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Alcoa completes capacity upgrades for 3rd gen aluminium/lithium alloys

18th June 2013

By: Henry Lazenby

Creamer Media Deputy Editor: North America

  

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TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – US-based aluminium refiner Alcoa has completed the second-phase expansion of aluminium/lithium alloy capacity at its Kitts Green facility, in the UK, to better serve the growing demand for the company’s third-generation aluminium/lithium alloys.

The company on Tuesday said it expected aluminium/lithium revenues to quadruple over the next six years to nearly $200-million.

The Kitts Green expansion is the second phase of a three-part expansion programme to satisfy customer demand for advanced aerospace products and patented alloys, which allows airframers to build more fuel efficient and lower-cost aeroplanes than was possible if composite alternatives were used.

Alcoa upgraded and expanded the casting capacity at the Kitts Green plant and also expanded capacity at its technology centre at Alcoa Centre, in Pennsylvania, by 30%.

The third phase of the expansion entailed the construction of a new $90-million facility next to the company’s Lafayette, Indiana, plant that would provide an additional 20 000 t of aluminium/lithium alloys. The new facility would supply round and rectangular ingots for rolled, extruded and forged applications, in sizes compatible with the largest aluminium aerospace components in service today.

The Lafayette expansion was scheduled to be completed and on line by the end of 2014.

Alcoa’s new aluminium/lithium alloys provided it the best strength-to-weight performance in its aerospace-alloy portfolio, combined with better stiffness, damage tolerance and corrosion resistance. The alloys were used in extrusions, forgings, sheet and plate applications across aircraft structures, including aeroplane wings and fuselage components.

The expansions followed discussions with airframers following the launch of the next-generation alloys.

“We introduced our third-generation aluminium/lithium alloys at the last Paris Air Show and demonstrated their potential to increase fuel efficiency, reduce inspection intervals, improve passenger comfort and lower capital costs for aerospace manufacturers,” Alcoa aerospace, transportation and industrial rolled products president Mark Vrablec said.

“The response was phenomenal. In fact, the response indicated demand that exceeded our production capacity at the time, so we launched initiatives to expand our aluminium/lithium operations at three locations around the world. The initiative also provided us with the opportunity to increase our aerospace recycling capability for customers to benchmark status in the industry,” he added.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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