- Structural castings
- Full-vehicle spaceframes
- Integrated design solutions
Alcoa Auto and Truck Structures (AATS) integrates world-class alloy and process knowledge with design expertise to deliver advanced solutions ranging from state-of-the-art castings to full-vehicle lightweight spaceframes. AATS works closely with its customers from concept development through design, prototyping, testing and production to deliver optimized solutions that meet and exceed customer needs.
Typical Applications
- Vehicle body structures and modules
- Fabricated assemblies
- Chassis and suspension subsystems
- Crash management systems
Competencies
- Extrusion
- Forming
- Sawing
- CNC machining
- Welding
- Casting
Casting Technology
Alcoa offers solutions such as Alcoa Vacuum Die Casting (AVDC) and Vacuum Riserless and Pressure Riserless (VRC/PRC) permanent mold castings which produce high-quality, structurally-focused castings. The company produces chassis and suspension parts, bumpers, seat backs, doors and body structures.
- Controlled directional fill
- Minimum metal turbulence
- Clean metal with reduced oxides
- Vacuum applied
- Dimensional profile stability
- Superior weldability
- Fully automatic, low turbulence metal dosing
- Improved internal soundness
- Thin-wall capabilities
- High ductility
- Great thin-walled structural parts
Why Alcoa
- Unmatched ability to design and deliver aluminum solutions and bring the optimal balance of strength and weight for the application
- Customer responsiveness
- Unparalleled expertise in material, processing and production assembly of aluminum structural components.
- Full prototype and testing capabilities
Fabrication and Assembly
AATS is the global supplier of choice for the design and manufacture of system solutions for demanding structural applications. Our structural solutions combine industry-leading designs and technologies with state-of-the-art proprietary processing capabilities.
- Advanced product modeling capabilities
- Dimensional analysis with understanding of in-process distortion
- Product form and material flexibility
- Joining and assembly experience
- Development of assembly sequence
- Weld sequencing to minimize impact of weld distortion
- Estimates of weld speed and cycle times
- Design input to balance performance and manufacturability
- Joint geometry combinations
- Alloy combinations
- Thickness
- Filler wire selection
- Multi-material joining expertise and capabilities
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Case Study
The Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano gained significant benefits from Alcoa’s aluminum spaceframe design.
Results:
- Improved structural stiffness and mass reduction
- Effective combination of cast, extruded and rolled aluminum in state-of-the-art design
- Spaceframe manufactured at Alcoa’s AATS plant in Modena, Italy
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Case Study
Alcoa’s partnership with Audi has spanned more than two decades, with Alcoa serving as the primary supplier of spaceframe components for the first and second generation Audi A8.
Results:
- Reduced assembly and component costs by 50 percent
- Improved frame design resulted in more interior space and speed than first generation
- Generated 60 percent higher torsional stiffness, with more than 30 extrusions (9 including hydroforming) and 27 castings
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Alcoa Auto and Truck Structures
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