Page 16 - MetalForming March 2017

Materials & Coatings
Expect Growing Aluminum Use in Autos
body on Ford’s 2017 F-Series Super Duty trucks, shown here. Overall, according to the report, the North American region rep- resented the largest share of the worldwide automotive-aluminum market in 2016 as the industry responds to CAFÉ requirements. www.marketsandmarkets.com
Irmco Gel 986-00D has proven suc- cessful in tube bending of Type 304, 409 and 439 stainless steels as large as 8- in. dia. Some successes also have been realized on smaller-diameter aluminized stainless-steel tube-bending applications to 4-in. dia.
The automotive aluminum market is projected to grow from $47.91 billion in 2016 to $111.80 billion by 2026 at a compounded annual rate of 8.8 percent, according to a new report from markets- andmarkets.com.
Environmentally Friendly Large-Diameter Tube-Bending Gel
The lubricant contains no mineral oil, pigments or clays, no PTFE, and no chlorine, zinc, boron, phosphorous, or sulfur-based EP or AW additives. It can be applied through the mandrel or manually swabbed onto tubes, and demonstrates excellent cling. This characteristic keeps shop floors cleaner, and in many cases provides enough lubrication for end-forming/expand- ing applications.
A significant portion of that growth is expected to arise from increased use of rolled aluminum for manufacturing car bodies with lightweighting being a major driver. An example is the aluminum-alloy
O’Neal Industries Merges Affiliates to Form Integrated Metals Company
With new regulations restricting or eliminating chlorinated paraffin as an ingredient in metalforming fluids, the chal- lenge has been to develop products safe for the environment and for worker expo- sure. To that end, Irmco has developed Gel 986-00D, its first product in a new line of tube-bending products to address the changing regulations and markets that have previously relied on products containing chlorinated paraffins.
Irmco: www.irmco.com
14 MetalForming/March 2017
www.metalformingmagazine.com
O’Neal Industries has announced the merger and operations integration of four affiliates, Aerodyne Alloys, Plus Ten Stain- less, United Performance Metals and Vul- canium Metals International, to form United Performance Metals (UPM), head- quartered in Cincinnati, OH. As a result, UPM’s inventory now includes stainless steel, duplex stainless steel, Prodec, nickel alloys, cobalt alloys, cobalt chrome moly, titanium, aluminum and alloy steel in coil, sheet, strip, plate, bar and near-net shapes. The newly formed company serves a range of customers in industries including aero- space, fastener, medical, power generation, oil and gas, and semi-conductors.
UPM uses proprietary FirstCut+ pro- cessing services that include cut-to-length, leveling, slitting, edging, chamfering and facing, shearing, laser cutting, laser gauge measurement, waterjet cutting, plasma cutting, sawing, precision cold-saw cutting, precision blanks, first-stage machining, heattreating, ultrasonic testing, boring, trepanning and deburring.
UPM has facilities in Cincinnati, OH; Oakland and Los Angeles, CA; Hartford, CT; Chicago, IL; Greenville, SC; and Houston,