Ford, Alcoa introduce Micromill Aluminum on F-150

Oct. 5, 2015
Starting in the fourth quarter, Ford Motor Co. planned to begin using multiple components in the F-150 pickup made from next-generation aluminum produced through Alcoa's Micromill process.

Starting in the fourth quarter, Ford Motor Co. planned to begin using multiple components in the F-150 pickup made from next-generation aluminum produced through Alcoa's Micromill process.

Late this year, Ford will begin using Micromill for three tailgate reinforcement parts, followed by box crossmembers, wheelhouses, floor pan tunnels, and other parts in 2016. Those parts are already made of aluminum, but Ford could potentially replace high-strength steel components with the new metal.

Ford has high hopes for the material in door panels, fenders, and other complex parts, and plans to design new parts specifically for Micromill aluminum.

Ford expects to double its use of Micromill between 2016 and 2017.

Ford and Alco also plan to use the metal in other vehicles and in a broader array of parts. Ford has exclusive rights to Micromill in North America for an undisclosed time period. Danieli Group will license Micromill in Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America.

‘‘Light-weighting enables us to design vehicles with great customer attributes – like the F-150, which can tow more, haul more, accelerate quicker and stop faster than the previous F-150, and is more fuel-efficient than ever,” said Raj Nair, Ford group vice president and chief technical officer, Global Product Development. “This collaboration supports our continued drive for innovation, as we research automotive applications for even greater light-weighting.”

In 2014, Ford rolled out the 2015 F-150 with an aluminum alloy body. That model is 700 pounds lighter than previous releases.

Ford's Super Duty pickups, Expedition and Lincoln Navigator are all due for aluminum body makeovers in their next redesign, but Ford and Alcoa have yet to confirm whether or not Micromill will be part of those vehicles.

Micromill: More formable, stronger, lighter
Announced last December, the Alcoa Micromill process creates a high-strength aluminum alloy that can be produced within 20 minutes. Traditional aluminum takes 20 days to produce. The new alloy is also 30 percent stronger and 40 percent more formable than regular aluminum, and 30 percent lighter than high-strength steel.

Micromill facilities require one-quarter the space of a traditional rolling mill, and use 50 percent less energy. Alcoa opened its initial pilot Micromill facility in San Antonio, Texas.

Both Ford and Alcoa have indicated that the new metal is comparable to conventional aluminum when it comes to reparability. In an e-mail to Automotive Body Repair News, Alcoa spokesperson Lori Lecker confirmed that, "Micromill will be no different than conventional in terms of repair."

According to Jason Bartanen, director of industry technical relations at I-CAR, the components Ford has announced will be made of Micromill are not typically repaired in most cases, they are replaced. Once Ford begins expanding the use of the material into more commonly repaired panels and parts, collision repairers will have a better idea of what is possible where Micromill is concerned.

"We don't know yet what level of repairs Ford will allow on it," Bartanen says. "Straightening a box crossmember is not a common procedure. If they get into fenders and other parts, then we expect to be able to use conventional aluminum straightening techniques, provided Ford allows for straightening."

Ford also announced in September that collision repair shops certified to repair the aluminum body F-150 will be qualified to fix the new aluminum 2017 Super Duty pickup models without additional training or equipment.

Because the metal is more formable, parts that were previously constructed of several components may be produced as a single piece. That not only reduces complexity and assembly time, but could potentially affect the nature and cost of repairs to those components if they are damaged.

The combination of light-weighting and simplifying production processes has made Ford extremely bullish on the metal.

“The door inner is one of the most difficult parts in automotive stamping,” said Peter Friedman, Ford global manager of structures and stamping, Research & Advanced Engineering. “The ability to produce an alloy using Alcoa’s Micromill technology to make that part is a real statement for how this process can benefit the automotive industry and Ford in particular. This technology will help Ford to produce the type of vehicles our customers want. We believe the technology can be used to develop new alloys that will improve our ability to form complex parts, which will help in both design and efficiency.”

According to Reuters, Alcoa is in talks with eight other automakers to use Micromill technology.

Alcoa has been rapidly ramping up its automotive business. In September, the company announced it had completed a $300-million expansion at its Tennessee facility to supply aluminum sheet to automakers, including Ford, Fiat Chrysler, and GM. An earlier expansion location in Davenport, Iowa, reported a 200 percent increase in automotive sheet shipments in the second quarter of 2015 compared to the same period last year.

The new Tennessee location includes rolling mill technology that will allow the company to quickly switch production from automotive to can sheet, and also includes a recycling facility for automotive scrap.

Alcoa expects to grow its automotive sheet revenue from $229 million in 2013 to $1.3 billion in 2018. Ducker Worldwide has forecast that the aluminum body sheet content in North American vehicles would increase by three times from 2012 to 2015, and expand 11 times by 2025. 

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