Safety: Size vs. Weight Debate

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Safety is among the top priorities for consumers and the automotive
industry alike. However, it is a complex issue involving the study of many
different types of single vehicle crashes (hitting obstacles, roll-overs, etc.) and
multiple vehicle crashes. Historically, automotive safety has been measured by
reviewing actual crashes in a statistical manner and assessing which features
(weight, wheel base, age or type of vehicle) make a safer vehicle and by conducting
vehicle crashes with dummies into barriers or with side impact.

While these measurements are useful, they do not allow for the systematic
investigation – across many different crash types – of how much safer a vehicle
could be made if its size and weight are altered.

In order to shed light on this issue, the Aluminum Association commissioned
Dynamic Research, Inc. (DRI) to analyze the safety differences in a fleet of SUVs
that vary by size and weight while also studying the safety of the driver in the other
vehicle involved in the crash. This comprehensive approach considers safety in the
context of providing protection for all passengers and vehicles on the road.

Read the full report from here.

Toyota Boasts About Castings

Taken from http://www.moderncasting.com/

Before the big game this past weekend, we saw some castings while watching the NFL during championship week. (Are we getting paid for this overtime?) The castings weren’t on the field of play, of course (although the Steelers defense often looks like it’s composed of engineered metal components). Instead, they took center stage in an advertisement for the Toyota Tundra.
In the 30-second spot, Toyota highlights the Tundra’s power train. On the right side of an oversized balance is a “cast iron V-8 block [that] makes your truck weigh more,” and on the left is an “aluminum [block] that lets you tow more.”

The announcer doesn’t say so, but of course the block on the left is also cast. According to marketing representative Erin Poole, the part is in fact made by Toyota-owned metalcasting facility Bodine Aluminum. Regardless of the use of the word “cast” with the iron block but not the aluminum one, both of the parts are intended in the commercial to look like mean components that make up a mean machine. And the engineered, cohesive look of the castings helps pull that intention off.

Remember, this is the line of trucks that have been featured in some of the more over-the-top truck advertisements ever produced. Namely, the ones showing the Tundra pulling off death defying feats with relative ease—bringing a 10,000-lb. trailer quickly to a stop down a steep grade, stopping at the edge of a gorge after barreling through a tight gate, etc. The company also went all out to show just how tough the Tundra is during this year’s Super Bowl. So the castings used in the more subtle campaign have big shoes to fill.

And according to Poole, castings haven’t made their last appearance in the Tundra commercials. The truck also features a cast steel brake rotor that will make an appearance in the campaign sometime in the near future. Keep yours eyes out for it, and tell your boss you did some industry research while watching TV.

Development of Hypereutectic Aluminum-Silicon Alloys for High Pressure Die Casting

The current paper presents the results of the experimental program to develop of hypereutectic aluminum-silicon alloy similar to the 390 alloy for high pressure die casting. Calcium and zirconium were respectively used as eutectic silicon modifier and primary silicon refiner. Calcium, once considered deleterious because of its effect on the properties of aluminum alloys, is now considered beneficial in many ways. The addition of calcium decreases the nucleation temperature of the primary silicon, thus makes the developed alloy suitable for high-pressure die casting avoiding the problems such a reduced die life, due to a thermal fatigue and abrasion. In addition, a low pouring temperature of new hypereutectic die casting alloy minimizes the risk of the melt spurting out of the die and appearance of hot tearing. The optimum alloy and process parameters of the high pressure die casting process were selected by a designed die which contains test samples for measurement of hot tearing resistance, die sticking tendency, mechanical properties and abrasive wear. Effects of filling conditions on microstructure and mechanical properties of AlSi17Cu4 with combinations of Ca and Zr are discussed.

This is a paper being Presented at the 113th Metalcasting Congress. Registration Open Now!

A new way to produce hydrogen with aluminum and water

Penn State University and Virginia Commonwealth University scientists have discovered a way to produce hydrogen by exposing selected clusters of aluminum atoms to water. The artist's concept shows aluminum clusters reacting with water to produce hydrogen. The image on the bottom depicts a water molecule. One hydrogen atom (red ball) and two oxygen atoms (silver balls) split on the surface of an aluminum cluster. The blue regions are Lewis-acid sites and the orange regions are Lewis-base sites. The upper-right image shows multiple water molecules binding to the active sites of an aluminum cluster. The upper-left image shows the release of hydrogen (two silver balls surrounded by orange halo). Learn more.

EPA Proposes New Area Source Rules for Nonferrous Facilities

As part of its Urban Air Toxics Strategy under the Clean Air Act and a consent decree with the Sierra Club, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to promulgate new air emissions standards for smaller, or area sources of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), from a broad range of industry sectors, including aluminum, copper and other nonferrous metalcasting facilities. On Jan. 15, EPA signed the proposed area source rule for nonferrous metalcasters.
EPA expected to publish the proposed rule in the Federal Register by the end of January. Pursuant to the terms of the court order, EPA must issue a final rule for these three metalcasting area sources by June 15.

The proposed rule establishes a set of management practices for all of the area source metalcasting facilities and emission limits for copper and other nonferrous metalcasting facilities. The proposed rule requires all aluminum, copper and other nonferrous metalcasting facilities that melt 600 tons of metal per year to meet the following management practices: cover or enclose each melting furnace that is equipped with a cover or enclosure during the melting operation, to the extent practicable (ie., except where access is needed, such as for charging, alloy addition, tapping); purchase only metal scrap that has been depleted of HAPs in the materials charged to the metal furnace (except metal scrap that is purchased specifically for its HAP metal content for use in alloying); prepare and operate pursuant to a written management plan that includes both of the practices listed previously and any other management practices that are implemented at the facility to minimize emissions from melting furnaces. The comment period on the proposed rule will be 30 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register. The AFS 10-E Committee will be conducting a more thorough review of the proposed rule and preparing comments on behalf of the metalcasting industry.

To view the proposed rule summary, click here. For more information, contact Jeff Hannapel, The Policy Group, at jhannapel@thepolicygroup.com or 202/457-0630.

Heat Treating of Light Alloys

March 25-26, 2009

Doubletree HotelAnaheim/Orange County, CA USA

Mark your calendars for the first-time presentation on light alloys in heat treating. Learn all about aluminum and titanium, next generation composites, new techniques in processing, microstructure development, resultant properties and performance. Get a leg up on the competition in the fast-changing world of light alloys.Network and do business with the best in the heat treating industry.