pure aluminum and an aluminum-silicon alloy, yielding a hybrid that resists deformation and is tough to break. Their work appears this week in the Journal of Materials Science.

Many man-made composite materials sacrifice one mechanical property for the sake of another. Either they’re tough, absorbing plenty of energy without rupturing, or they’re strong, withstanding greater force without yielding. Ceramic, for example, is strong but not very tough—it doesn’t bend, but it breaks. Some natural structures, however, such as bone, wood, and sea sponge needles, nicely combine both attributes.

Pomelos do this, too, but their peels are not as well understood. So researchers from the RWTH Aachen University and the University of Freiburg sliced open some store-bought fruit, sputtered their peels with gold and studied them under a scanning electron microscope. They saw that the cells were laid out in a hierarchical structure, comprising a foamy matrix of struts that shields the juicy fruit within. With their fluid-filled interiors and sturdy walls, the cells essentially act as pneumatic structures, with a ductile center surrounded by a strong outer shell.

Fruit-inspired metals may be the wave of the future when it comes to manufacturing. However, there’s still one trick that remains to be seen. This new alloy may be inspired by fruit, but is it also edible? We’re guessing this one’s a long, long way off.

3 12, 2013

Aluminum Christmas Trees Return In Holiday Exhibit

2017-01-26T23:37:29+00:00December 3rd, 2013|

Since the holiday season seems to start in September these days, there’s no doubt you’ve started thinking about your decor for the season. And if you’re into things like ironic sweaters, hipster mustaches, and Mad Men, then you probably fancy picking up an aluminum Christmas tree — you know, those things first manufactured in the 1960s as a metal alternative to the traditional holiday twig.

While modern versions can be found on Amazon and other retailers (and vintage ones will break your wallet on Ebay), there’s nothing quite like the real thing — and a vintage exhibition in Wisconsin is bringing it all back together. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Tapping into nostalgia for a time when Christmas trees looked as silvery and shiny as an astronaut, the Wisconsin Historical Society Museum is opening an exhibit on Tuesday featuring 20 Wisconsin-made aluminum trees.

Billed as the largest public exhibition of Evergleam aluminum Christmas trees, the exhibit will include rare 2-foot tabletop trees, a selection of 4-, 6- and 8-foot aluminum trees, accessories such as rotating tree stands and multicolored light wheels as well as advertising and packaging. The exhibit also includes trees in gold, green and even pink — the holy grail of Evergleams. Because few people bought pink trees, few were made, which now makes them very rare and valuable.

“I’m pretty sure this is the largest collection of Evergleams since a 1960s Christmas tree show,” said curator Joe Kapler, who hasn’t seen a pink Evergleam come on the market since 2005.

If you live close by or are passing through Wisconsin, this exhibit is open until January 11. More information can be found at the official website.

20 11, 2013

Aluminum helping the wine industry innovate

2017-01-26T23:37:29+00:00November 20th, 2013|

Aluminum cans have been at the heart of the beer and soda industries for decades. But what about wine? The world’s other favorite alcoholic drink has stayed strictly in glass bottles (and the occasional box) for decades. However, at least one winemaker is looking at making vino more accessible and easier to carry. From Business Insider:

 

What began as a promotional product for Portland’s Feast 2013 food and wine festival, Union Wine Company’s wine in 12oz cans will actually be making its way to shelves. Its initial limited edition release drew rave reviews, for both its pretenseless “pinkies down” philosophy and the quality of the wine within. The idea of wine in a can was inspired by Union’s company mission to make wine more accessible, and this very well may do the trick.

 

We found the product to be novel and the experience enjoyable, but we were surprised by how great the wine was—causing us to rethink previous notions about bottling. The cans carry both Underwood Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, with grapes from across Oregon. Reasonably priced and with the craftsman spirit of the region, the cans are just an added bonus. And if drinking wine from a can isn’t your thing, pour it into a glass and let it breathe because the product is deeper than the packaging.

 

Ryan Harms, the owner of Union Wine Co., is a firm believer in the saying “it takes a lot of good beer to make good wine.” He likes the way a beer can feels in your hand and its portability, but he didn’t seriously think about canning wine until that rebranding meeting in June. He and his team talked about wanting their products to be accessible, both in the approachability of the varietals’ flavors and the ease with which one could grab a drink. They wanted to see their wines included on a backcountry skiing trip or packed for an exploration of Mount Hood. All of a sudden, the can seemed like a viable wine-delivery option.

 

Not all wines are ideal for being inside aluminum. And the wine industry itself features strict guidelines about bottling and shipping. Of course, for pure kitsch value, we’re hoping that someday you’ll be able to buy matching generic yellow cans labeled BEER and WINE.

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