Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Honda Says Aluminum Use May Increase on Steel Price

By Naoko Fujimura and Hiroshi Matsui

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co., Japan's second- largest automaker, said competition won't allow carmakers to pass on higher steel costs to consumers, which may accelerate the use of more aluminum in cars.

``The consumer won't accept price increases,'' President Takeo Fukui told reporters in Tokyo today. ``We may see a quicker shift to aluminum.''

Nippon Steel Corp., JFE Holdings Inc., and Posco, Asia's three largest steelmakers, agreed to a 65 percent increase in iron ore prices with Cia. Vale do Rio Doce, the companies said separately on Feb. 18. Honda, Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Japan's other vehicle makers may pay a total of 200 billion yen ($1.87 billion) more for steel next fiscal year, according to analysts.
``We need to lower costs with our production process and procurement,'' as steel will remain as main material for autos for the time being, Fukui said.

Tokyo-based Honda plans to offer more fuel-efficient vehicles as the price of oil rises. Honda aims to make hybrids accounting for 10 percent of its global volume around 2010, Fukui said. Honda's sales goal for 2010 is 4.5 million vehicles.

Hybrid Plans

Honda will release a five-seat hybrid in 2009, aiming to sell 200,000 vehicles a year. Fukui also said sales of a hybrid sports car based on the CR-Z prototype unveiled in Tokyo in October may total about 100,000 units a year. The only hybrid Honda sells now is a version of its Civic small car.

The U.S., where Honda gets 41 percent of vehicle sales may not be entering a recession, as the company keeps posting record sales in areas including the East Cost and the Midwest, Fukui said. Still, sales in California and Florida, two states heavily affected by the crisis in subprime mortgages, have dropped, he said.

``I expect auto demand in the U.S. to remain firm,'' Fukui said. ``A shift to smaller cars from light trucks will probably continue''

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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Effects of ultrasonic vibration on degassing of aluminum alloys

Recent research on aluminum degassing

Hanbing Xu, Qingyou Han and Thomas T. Meek, Effects of ultrasonic vibration on degassing of aluminum alloys, Materials Science and Engineering: AVolume 473, Issues 1-2, , 25 January 2008, Pages 96-104. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TXD-4NJ0TJG-1/2/ca2e31f0340a039b472216f225528b04)

Abstract: In order to investigate the effects of ultrasonic vibration on degassing of aluminum alloys, three experimental systems have been designed and built: one for ultrasonic degassing in open air, one for ultrasonic degassing under reduced pressure, and one for ultrasonic degassing with a purging gas. Experiments were first carried out in air to test degassing using ultrasonic vibration alone. The limitations with ultrasonic degassing were outlined. Further experiments were then performed under reduced pressures and in combination with purging argon gas. Experimental results suggest that ultrasonic vibration alone is efficient for degassing a small volume of melt. Ultrasonic vibration can be used for assisting vacuum degassing, making vacuum degassing much faster than that without using ultrasonic vibration. Ultrasonically assisted argon degassing is the fastest method for degassing among the three methods tested in this research. More importantly, dross formation during ultrasonically assisted argon degassing is much less than that during argon degassing. The mechanisms of ultrasonic degassing are discussed.

doi:10.1016/j.msea.2007.04.040 Available through sciencedirect.com

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Getting bored.. try this new aluminum contour bottles...

Coca-Cola is testing a new set of contoured aluminum bottles for it iconic namesake brand.

At the annual Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference here Coke is offering sleek new 250 ml aluminum bottles in red, black and silver for regular Coke, Coke Zero and Diet Coke.

A Coke spokesman said via email that the new bottles are a concept the company is "piloting."

"We wanted to provide the analysts (at the conference) with a snapshot of some of our ideas currently in the pipeline," he said. A sign by the vending machine at the Florida conference says that "the new design is a modern interpretation of the classic contour bottle in aluminum form." The new bottles aren't currently available in stores, but have appeared at select events and some night clubs.

The Coke spokesman said the success of the pilot programs would be one of the factors the company would consider before deciding if it wants to launch the new bottles nationally. He declined to say what the other determining factors would be.

-By Anjali Cordeiro, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2408; anjali.cordeiro@ dowjones.com


On the other side, listen to what Container Recycling Institute said about this new contour can ....


The Container Recycling Institute, today, announced a campaign to discourage Coke from going nationwide with their new can that's shaped like a contour bottle. "Coke's contour can," said Pat Franklin, Executive Director of CRI, "is costly to consumers and costly to the environment. All the consumer gets for the higher cost of the shapely, contour can is more waste and more pollution."

Franklin says the contour can holds the same amount of Coke Classic (12 fluid ounces) as Coke's standard aluminum cans, but is 8 mm taller and 2 grams heavier -- using 15 percent more aluminum than a regular, straight-walled Coke can. The shape of the can was inspired by the original contour glass Coca-Cola bottle, which according to the President of Coke USA, is "one of the world's most powerful equities with consumers."

"Mimicking the refillable, glass bottle, creates the image that the contour can is environmentally-friendly," said Franklin. "But in fact, the contour can creates more waste and more pollution and uses more water and more energy in its production than the standard can, and is many times more wasteful than the refillable glass bottle."

The new can is being marketed in Terre Haute, IN, the city where Coke's glass bottle was first patented in 1915, and four other cities: San Angelo, TX; Tucson and Sierra Vista, AZ and Las Cruces, NM. CRI has been organizing activists in the test-market cities, in an effort to discourage Coke from going nationwide with the can.

CRI estimates that the contour can will consume an additional 25 million pounds of aluminum a year, if it is introduced nationwide. With a 64 percent recycling rate, the institute estimates that approximately 9 million pounds will end up in landfills annually. CRI maintains that the introduction of the contour can flies in the face of the Coca-Cola Co.'s "commitment to the environment", as expressed in their publication, The Coca-Cola Company & The Environment. In that publication they declare, ". . . we have a responsibility to the billions of people . . . and that responsibility includes conducting our business in ways that protect and preserve the environment."

"If Coke goes to the national market with the contour can," said Franklin, "it will reverse the environmental policy of the world's leading soft drink manufacturer, and turn the clock backwards on source reduction."

# # #



NOTE: CRI is encouraging consumers to do four things to help prevent nationwide marketing of Coke's contour can.

1. Sign a petition showing their opposition to Coke's newest package
2. Write a letter to the editor of their local newspaper,
3. Send a check to 'Kick the Can Campaign', c/o The Container Recycling Institute
4. DON'T BUY COKE IN CONTOUR CANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!


News Release
Container Recycling Institute1911 Ft. Myer Drive, Suite 900Arlington, Virginia 22209703/276-9800 fax 276-9587

Monday, February 11, 2008

Effect of alloying elements (Silicon)


Pure aluminium melts at 660.4°C it is not suitable for casting and is only used for electrical applications (where high conductivity is essential), and a few other special applications. Most casting alloys contain silicon as the major alloying element. Silicon forms a eutectic with aluminium at 11.7% Si, 577°C. Silicon additions improve casting characteristics by improving fluidity, feeding and hot tear resistance. The silicon-rich phase is hard, so the hardness of the alloy is increased with Si content but ductility and machinability are reduced.

The eutectic alloys have the highest fluidity for a given casting temperature and having a short freezing range, they solidify with primary shrinkage. They are good for thin section castings. Where higher strength is needed, the lower silicon alloys are used. The hypereutectic alloys are difficult to machine, they are used for wear-resistant applications such as pistons. To better refine primary silicon in hypereutectic alloys, P is often used.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Lifetime evaluation of two different hot work tool steels in aluminium extrusion


by C. Sommitsch, R. Sievert, T. Wlanis and C. Redl


During aluminium extrusion, the die experience cyclic thermo-mechanical loads that can lead to materials degradation and failure. For a process optimization and a comparison of different hot work tool steels, the finite element method is an appropriate means. Local inelastic strains result from the interaction of the applied temperature and stress loading and can be computed by suitable inelastic constitutive equations. Stress amplitudes and dwell times during extrusion result in creep-fatigue damage. A lifetime consumption model sums increments of a damage variable over time and defines materials failure as the accumulation of the resulting damage variable to a critical value. The procedure for the identification of the material parameters for both the constitutive and the damage model is described in detail, including the material parameters for the description of time-effects, and applied to the hot work tool steel Böhler W300 ISOBLOC (EN 1.2343). The lifetime consumption for two different hot work tool steels is compared on the basis of an example in aluminium extrusion.




Keywords: Extrusion; Creep; Fatigue; Viscoplasticity; Aging; Failure

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Grain refinement of aluminum casting alloys

Website Only Article: Grain Refinement of Aluminum Casting Alloys

G. Sigworth
Alcoa Primary Metals, Rockdale, Texas

and T. Kuhn
Alcoa Primary Metals, Frederick, Maryland


The mechanisms and benefits of grain refinement are described. Downloadable from AFS site

Abstract

An overview is given of grain refinement in aluminum casting alloys. The mechanisms involved and the benefits ofrefinement are described. The review shows that current practices were developed long before modern Al-Ti-B refinersbecame available, and are employed now largely for historical reasons. The results of tests in Al-Si, Al-Si-Cu, Al-Cu, Al-Mgand Al-Zn-Mg alloys are presented. The grain refining response is different for each alloy system. It is important tounderstand that titanium can be present in two forms. One dissolves in aluminum; the other is nearly insoluble. Each must becontrolled separately. With today's powerful Al-Ti-B refiners, there is no reason for large additions of soluble titanium inmost alloys. In fact, it is better to say we grain refine with boron, not titanium. The recommended addition is 10-20 ppm ofboron, preferably in the form of Al-5Ti-1B or Al-3Ti-1B rod. Lower dissolved titanium levels provide better grainrefinement and an improved resistance to hot cracking in some alloys. Al-Si casting alloys which contain copper are anexception. In alloys such as 319 or 355, it is best to have a minimum of about 0.1 % Ti.

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