By Aaron Palumbo, Big Blue Technologies. Magnesium metal is trending, again. The original boom cycle of the 1930s and ’40s was sparked by the second world war, resulting in the array of foundational production technologies to which today’s processes owe a great deal. The 1980s and ’90s saw more advancement and rapid expansion of end-uses […]
The Aluminum Association in cooperation with Ducker Carlisle published its 2023 North American Light Vehicle Aluminum Content and Outlook study in April 2023. This new survey of automakers and Tier 1 suppliers confirms that aluminum use will continue to grow in the automotive market throughout the end of the decade, largely fueled by demand for […]
Located in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Benkam Alu Extrusions, part of AKFA Group, is the only major manufacturer of aluminum profiles in Central Asia. Launched by AKFA in 2015, Benkam is a dynamically evolving company that utilizes advanced technologies to meet internationally recognized standards (such as ISO). The company has a strong market presence in 15 countries […]
By Dr. Anne Deacon Juhl, AluConsult and AnodizingSchool. In many industries, companies often resort to paint instead of color anodized products due to the prevalent issue of color variation and lower costs. This practice poses two significant problems. First, painted surfaces are prone to chipping and peeling, rendering them less durable compared to anodized finishes. […]
By Praveen Hewage, Alumex PLC, and Craig Werner, Werner Extrusion Solutions LLC. The die correction process relies heavily on input parameters of various dimensions. It follows a sophisticated and experience-based approach that requires a high level of technical understanding and manual skill (which was discussed in the first article in this series, published in Light […]
By Mark Butterfield, Metal Exchange Corporation. Editor’s Note: This is the fourth in a series of six articles in which the author will explore opportunities for the aluminum extrusion industry in the automotive market. The series will specifically address the supply chain, raw material supply, extrusion, fabrication, and assembly. Demand for an Expanding Value Stream […]
Hydro partnered with the Catholic University of America (CUA) to reconstruct the iconic geodesic dome designed by famed architect, inventor, and futurist, Buckminster Fuller, inside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The dome is constructed with extruded aluminum structural members made from Hydro CIRCAL, the company’s certified aluminum product, which contains at least 75% […]
By Andrea Svendsen, Managing Editor. Hydro successfully produced a batch of aluminum billet using green hydrogen as an energy source. Performed at the company’s extrusion plant in Navarra, Spain, the trial was conducted in collaboration with Hydro Havrand, Hydro’s green hydrogen company, and Fives, an industrial engineering group with expertise in hydrogen burner technology. According […]
By Andrew Halonen, Mayflower Consulting LLC. Material developers and producers are feeling global pressure to optimize their respective businesses, especially as communications get easier and as once-difficult tasks are optimized and commoditized by automation technologies. Gone are the days that a midwestern forging producer would automatically have a competitive advantage with an automotive OEM over […]
