By F. Eberl, J.P. Masse, and B. Davo, Constellium. In aircraft wing structure design, two types of concepts predominate today — largely metallic aluminum wing structures used for short-medium range, single-aisle aircraft, such as the Airbus A320 or Boeing B737, and largely composite wing covers used for the latest long-range, twin-aisle aircraft, such as the […]
By Andrew Halonen, Mayflower Consulting, LLC. Vehicle construction has always been a multi-material story. Instrument panels are comprised of plastic, foam, and metal, while seats are made from leather or fabric covering foam on a steel structure. Looking under the hood, the engine block is often made of cast iron with cylinder heads made of […]
Editor’s Note: As many Light Metal Age articles and items have noted, the friction stir welding (FSW) process, which joins aluminum components in the solid state, has been applied throughout the world in various industries that produce products for transportation, B&C, and industrial and consumer sectors. The November 2020 selection of patents covered a wide […]
Editor’s Note: As many articles have appeared in Light Metal Age (both in the magazine and online) describing and following the friction stir welding (FSW) process, especially its application in joining aluminum alloys in various forms and tempers, readers should be familiar with its advantages. In the FSW process, aluminum components are joined in the solid […]
FABTECH 2019, North America’s largest metal forming, fabricating, welding, and finishing, was held on November 11-14 in Chicago, Illinois. The event achieved record attendance, with a total of 48,278 attendees from 95 countries over the course of four days. During FABTECH, Light Metal Age spoke with Prof. Xiaochun Li, founder of MetaLi, about the company’s groundbreaking […]
Vehicle manufacturers are exploring the use of aluminum, high-strength steel, magnesium, carbon-fiber composites, and other lightweight materials to reduce vehicle mass and improve fuel economy. This approach requires new adhesive chemistries that will mitigate corrosion and thermal expansion issues associated with joining dissimilar materials. PPG was selected for a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) partnership, […]
Showa Denko in Japan developed an innovative technology to directly bond aluminum alloys and polycarbonate resin (a commodity amorphous engineering plastic) without using an adhesive. One possible application for this technology is the housings for smart phones, which require a high level of durability. It is common to join aluminum alloys and polycarbonate resin through […]
The Materials Testing Institute at the University of Stuttgart has developed a process, based on friction stir welding (FSW), for the high-strength welding of aluminum and steel plates. The plates can have different thicknesses and the seam is so stable that the hybrid plates can even be deep drawn. This enables lightweight yet sturdy hybrid […]
The demand for lighter automobile bodies in order to provide improved fuel efficiency and reduced CO2emissions has increased in recent years, and various types of aluminum alloys are now being used for automobile parts in an increasingly broad range of ways. Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. in Japan developed a new fiber laser welding technology said to address […]
