Sometimes lost in the discussion on new and emerging automotive materials, aluminum continues to make inroads in an ever-
increasing number of parts. This month ABRN examines how aluminum is impacting the collision repair community.
Upping the aluminum ante
Alcoa's manufacturing plant in Modena, Italy, builds aluminum spaceframes for Ferrari. Repairing aluminum frame vehicles can
involve a significant investment in new tools and equipment. (All photos courtesy of Alcoa)
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If you haven't already seen more aluminum rolling into your bays, you can certainly expect additional amounts of this material
going forward. "The average vehicle now has 310 pounds of aluminum versus five years ago when it was probably less than 100
pounds," notes Mike Anderson, president of Wagonwork Collision Centers in Alexandria, Va. "Aluminum has replaced plastic as
the No. 2 material used in car manufacturing."
As of 2006, aluminum has even eclipsed steel in vehicle content as automakers applied more than 580 million pounds of aluminum
sheet for closures, instrument panels, structural parts and body components, representing a 100-percent increase over the
amount of aluminum used in 2002, according to Buddy Stemple, chairman of the Aluminum Association's Auto and Light Truck Group.
In August of this year General Motors announced that it will now be using aluminum wheels, blocks and cylinders to reduce
vehicle weight, in concert with other improvements, to boost fuel economy and reduce the emissions in its full size SUVs and
pickup trucks. "Importantly, GM used this 'lightweighting' strategy to maintain the size of its Silverado, Sierra, Tahoe and
Yukon while also ensuring they continued to deliver the same towing capacity of earlier models," says Stemple.
The Audi Space Frame (ASF) on this 2004 Audi A8 is an all-aluminum design that helps offset the bulk of the car's Quattro
all-wheel-drive system
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"GM's announcement is in keeping with previous strategic uses of aluminum by the automaker, including opting for aluminum
hood, tailgate, driveshafts and bumper structure of the 2008 Tahoe Hybrid," he points out. "With help from aluminum, this
full-size SUV is estimated to consume about 25 percent less gasoline on average than a conventional Tahoe."
"New research that we have provided to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) demonstrates that making
hybrids and diesel cars and trucks lighter – without making them smaller – can reduce the consumers' initial vehicle cost
and pay them back faster than traditional heavier-bodied models," he says.
"Due to available data and on-the-road examples of lighter, yet larger and safer vehicles, we also strongly support a size-based
passenger car and light truck standard. Vehicle size, not vehicle weight, is a better safety determinant and such a size-based
rule will encourage the development and availability of lower-weight materials whose use might advance fuel economy and preserve
or even enhance safety," says Stemple.
Aluminum provides significant environmental benefits. Most automotive aluminum is recycled, which saves 95 percent of the
energy needed to produce it while avoiding 95 percent of the greenhouse gases associated with primary aluminum production.
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"There are also significant environmental benefits to down-weighting with aluminum because lighter vehicles burn less fuel
and produce fewer tailpipe emissions. For each pound of aluminum, which replaces two pounds of conventional steel, a net 20
pounds of CO2 equivalents can be saved over the typical lifetime of a vehicle," he says. In addition, most aluminum is recycled,
which saves 95 percent of the energy needed to produce the material.
"The amount of aluminum exterior panels will likely continue to grow, but the number of aluminum-intensive unitized structures
will not increase as much," forecasts Jason Bartanen, technical director at I-CAR. "Some vehicle makers — Audi, Jaguar and
Aston Martin, for example — have made a commitment to aluminum with some of their product offerings, but they are the minority
at this point. I'd hate to speculate too much, but I believe that they will continue to be the minority when it comes to aluminum-intensive
structures," he says.
Vehicles utilizing complete aluminum structures include the Audi A8, Jaguar XJ and XK series, BMW Z8, Aston Martin Vanquish,
Ford GT, and the Chevrolet Corvette model Z O6. The BMW 5 and 6 series have a combination of a steel body and an aluminum
front section.
Posted Nov 07 2008 12:37PM
