Editor’s Note: It is widely understood that vehicle mass reduction is influenced by government regulations, consumer preferences, costs (material, processing, and operational), fuel prices, OEM objectives that require specific physical and mechanical properties of use, and cradle-to-gate initiatives. Considering U.S. government initiatives, the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) supports all technologies for […]
Joseph C. Benedyk
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Editors Note: In a new life cycle assessment report available for download, the Aluminum Association states that, from 1991 to 2022, the energy and carbon impact of primary aluminum production in North America has declined by 49% while that of recycled aluminum production dropped by 60%. This 157 page report analyzed data from over 100 […]
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Editors Note: In case you missed it, every April since 1996 has been designated as “National Welding Month” by the American Welding Society. As I have been working on this column this April, it was appropriate to focus on what has become a game changing welding process for metals in general and light metals in […]
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Editor’s Note: As the official media sponsor of ET ’24, LMA published a special January 2024 issue devoted to aluminum extrusion technology and breaking extrusion news for readers to “Get Ready for ET ’24.” In that issue the focus of our patent review was on aluminum extrusion design aimed at optimizing requirements for a wide […]
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Editors Note: This survey focuses on primary aluminum production patents granted recently in the U.S. and Canada, neighboring countries working together since the industry began. Today, Canada is one of the largest aluminum exporters to the U.S. A large majority of Canada’s primary aluminum is exported to the U.S., making it an important raw material […]
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Editor’s Note: The lightest of all metals, lithium is a fundamental material for the production of lithium-ion rechargeable batteries (LIBs) which achieve high energy and power densities thanks to the unique atomic structure and electrochemical properties of lithium. Having been globally commercialized for some three decades, LIBs are available in various types, based on cathode […]
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Editor’s Note: Since the June issue of Light Metal Age ran the Viami International Inc. article on aluminum giga-castings in car manufacturing, the topic of high pressure die casting (HPDC) has prompted interest as a focus of this column, especially as it applies to automotive applications. Such castings predominate in today’s cars that are powered […]
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Editor’s Note: Positive environmental and commercial considerations have driven the rapid rise of secondary aluminum in achieving about a third of global aluminum consumption today. Data from the Aluminum Association and the International Aluminum Institute indicate that recycling aluminum uses 90-95% less energy compared with primary aluminum and ~75% of all aluminum ever produced since […]
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Editor’s Note: Part II supplements the International Patent Calendar published in October 2021 on “Additive Manufacturing of Light Metals.” This second version covers selected U.S. patents on the subject that were published more recently. The rapid pace of invention in additive manufacturing (AM) worldwide is due not only to the rapid prototyping of complex shapes […]