
Spanish racing driverFernando Alonso has added a one-off Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse to his growing collection of rare cars. Known as chassis 8.100, the car is distinguished by bespoke aluminium bodywork that required more than 20 tonnes of aluminium to produce, along with dedicated CAD programmes developed by Bugatti. Its history is equally distinctive, being produced after an original customer pushed Bugatti to create something it had initially considered too expensive. For Alonso, the automobile fits closely with an approach to luxury he outlined in 2024 about choosing manufacturers that treat individual customers differently rather than simply producing cars in larger numbers. To know the aluminium casting demand forecast in the transportation sector, explore our report "Global...
Ducati has unveiled the Desmo450 SM, a new production supermoto developed from its Desmo450 MX platform, featuring an aluminium twin-spar frame. This is designed to combine low weight, rigidity and strength. The motorcycle made its debut during World Ducati Week and is aimed at competition use. The Desmo450 SM uses the same aluminium frame architecture as the motocross model. Ducati says the frame has also been designed to allow a straighter intake route while maintaining the strength and rigidity needed for high-performance riding. The bike has a fuel capacity of 7.2 litres. The company has also focused on reducing weight in other areas. Its Bartubeless wheel system, for example, removes inner tubes and cuts rotating and unsprung mass by 1.2kg. The motorcycle also features a cast...
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Anheuser-Busch InBev has started construction on a US$175m aluminium bottle line in Florida as it looks to increase production of the format. The new line, at Anheuser-Busch's Metal Container Corp facility in Jacksonville, will produce Budweiser and Bud Light aluminium bottles, the company said yesterday. It is AB InBev's second aluminium bottle line in the US since it launched the format in 2013 from its St Louis facility. "The aluminium bottle has become overwhelmingly popular with beer drinkers, and we are proud to break ground on a new line in Jacksonville that will further expand production," said Dave Taylor, president of Metal Container Corp. The new line, which will create about 75 jobs, was first announced last year. Metal Container Corp is a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch that...

Airbus and Fokker Technologies are partnering for research on automated production of fiber metal laminate (FML), lightweight layers of aluminium and glass fiber. Early FML, also called Glare, was used on the upper fuselage and the vertical stabilizer of the Airbus A380. Automated production and next-generation fiber will improve FML performance and reduce cost. Maarten van Mourik, Fokker director for large commercial aircraft, says FML has better material properties than aluminium, especially in fatigue resistance, allowing for lighter designs. “FML also offers considerable weight advantages versus polymer composites in smaller fuselages because these composites carry a weight penalty, due to minimum thickness for damage tolerance.” While fatigue resistance is FML’s chief advantage, it...

Seagate Technology PLC, the leading American data storage company, has unveiled Innov8, the world's first USB-powered desktop hard drive. All the power that the 8TB Innov8 drive needs is delivered along with the data down a single, reversible USB-C cable thanks to a feature that Seagate is calling Ignition Boost. The all-new USB-powered desktop hard drive is housed in an all-aluminium enclosure that's both sturdy and well-balanced. All Innov8 drives come with Seagate Dashboard software, which offers users either one-click on-demand or customizable, scheduled backups for their devices. Also included is 200GB of Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage and Lyve software compatibility, so users can back up, access and share their data from any device (Android and iOS) or location. The drive enclosed...

As automobile manufacturers and operators look for ways to improve fuel economy and freight efficiency, lightweighting tops the list. Investing in lightweighting is an attractive and economical alternative to adding new equipment, potentially saving fleets nearly $1 million over five years, according to a recent “Confidence Report on Lightweighting” by Trucking Efficiency, an initiative of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) and the Carbon War Room (CWR) that aims to double the efficiency of the North American trucking fleet. “When lightweighting is looked at not only in terms of better fuel economy but also [in terms of] improved freight efficiency, it makes sense in a wide variety of applications,” says Mike Roeth, operation lead at Trucking Efficiency. One...

A public park in Dublin, Ohio is to be the recipient of an aluminium statue that the artist hopes will foster more connectedness in a world that she believes is more and more divided. “We focus too much on what makes us different instead of what connects us,” said Olga Ziemska, an artist from nearby Cleveland. “I am an avid watcher of what connects me to others. I’m always looking for universality and that’s what I try to underline in my work.” With that vision in mind, the Dublin Arts Council awarded Ziemska a US$150,000 commission to install two pieces of art in the city’s Thaddeus Kosciuszko Park. The first part of this installation is named “Feather Point,” and consists of a twenty-one-foot-tall aluminium feather. The second piece, named “Universal Gathering,” is planned to be a cast...

Acer has released full-body aluminium Chromebook 14 after the spectacular response it received after Chromebook launch. Now, with the new Acer Chromebook 14, the computer manufacturing brand has upped the feel and focus of the product. Chromebook 14 comes with a dual-core Intel Celeron processor along with standard Intel HD graphics integration. It features a 1080p screen at 14 inches, 4GB of RAM, Wi-Fi 802.11ac and up to 12 hours of battery life. The fully aluminium body comes in “Sparkly Silver” and runs under three-and-a-half pounds. The full-body aluminium Acer Chromebook 14 is on pre-order right now for $299.99 online.

An automotive supplier in Fairfield is expanding to make aluminium vehicle parts for one of its automaker customers, a company manager told Fairfield City Council members at their meeting Monday. According to market reports, Pacific Manufacturing of Fairfield, a Tier 1 auto supplier to Toyota, was planning an approximately $50 million, 72,000-square-foot building expansion at its facilities on Seward Road. Expansion plans could also add about 60 new jobs over the next three years. The project received approval Monday for the Ohio Job Creation Tax Credit from state authorities, as well as property tax incentives from the city government. “With this new expansion, we’ll expand to a new customer, which will be Subaru. This allows us to advance in new technology, meaning aluminium, more...

The next-generation Renault Clio could feature hybrid technology drawn from the new Euro-market Scenic MPV – but it won’t be a plug-in, according to a UK report. The body of the car employs a mix of high-strength steel, aluminium, magnesium and thermoplastics to save weight. The current fourth-generation Clio, which debuted in 2012, is only available with turbocharged petrol engines in Australia, while European markets also get turbo-diesel options. A recent report says the next Clio is likely to feature a mild hybrid system, similar to that featured in the recently revealed Scenic MPV. In addition to hybrid tech, the next Clio could utilise a suite of specialised aerodynamic features as seen with the futuristic 2015 Renault EOLAB concept, which had a claimed fuel use of 1.0L/100km. The...

The International Space Station, located 250 miles above the earth, is an assemblage of aluminium, titanium, steel and Kevlar components, worth USD 160 billion. David Nixon, a British architect with special interest in space architecture, in his book has described it as a masterpiece of architecture and engineering which can be placed at par with the Eiffel Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge. Outside the constraints of earthbound gravity, structure of the space station follows different rules, Nixon writes. It has a different concept of “up” and “down”, and has the convincing quality of most objects designed to meet extreme functional imperatives. Aluminium, by virtue of being lightweight and non-corrosive, finds use in a number of applications across industries. Presently, it is being used...

According to a recently published market research report, the global aluminium blister packaging market is all set to grow at a CAGR of 6.80 per cent over the period 2015-2019. A blister pack is made up of aluminium foil (or plastic) with a cavity or pocket made from thermoformed plastic. It helps protect products from contamination and external conditions such as humidity. Blister packs are manufactured primarily through two processes: thermoforming and cold forming. According to the report, demand for interactive and user-friendly packs is rising because of the rise in the number of retail outlets worldwide. Blister packs not only safeguard products against harmful gases, ultraviolet rays, humidity, and mechanical hazards, but also provide brand recognition and a user-friendly interface...

Car assemblers in Pakistan are likely to further increase prices of their different variants aimed at passing on the financial impact of recent increase of 15 percent in Regulatory Duty (RD) on iron and steel products and 10 percent on aluminium alloy, according to well informed industry sources. Indus Motors which assembles Toyota cars recently increased the price of cars and would raise them further by passing on the impact of RD to the consumers. The two other players: Suzuki and Honda are also expected to increase prices. All the parts and sheets are either made up of imported steel or aluminium which are primary raw materials and any impact on their prices will be passed on to the consumers. The impact of increase in imported steel and aluminium on vender industry will also...

Eaton has added to its Crouse-Hinds series with the new Sunnector aluminium direct-current (DC) collection system, which is designed for use with 5 MW and larger-scale, grid-tied solar PV projects that incorporate fixed-tilt ground-mount racking. The power management company says the new system includes wire harnesses and combiner boxes meant to support DC strings made with aluminium wire, which help reduce labor and material costs by 15 per cent, on average. According to Eaton, the system allows installers to take advantage of lower-cost and lighter-weight aluminium wire while providing equivalent performance to copper wire. Cost savings correlate to string length, and the system is designed for applications where string run lengths are longer. While taking advantage of the cost savings...

As the global car industry is going greener, South Korean carmakers are working on making car bodies as light as possible to guarantee higher fuel efficiency, meaning less greenhouse gas emissions. Kia Motors Corp. said Thursday that it used aluminium made by U.S.-based leading automotive aluminium maker Novelis Inc. for its new hybrid utility vehicle Niro slated for launch next week in the car’s hood and tailgate in an effort to reduce the overall weight of the car. Its sister company Hyundai Motor Co. also used aluminium for its first dedicated hybrid IONIQ. The Korean car makers hope to improve fuel efficiency and lower emissions by using aluminium, which is known to weigh one-third of steel, in their cars. Hybrid cars are usually heavier than gasoline-run cars because they are fitted...

The automotive sector being driven largely by innovation is steadily moving away from copper toward lightweight aluminium to help the industry cut vehicle weight. This has become imperative since they need to meet stricter emission standards. Having already switched to aluminium radiators from copper, it had been cautious of expanding the use to wiring, partly because aluminium is more susceptible to corrosion. But Japan's Furukawa Automotive Systems, a unit of Furukawa Electric Co, has developed new corrosion-proof terminals for aluminium wires in a harness, the backbone of a car's electrical system, a spokesman said. Furukawa has been supplying aluminium wire harness systems to Honda's light vehicles and Toyota's luxury vehicles. "We expect aluminium wire harnesses for use in vehicles...

Constellium N.V. announced today that it has signed a contract with Airbus to support all of their leading aircraft programs. The agreement – currently under Airbus Group Corporate approval - further solidifies Constellium’s longstanding partnership with Airbus and confirms its position as a leading partner for aerospace aluminium products and solutions. Under the new agreement, Constellium will supply Airbus with a broad range of advanced aluminium rolled products for airframes including wing skin panels, aero-sheets for fuselage panels, as well as rectangular and pre-machined plates for structural components. Constellium and Airbus will deepen their cooperation in logistic and recycling solutions to reduce inventories along the supply chain and support the ramp up of key Airbus programs...

In the ongoing race to make vehicles more fuel efficient while making them safer as well, one automaker addressed the issue by increasing the use of aluminium in the manufacturing of their offering, making it the lightest vehicle in its class in the process. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica will hit the showroom floors later this year with a curb weight of 4,315 lbs. This represents a 250-lb. weight reduction over the model’s replacement, the Town & Country, and makes it the lightest minivan on the road at the present time. “What we decided to do was support the structure where it needed to be reinforced and take away weight everywhere we knew could,” explained Jessica LaFond, chief engineer of minivans for FCA. “And then went after just every ounce.” The process...

The aerospace industry growth trajectory reflects a strong aircraft demand in the foreseeable future. This will drive demand for aluminium alloys over the long term. The worldwide commercial passenger and cargo aircraft fleet, as well as the annual number of passengers, are forecast to double over the next two decades. According to Deloitte, over the next 20 years, passenger and freight traffic are expected to grow at an average annual growth rate of 4.6 per cent and 4.4 per cent respectively, contributing to increases in aircraft production. The need for improvements in fuel burning, lower maintenance costs, and reduced noise and emissions alongside will drive aircraft manufacturers to optimise design solutions for a new generation of aircraft. Airbus Group and Boeing had a combined...

Jaguar, the iconic British luxury car brand, has been excelling in product engineering and delivering great sales figures after India's Tata Motors acquired it in 2008. The company, post-acquisition, launched the F-Type sports car and the XE sedan. The XF's new generation luxary car with aluminium upgrades was introduced by the car maker featuring elaborate changes made in engine and interiors. The only product that was left to get the new generation makeover was the XJ flagship sedan. Latest industry reports suggest Jaguar is gearing up to get the transformation done on the model. A report says the next generation of the XJ will debut in the international market around 2019. The model will be unveiled featuring new-generation V6 hybrid drivetrain will be unveiled in 2017-2018. The new...