Overview

As demand for high-quality and precision processed rolled aluminium products steadily expands, the importance of advanced manufacturing technologies is also rising.

First things first: aluminium has a silvery color and is only green once painted or anodized. This fact is important to bear in mind when scrutinizing claims of green aluminium. Ultimately, only on closer inspection does it become clear wether an assertion is just that, i.e. colored green, or wether the statement is comprehensively technically correct.

Based on the Paris Climate Agreement in December 2015, international climate policy aims to reduce emissions in order to limit the increase in global temperatures to a maximum of 2°C by the middle of the century. This aim underpinned the EU’s decision to set a target of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Adopted in 2021, the European Climate Law enshrined these emission reduction targets in law and set the overall direction of travel.

Aluminium can be made “greener” through recycling, energy efficiency, durability and systematic application of lightweight design concepts

At AMAG’s Ranshofen site, the impacts of climate change are already tangible and quantifiable. This becomes evident when looking at the change in a variety of climatic metrics in Ranshofen, especially over the last two decades.

The hot rolling process has a significant influence on the formability of Al-Mg-Si sheets (6xxx alloys) used in automotive bodywork. AMAG researchers collaborating with scientific partner institutes have identified a physical cause for this connection in the key AA6016 alloy: pure silicon precipitates grow at grain boundaries during and after hot rolling. If they grow too large, they do not disappear completely during solution heat treatment and reduce the material’s formability. To prevent this, AMAG uses a specifically developed material model that pre-calculates the growth of silicon precipitates. This computer-based model rapidly optimizes hot rolling pass schedules to achieve the best possible formability in sheets for the automotive industry.

Even though AlMgSi(Cu) alloys have long since become standard materials for wide-ranging applications in the field of lightweight construction, the micro­structural processes that occur during their production continue to raise fascinating questions. For many years, the focus has been on cluster formation and its impact on artificial aging and the formation of hardening precipitates [1,2]. There are also new and extensive studies  concentrating on the early stages of over-aging [3,4]. In contrast, however, the mechanism by which stable phases develop has been the subject of considerably less attention to date, and information on the topic remains inconclusive [5-8]. In some ways, this is hardly surprising, given that stable phases in AlMgSi(Cu) alloys are typically undesirable in the finished product, as they do not make an appreciable contribution to material strength.

When the first issue of AluReport was published in 2008, the liberalization of the electricity and gas markets in the years before had begun to give rise to a new awareness of energy as a topic. The number of providers had increased significantly, and new categories of suppliers were emerging. Nevertheless, energy widely remained little more than a vague, gray cost factor, with little need to give thought to its availability.
Few people were interested in the origins of energy or in energy labeling systems. At that time, securing an energy supply meant selecting gas and electricity suppliers and agreeing a contract for a handful of years. The electricity infrastructure on the Ranshofen site dated back to the era when AMAG was founded, comprising a 110 kV switchgear operated by the Austrian Power Grid (APG) and 110/20 kV transformers owned by AMAG.

Daylight is essential to our survival. Not only does it influence our physical health, it also contributes to our emotional and psychological wellbeing. In addition, a plentiful supply of daylight has a positive influence on our visual perception, helps to reduce eye fatigue and tiredness, and improves productivity.

The youngest member of the AMAG CrossAlloy® family, CrossAlloy®.68, is a textbook example of the adaptation of material characteristics using thermomechanical processes and structural control. In the pursuit of recycling-friendly wrought aluminium alloys, a typical 6xxx alloy was supplemented with a high iron content, as is common in 8xxx alloys used for foil applications. The experiment provided some interesting observations.

From hoods and doors to fenders and deck lids, AMAG automotive sheets have wide-ranging automotive applications and meet numerous requirements. In addition to mechanical and forming characteristics, these sheets possess excellent corrosion resistance, process-stable weldability and bondability combined with outstanding surface quality for defect-free painting.

Wie im AluReport 01/2023 ausführlich berichtet, hat AMAG components einen Masterplan für die zukünftige Ausrichtung des Unternehmens erarbeitet. Die Umsetzung dieses Masterplans erfolgt in mehreren Phasen an den Standorten Übersee und Karlsruhe und zielt auf die Verbesserung aller wesentlichen operativen Kennzahlen zur bestmöglichen Versorgung unserer Kunden ab: