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  • The cooling table and automated stretcher on the new press line at Alexandria.

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    Alexandria’s New Aluminum Extrusion Press Line

    By Andrea Svendsen, Managing Editor. Alexandria Industries completed an investment project at its operations in Alexandria, MN, where the company has expanded its manufacturing space, installed a new 7 inch, 26 MN front-loading extrusion press line with advanced automation capabilities, and added a new front office and entry. The new press line allows the company […]

  • The new casting facility at Western Extrusions.

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    Western Extrusions’ New Highly 
Automated Casthouse

    Western Extrusions, located in Carrollton, TX, manufactures and supplies quality aluminum profiles to a variety of industries and markets, including building and construction, transportation, consumer durables, electrical, and distribution. Recently, the company completed the construction and start up of its first casting facility. The new casthouse empowers the company to have control over its own […]

  • Ford Mustang Mach-E

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    Electric Vehicle Material Selection for Chassis and Suspension Components

    By Andrew Halonen, Mayflower Consulting LLC. Regardless of whether a vehicle features an electric or internal combustion engine (ICE), there are many factors that affect the fuel efficiency and range in its design. Efficiency losses can come in many forms, but are generally affected by factors such as aerodynamics, rolling resistance, friction losses, and weight. […]

  • Automotive Innovation - The Jaguar I-Pace is a fully electric model, which utilizes aluminum sheet from Novelis in its body and battery structures.

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    Alumobility Drives Automotive Innovation

    By Andrea Svendsen, Managing Editor. Alumobility is a new non-profit organization recently launched by Novelis and Constellium in January 2021. Acting as a global ecosystem, the organization fosters collaboration between leading aluminum manufacturers and downstream technology partners, with input from vehicle OEMs, in order to advance the adoption of aluminum body sheet in the automotive […]

  • Figure 2. Top image shows a very fine grained microstructure and the image in the bottom a very coarse grained one—both found on the same aluminum part made of EN AW 6061 aluminum alloy.

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    Introduction to Anodizing Aluminum

    By Dr. Anne Deacon Juhl, AluConsult and AnodizingSchool. Editor’s Note: Aluminum manufacturers are not always consistently satisfied with the surface quality of the anodized extrusion and sheet products returned from their anodizers. The anodized products may have patchy surfaces, color variations, or corrosion pits, causing rejects, higher cost, and frustration. Therefore, it is crucial that […]

  • An aluminum billet being loaded into the billet heater prior to extrusion at Benkam Alu Extrusions in Uzbekistan.

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    Benkam Launches Multi-Year Expansion to Increase Extrusion Capacity

    Benkam Alu Extrusions, owned by AKFA Group, is one of the major manufacturers of aluminum profiles in Central Asia. Located in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the company recently announced that it is launching a multi-year expansion project, which will more than double its aluminum extrusion production capabilities. This expansion is a part of the company’s overall strategic […]

  • Figure 5. Cross car beam made of AM50 magnesium alloy. (Source: Meridian Lightweight Technologies.)

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    IMA Launches New Magnesium LCA Study: Setting Sight on Lowering CO2 Emissions

    By Simone Ehrenberger, Institute for Vehicle Concepts, and Dr. Martin Tauber, IMA Achieving zero CO2 emission levels has been a major driver for sustainability goals around the world, with many governments and companies declaring ambitious goals for a circular economy through 2030 and beyond.1 For large, traditional primary metal or processing industries, such as magnesium, […]

  • Figure 2. Demolition and removal of SPL from an aluminum cell cathode.

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    The SPL Waste Management Challenge in Primary Aluminum

    By Alton Tabereaux, Contributing Editor. Spent potlining (SPL) disposal is one of the largest environmental waste management challenges confronting worldwide primary aluminum smelters due to its toxicity. The International Aluminium Institute (IAI) asserts that 1.6 million tons of SPL were generated from primary aluminum production in 2019,1 making it the second largest waste volume produced […]