Aluminium in Motoring

Aluminium usage in motoring has been gathering apace in recent years. Originally utilised to create complex designs for alloy wheels, Aluminium has now found purposes across the vehicle, from engine components to body shells. The benefits are obvious: easily formed, excellent strength to weight ratio, corrosion resistant and easily recycled, Aluminium is used to create vehicles that are stronger, lighter, faster, safer and more environmentally friendly than ever before. 

Uses

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Body shell | Monocoque constructions | Wheels | Engine blocks | Cylinder heads | Pistons | Con-rods | Radiators | Suspension components | Transmission components | Crankcases | Fuel tanks | Wiring

Nickel in Motoring

Due to its relatively high weight, Nickel is used as a niche product in the automobile industry. There are other materials which are stronger, can resist normal oxidation and are cheaper to form for structural and mechanical parts. However, it is becoming the poster child in the world of exhausts where its high temperature capabilities, corrosion resistance, and strength allows very thin walled tubing to be used, increasing perfomance and saving weight. It is also used for cathodes in electric automotile batteries.

Steel in Motoring

For the longest time, Steel had the automotive market all to itself and its not difficult to see why: plentiful supply, easy to shape, strong and reliable, the entire structure of the car could once have been manufactured from iron, or its most famous alloy. Make no mistake, in the face of increasing competition from other metals and the advance of composites in motoring, Steel is still more than able to hold it's own, accounting for 60%, or 900Kg, of the average,car's weight.

Titanium in Motoring

Aluminium usage in aeronautics goes back as far as the aeronautical industry itself. Indeed, the Wright brother's struggle to find an engine with the specifications they required, namely a weight of 90Kg and a power output of 8hp, lead them to develop their own engine using a cast aluminium block. The use of this material and their ingenuity surpassed even their own expectations, creating an engine which weighed 77Kg and offered 12hp. Its low mass, high strength and sheer breadth of alloys suitable to meet the physical requirements of air travel make it absolutely essential to almost all aircraft's construction.

Carbon Fibre in Motoring

Aluminium usage in aeronautics goes back as far as the aeronautical industry itself. Indeed, the Wright brother's struggle to find an engine with the specifications they required, namely a weight of 90Kg and a power output of 8hp, lead them to develop their own engine using a cast aluminium block. The use of this material and their ingenuity surpassed even their own expectations, creating an engine which weighed 77Kg and offered 12hp. Its low mass, high strength and sheer breadth of alloys suitable to meet the physical requirements of air travel make it absolutely essential to almost all aircraft's construction.