TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Lightweight metals manufacturer Alcoa intends to expand its product offering in the aerospace and industrial markets through a $190-million investment at its Davenport, Iowa, aluminium facility.

Alcoa said on Monday that it would install manufacturing technology to boost the performance of thick aluminium and aluminium-lithium plate in various applications, including wing ribs and fuselage frames.

The investment in the Davenport rolling mill entails the installation of a new ‘very thick plate stretcher’. The stretching process reduces stress introduced into the plate as part of the manufacturing process, resulting in a part that can be more easily machined and processed.

This advancement will enable the Davenport works to produce the largest high-strength monolithic wing ribs in the industry. For example, as composite wings get larger, one of the challenges is strength and stiffness, and the aluminium plate from this stretcher will enable Alcoa to make wing ribs to address that issue.

“This project is a key driver for our continued growth in the aerospace plate market. New airplane designs feature thicker aluminium wing ribs – especially important to reinforce composite wings – and these enhancements will be possible with Alcoa thick-plate products. The capability will also benefit our industrial customers who make injection-moulded plastic parts for the automotive, transportation and consumer electronics industries,” Alcoa aerospace transportation and industrial products president Mark Vrablec said.

Construction on the project would start in 2015 with first customer production expected in 2017.

New-York-headquartered Alcoa had in recent years been focused on transforming its portfolio, which, in recent months, saw the largest US aluminium producer make a string of significant investments in its downstream specialist manufacturing business segments, strategically building out these manufacturing capabilities to generate increased revenues in the face of low primary-aluminium prices.

In June, Alcoa announced a $2.85-billion deal to buy jet-engine part maker Firth Rixson.