CSIRO’s Light Metals Flagship has displayed its latest technologies which promise to reduce the cost of making lightweight alloy car components.
The technology uses magnesium and aluminium alloys to create car parts which are said to be strong and lightweight. They cost around the same as steel components.
The heat treatment and ATM technologies have been evaluated by major car component manufacturers. They enable production of high pressure die cast (HPDC) aluminium alloy parts which have increased strength.
The flagship was aiming to get the best performance out of lighter metals by using efficient manufacturing techniques which wasted less material.
Lightweight vehicles are one way of achieving lower fuel consumption, because they need less energy to start and stop moving.
The director of the flagship was invited to speak about the technologies for reducing the costs of light alloy components at the second Annual Advanced Lightweight Materials for Automotive conference in June 2008.
According to the organisation, HPDC is an established technology already used to manufacture vehicle components, so improvement technologies will be welcome in the industry.

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