The Benefit of Aluminum for Car Body

The use of aluminum in the manufacture of automobiles has made great progress during the last 20 years. So much so that today it has become a practically obligatory material to make a car. Aluminum has certain characteristics that, in many cases, make it a better material than steel.

A lightweight material that generates great benefits:

In the first place, aluminum stands out for being up to a third lighter than steel with equal volume, so its use has as its main reason for being, the manufacture of a car as light as possible. Less weight is directly equivalent to lower consumption, and this lower consumption is directly equivalent to less emission of polluting gases.

In addition, benefits and driving dynamics, which are clearly improved, also benefit from a lower weight. A clear example is the new Audi Q7, a model that in its second generation has adopted aluminum in many elements of the body, the rolling train or the exhaust system, among others. The result has been a reduction in more than 300 kg of the weight of this SUV with respect to the previous generation.

A high thermal conductivity:

In addition, aluminum has a high thermal conductivity, which results in a better heat dissipation of the welding, thus achieving an almost perfect welding. This property makes its use in certain parts of the mechanics is also common for a few years.

A corrosion resistance superior to steel:

Another point in favor of aluminum is its resistance to corrosion. Unlike steel, aluminum does not rust , which is very interesting for the manufacture of chassis, bodies and body elements, such as fins, doors or bonnets.

Improved tensional rigidity:

On paper, in terms of hardness, aluminum is inferior to steel, but thanks to current technology, three-dimensional structures with greater tensional rigidity than the steel equivalent have been created. The current aluminum bodies are much more rigid than those of steel, so they incorporate areas of programmed deformation to dissipate the energy in case of impact.

A better predisposition to its recycling:

Another important point in favor of this material is that Alusion lends itself very much to recycling, since the process requires little energy and the material does not lose its properties during its recycling for later reuse.

One of the few points in which aluminum should improve in the coming years is its cost. Currently, the cost of obtaining this material is much higher than that of steel, a fact that is slowing down its implementation as a reference material in car bodies.

At the moment in which systems have been developed that facilitate their extraction as a mineral and its use is more profitable, we will see it implemented to a much greater extent in vehicles.

Aluminum:

Aluminum Foam has many applications such as the manufacture of car parts, airplanes, kitchen utensils, aluminum foil (with the heat the aluminum is detached, that is why it is not recommended to wrap the food in aluminum to bake them), tin cans ( when the cans are damaged inside and lose the protector the aluminum passes to the food the aluminum is released to the food). They are also found in consumer products such as antacids, astringents, aspirin with enteric coating, food additives, cosmetics and deodorants.