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Book Review: International Casting and Rolling Technology Conference Proceedings
12-26-02
Publisher: The Aluminum Association
If technology in the areas of aluminum casting and rolling is of importance to your business, the Proceedings from the International Casting and Rolling Technology Conference are a must for your bookshelf. This conference, organized by the Aluminum Association's Sheet and Plate Division, was held in May 1999 in Baltimore, MD. It continued a tradition of conferences in this area, with a stand-alone conference in 1989 in New Orleans, LA followed by sessions at the Aluminum Association's Alumitech conferences in 1994 and 1997. With the suspension of the Alumitech conferences, it was deemed important to reinstate the stand-alone conference in this area. The 1999 conference had a significant global flavor, being co-sponsored by the European Aluminum Association and the Japan Light Metals Association and drawing 225 attendees from around the world. The Proceedings volume captures 31 presentations as well as a list of the exhibitors from the accompanying exhibition.
Six papers make up the General Session section. These provide a wide-ranging overview of the industry and some of the key its drivers that provide a valuable perspective, especially for those new to the industry. The President of the Aluminum Association, J. Stephen Larkin, welcomed the attendees and outlined the mission and activities of the Association. The presentation by Richard Evans of Alcan gives a concise history of some of the key events in the history of the industry, and then focuses on the aluminum can and automotive applications as two key areas. Michael Peterson of Peterson Aluminum Company provides a distributor's perspective on the industry, discussing issues related to consolidation and also highlighting the need for more aggressive marketing of aluminum's attributes. The remaining presentations in this section focus on specific product areas. Klekner of Anheuser-Busch reviewed four aspects of the aluminum can-lightweighting, decoration, opening feature, and manufacturing process-from both an historical and future perspective. Sherman of Ford and Katrak, et al. of Charles River Associates discuss in separate presentations the challenges and opportunities for further penetration of aluminum into automotive applications. The latter article predicts that, should aluminum sheet prices be reduced to the range of $1.00 per pound for automotive quality product, aluminum would have an equal percentage share of the automobile with steel by 2015.
Two papers cover the topic of metal treatment and four address continuous casting. The continuous casting papers in particular provide a good overview of three of the key processes, the Hazlett belt caster as well as FATA Hunter and Pechiney Jumbo 3CM twin roll casters, and also some supporting process modeling work.
The Casting section presents work on casting process and solidification modeling as well as describing the Alusuisse casting automation system. A chart providing a history of process automation that appears in the latter paper is an especially useful summary.
The section dealing with rolling technologies provides a wide range of interesting papers. Two address coolant issues, specifically filtration and removal from the rolled strip. A series of six papers discuss rolling mill upgrades, providing specific examples of installations and equipment. The final paper in this set from Mason of VAI Industries entitled "Rolling Mill Modernizations-What's Next?" is a good discussion of technical directions in this area. Shape control during rolling is the topic of the final two papers in this section, addressing methods to meet the ever-increasing demands for improved control of thickness, profile, and flatness.
The final section entitled Automotive Applications supplements the papers on this topic presented in the General Session. A European overview of aluminum auto body sheet is provided in an Alusuisse paper. The issues of the energy and environmental impacts of aluminum use in automobiles over the life of the vehicle are addressed in two articles. The Life Cycle Inventory of the North American aluminum industry, a study sponsored by the Aluminum Association is discussed in the first paper, highlighting the life cycle benefits of aluminum use. (This report is available from the Aluminum Association). A complementary summary of the life cycle analysis of auto body sheet from a recycling standpoint, contrasting the effects of different recycling approaches, is the subject of a second paper. A report on the ALCAR consortium for development of a low cost, non-heat treatable auto body sheet alloy is included, focusing mostly on the organizational and project management aspects rather than on technical results. The Proceedings concludes with two papers from Alcan on the properties of 6xxx series auto body sheet, dealing with response to paint baking and formability issues, respectively.
The Proceedings from the 1999 conference as well as the prior Proceedings from Alumitech '94 and Alumitech '97 are available from the from the Aluminum Association Bookstore online at www.aluminum.org.
Article provided courtesy of The Aluminum Association - www.aluminum.org
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