Aluminium Research
for Road Transport Applications
Geoff Scamans
Innoval Technology and Brunel University
Alcan Aluminium Intensive Vehicles (AIVs) 1983 to 1993
BL Metro AIV
Six AIV replica British Leyland
Metros were built in 1983. The
sheet moncoque body structure
was built from AA5251 sheet
while the closure panels
consisted of standard steel
components.
Bertone Fiat X1/9 AIV
Five AIV replica Bertone Fiat
X1/9s were built in 1986 using
AA5251 sheet for the
monocoque and AA6010 for
the closure panels.
Ford Taurus/Sable AIV
A build of 40 Mercury Sable
AIVs was completed in 1993
using AA6111 sheet for closure
panels and AA5754 sheet for
the monocoque structure. The
structure was not redesigned
yet a weight saving of 46%
was achieved.
Range Rover Sport
Range Rover Sport
Current JLR Aluminium Applications
Passenger Vehicle Emissions (ICE) 2012 UK vehicles
350
300
Petrol
Land Rover TD V8
CO2 g/km
250
200
Land Rover TD V6
Diesel
150
Petrol Hybrid
100
50
0
0
500
1000
1500
2000
Curb Weight kg
2500
3000
EU Aluminium Automotive Sheet Production Growth (kt)
900
800
700
600
500
400
body structures (20%)
closures (80%)
300
200
100
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
0
EU Growth in Aluminium Automotive Sheet Continuous Heat
Treatment Capacity (kt)
700
TBC
Novelis Sierre2
600
AMAG, Ranshofen
Hydro, Grevenbroich
500
400
300
Constellium, Neuf Brisach
Aleris, Duffel
Novelis, Sierre
Novelis, Nachterstedt
200
100
2020
2018
2016
2014
2012
2010
2008
2006
2004
2002
2000
0
Alcoa Heat Treatment and Finishing: Davenport
NA Growth in Aluminium Automotive Sheet Continuous Heat
Treatment Capacity (kt)
1000
TBC
900
Alcoa, Knoxville
800
Novelis, Oswego
700
Alcoa, Davenport
600
Alcoa, Danville
Novelis, Kingston
500
400
300
200
100
2020
2018
2016
2014
2012
2010
2008
2006
2004
2002
2000
0
Jaguar F-type
Projected Growth for Extrusion in Key Automotive
Applications (kt)
300.0
2012
2015
250.0
2020
2025
200.0
150.0
100.0
50.0
0.0
Crash
Chassis
Body
This analysis based on the predicted growth in EU27 vehicle production from 17.2 million in 2012
to 30 million in 2025, the increase of aluminium in vehicles from 140kg/vehicle to 220 kg/vehicle
and the progressive increase in extrusions in the mix from 10 to 15%. The estimate for body may
be high if sheet intensive vehicle construction predominates
Range Rover Sport Sand Cast Rear Subframe
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
DTC in Advanced Metallic Systems - Sheffield/Manchester - £6,364,458
DTP in Structurally Metallic Systems for Gas Turbine Applications - Cambridge/Swansea/Birmingham - £6,819,398
Key:
Doctoral Training
A Centre for Doctoral Training on the Theory and Simulation of Materials – Imperial - £6,414,829
Fellowships
Industrial Doctorate Centre: Micro- and NanoMaterials and Technologies – Surrey - £6,168,139
Programme Grants
Industrial Doctorate Centre in Advanced Forming and Manufacture– Strathclyde- £1,231,298
Centre for Innovative
Manufacturing
Step change materials efficiency for steel and aluminium
-Allwood – Cambridge –- £1,565,446
Strategic
Partnership
Steel & Al
Reducing Emissions by Exploiting Field-Induced Martensitic Transformations
Dye – Imperial –- £1,151,930
Responsive
Funding
Steel & Ti
Light Alloys Towards Environmentally Sustainable Transport LATEST2
– Thompson - Manchester – £5,762,121
Targeted Funding
Centre for Innovative Manufacturing: Liquid Metal Engineering
Brunel/Oxford/Birmingham –- £5,119,391
Light Metals
Al & Mg
Rolls-Royce Strategic Partnership Structural Metallic Systems for Gas Turbines–
Birmingham/Cambridge/Swansea/Sheffield – £7,521,798
Hybrid through process modelling
IMMPETUS – Sheffield – £4,517,374
SAMULET4: UFG Ti-6Al-4V for DB/SPF and Hot-Die Forging of Titanium
– Rosochowski, Ewing, Ion, Quin Strathclyde - £2,342,379
Micro- and nano-patterning of titanium surfaces
Dalby – Glasgow £340,919
Ti
Strategic Affordable Manufacturing in the UK through Leading Environmental
Technology (SAMULET)
Ti
Towards Affordable, Closed-Loop Recyclable Future Low Carbon Vehicle Structures - TARF-LCV
Al, Mg & PMC
Brunel/Manchester/Imperial/Nottingham/Strathclyde/Exeter/Brookes/Coventry £4,221,482
Cryogenic Machining Systems (CRYOSIS)
Newman – Bath £224,159
EPSRC funding in the area of light metals
This chart includes funding in the area of light
metals, either current or announced, in April
2013. Grants are grouped into categories. The
named investigators and institutions are those
for the Principal Investigators on the grant and
the figures represent EPSRC’s contribution
(80% FEC). Some grants will have a complete
light metals focus, others (in particular large
grants) will have other metals and materials as
aspects of their research.
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Grain refiner for high performance light metal castings
Babu Nandela – Brunel £121,144
Ti
Al
Energy saving in the Foundry Industry
Jolly – Cranfield £116,344
Cavitation Melt Processing: (UltraMelt)
Eskin – Brunel £340,919
Precision guided flexible forming
Allwood – Cambridge/Bath/Leeds/Trent £1,707,194
UK Indemand: a National Research Centre for reducing Industrial Energy and Material use
Allwood – Cambridge/Bath/Leeds/Trent £6,173,069
Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Laser-based Production
Heriot-Watt/Cambridge/Cranfield/Liverpool/Manchester–- £5,571,751
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Step change materials efficiency for
steel and aluminium
-Allwood – Cambridge –- £1,565,446
Key:
2014
2015
2016
Programme Grants
Centre for Innovative
Manufacturing
Centre for Innovative Manufacturing:
Liquid Metal Engineering
Brunel/Oxford/Birmingham –- £5,119,391
Responsive
Funding
2018
Steel & Al
Light Alloys Towards
Environmentally Sustainable Transport LATEST2
– Thompson - Manchester – £5,762,121
Fellowships
2017
Light Metals
Al & Mg
Hybrid through process modelling
IMMPETUS – Sheffield – £4,517,374
Towards Affordable, Closed-Loop Recyclable Future
Al, Mg & PMCs
Low Carbon Vehicle Structures - TARF-LCV
Brunel/Manchester/Imperial/Nottingham/Strathclyde/Exeter/Brookes/Coventry £4,221,482
Grain refiner for high performance light metal castings
Babu Nandela – Brunel £121,144
Al
Energy saving in the Foundry Industry
Jolly – Cranfield £116,344
EPSRC funding for aluminium research
This chart includes funding in the area of light
metals, either current or announced, in April 2013.
Grants are grouped into categories. The named
investigators and institutions are those for the
Principal Investigators on the grant and the figures
represent EPSRC’s contribution (80% FEC).
Some grants will have a complete light metals
focus, others (in particular large grants) will have
other metals and materials as aspects of their
research.
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Cavitation Melt Processing: (UltraMelt)
Eskin – Brunel £340,919
Precision guided flexible forming
Allwood – Cambridge/Bath/Leeds/Trent £1,707,194
UK Indemand: a National Research Centre for reducing
Industrial Energy and Material use
Allwood – Cambridge/Bath/Leeds/Trent £6,173,069
Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in
Laser-based Production
Heriot-Watt/Cambridge/Cranfield/Liverpool/Manchester–- £5,571,751
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
Towards Affordable, Closed-Loop Recyclable
Future Low Carbon Vehicle Structures:
Metallic Materials Group Objectives
Geoff Scamans
BCAST, Brunel University
Research Vision and Ambition
2011
Primary
input materials
CO2 emission
Vehicle
manufacturing
Vehicle use
ELVs
Recovered metals
(down graded)
Waste
for land filling
2030
Low-carbon input
lightweight
materials
Limited input of
primary materials
Low-carbon
manufacturing
technologies
Mass-optimised
design for
low-carbon usage
Significantly
reduced CO2
Reuse &
remanufacture
Closed-loop
recycling
Dismantling of
ELVs
ELVs (end of
life vehicles)
Minimal waste
for land filling
Project Objectives
To develop closed-loop recyclable Al-alloys and selfcorrosion-resistant Mg-alloys
To develop advanced PMCs using recyclable rGFs, rCFs
and recoverable rNFs
To develop novel technologies for liquid metal treatment
to enable closed-loop recycling
To develop advanced technologies for LC manufacturing
and effective disassembly of ELVs
To develop mass-optimised vehicle design principles
To develop specific LCA methodology for future LCV
development
Recyclable Aluminium BIW
• Magnesium content is not an issue
• AlSi casting alloys result in a high silicon level in the
remelted BIW alloy
• AlMg casting alloys are a promising alternative
(RASCAL TSB project)
• Tolerance of iron is important for casting, sheet
and extrusion alloys (RecycAL FP7 project)
• Recycled alloys should be used for both the closure
panel and structure
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Development of the rheo-diecasting process for lightweight automotive components (RDC)
Innoval, Brunel University, Ford Jaguar, JVM Castings, Meridian, NAMTEC £1,673,893
2015
Key 2004 - 2010:
Direct Chill RheoCasting of High Performance Aluminium Alloys (DCRC)
Innoval, Alcan, Novelis, Brunel, Luxfer Gas Cylinders, Zyomax £2,012,562
Advanced Materials
Structural Adhesive Bonding of thick Components for Advanced Design (SABCAD)
Airbus, BAE Systems, Imperial, Surrey £693,255
High Value
Manufacturing
Upcycling of Light Alloys by Rheoforming Scrap (ULARS)
Innoval, Meridian, Norton Aluminium, Zyomax and Brunel £1,614,996
Environmental
Sustainability
Recyclable Ultra Light Mixed material Automotive Platform (RULMAP)
Innoval, IQuad, Atlas Composites, Boal and Oxford £768,317
Key 2010 - 2015:
Technology Inspired
Innovation
Lower Cost, Light Weight Vehicles by Increasing the Use of Post Consumer Aluminium Scrap (REALCAR)
JLR, Novelis, Norton Aluminium, Zyomax, Innoval, Brunel £1,908,711
Limo Green
Jaguar, Caparo, Lotus, MIRA £4,104,789
Manufacturing
CAE reliability tools and design methods for structures with hybrid bonded joints (BONDEDCAR)
JLR, Coventry, nCode, Stoke Golding, Novelis, Dow, Innoval, and Henrob £1,218,135
Resource Efficiency
Replacement of Copper by Aluminium in Electrical Heating Cables (HEATAL)
Heat Trace, Innoval, 3M, Whatlow and Manchester £2,356,354
Low Carbon
Vehicles
Warm Aluminium Forming Technology (WAFT)
JLR, Dutton, Innoval, Novelis, Stadco, Whiston, Fuchs and Imperial £2,842,974
Highly Innovative Technology
Enablers In Aerospace
Plastic Net-Forming of Metal (PLANET)
Innoval, JLR, Corus, Plastic Omnium, Sabic and Warwick £496,098
Aluminium Matrix Composite Materials for vehicle Weight Reduction
JLR, Composite Metal Technolgy, Antich £2,115,281
A20X High Value Large Structure Casting
Aeromet, LSM, JLR, JVM, University of Birmingham £830,300
Hi-TINAL: Advanced High-Tin Aluminium Plain Bearing Alloys
Rolls Royce, Brunel, KC Engineering £542,682
Magnesium Intensive BIW Structures for the Premium Automotive Sector
Morgan, Penso, MEL, Coventry University, Luxfer £1,415,154
Light weight 7.5 - 12 tonne Future Truck Chassis Concept
Leyland Trucks, Sapa, MI Technology £1,252,530
TSB funding in the area of light metals
(aluminium and magnesium)
Novel Aluminium Dross/Salt Slag Press Technology
Altek £626,622
High quality surface finished aluminium rollers for mass replication (REPLICAL)
Innoval, Macdermid, Stockfield £413,970
This chart includes collaborative R&D
projects with a significant light metal
content that have been funded from
competitions from 2004 to 2013. The
figures represent the total value of the
project. TSB typically provides 50% of the
funding support inline with state aid rules.
Innovative Microstructural Design for Advanced Al Alloys (IDEAL)
Rolls-Royce, Aeromet, University of Birmingham £569,453
Grain refiner for lightweight aluminium automotive castings
Innoval, Grainger & Worrall, ESI-Group, LSM and JLR £705,418
Recyclable aluminium structural casting alloy (RASCAL)
JLR, Innoval, JVM, Norton, Brunel University £885,099
On-line control of Friction Stir Welding processes using ultrasonic testing
Thompson Friction, TWI, Theta, GKN £870,696
Aluminium Lattice Structures via Additive Manufacturing
Econolyst, Alcon, Axon, Delcam, Delphi, Loughborough U, NottinghamU, Renishaw £1,066,769
Recycled tolerant aluminium alloy utilising post consumer waste (REALCAR2)
JLR, Innoval, Novelis, Aleris and Warwick University £980,708
HITEA: REACH Compliant Hexavalent Chrome Replacement
Rolls Royce, GE, BAe Systems, Goodrich, Aeroengine Controls £2,200,000
Ultra-light Car Bodies (UlCab)
PAB, Impression Technologies, Lotus,Innoval, Imperial College £1,117,026
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Aluminium Matrix Composite Materials
for vehicle Weight Reduction
JLR, Composite Metal Technology, Antich
£2,115,281
Technology Inspired
Innovation
A20X High Value Large Structure Casting
Aeromet, LSM, JLR, JVM, U of Birmingham
£830,300
Manufacturing
Hi-TINAL: Advanced High-Tin
Aluminium Plain Bearing Alloys
Rolls Royce, Brunel, KC Engineering
£542,682
Resource Efficiency
Low Carbon
Vehicles
Light weight 7.5 - 12 tonne
Future Truck Chassis Concept
Leyland Trucks, Sapa, MI Technology
£1,252,530
Grain refiner for lightweight
aluminium automotive castings
Innoval, Grainger & Worrall,
ESI-Group, AMG and JLR
£705,418
Recyclable aluminium
structural casting alloy (RASCAL)
JLR, Innoval, JVM, Norton,
Brunel University
£885,099
On-line control of Friction Stir Welding
processes using ultrasonic testing
Thompson Friction, TWI, Theta, GKN
£870,696
TSB active projects (aluminium)
This chart includes collaborative R&D
projects with a aluminium and automotive
content that have been funded from
competitions from 2010 to 2014. The
figures represent the total value of the
project. TSB typically provides 50% of the
funding support inline with state aid rules.
Aluminium Lattice Structures via
Additive Manufacturing
Econolyst, Alcon, Axon, Delcam, Delphi,
Loughborough U, NottinghamU, Renishaw
£1,066,769
Recycled tolerant aluminium alloy
utilising post consumer waste (REALCAR2)
JLR, Innoval, Novelis, Aleris and Warwick University
£980,708
Ultra-light Car Bodies (UlCab)
PAB, Impression Technologies, Lotus,
Innoval, Imperial College
£1,117,026
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
REALCAR 2
Mechanical
Biological
Treatment (MBT)
Aluminium from
MBT
EMR Shredder
Aluminium
RSIs
Coil rolling
DC casting
Consortium Partners
EMR Media
Separation
Aluminium
Melting
Advanced Light Metals Processing Research Centre
•Brunel University has been granted £3.9M from the Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC) for the creation of a national scale-up facility for automotive light
metals research initially in collaboration with Jaguar Land Rover and Constellium. Brunel
University will supplement this grant with a further £5.5M for a dedicated building and
support resource at their site in Uxbridge
•The goal of the “Advanced Light Metals Processing Research Centre” will be to bridge the gap
between fundamental research and industrial applications, allowing rapid exploitation of
innovations developed at the laboratory scale
•The Centre aims to provide high-performance light alloys, resource-efficient casting
technologies, extrusion processing technologies and component innovations to meet the midand long-term needs of the automotive industry
•Of strategic importance will be a fully integrated DC casting and extrusion facility, which is
planned to include a full-size 1600 ton extrusion press complete with support facilities and full
automation, and commercial scale high pressure and low pressure die casting machines
Advanced Light Metals Processing Research Centre
Operational Q3 2014: 1300m2 approx
Summary
 EPSRC support for aluminium and magnesium is concentrated within LiME,
LATEST2, TARF-LCV. These programmes support a large number of RAs
and PhDs
 The Advanced Metallics DTC supports a small number of aluminium PhD
projects
 The support for aluminium research is broadly similar to that of titanium but
much lower than the support for PMCs
 TSB funding to date has supported about 20 aluminium projects to date
with a total project value of over £50m
 Most of the support is for automotive and aerospace related applications