Ford Doubles Down on Aluminum with New Alcoa Alloy

Ford Motor Co. is teaming up with Alcoa Inc. to increase the use of aluminum on its aluminum-bodied F-150 pickup truck and other unspecified vehicles.

The applications will use the Micromill process to form aluminum parts announced by Alcoa late last year. The technology cuts the time to produce coils to just 20 minutes from the current 20 days, and it can be done in one-fourth the space required for traditional aluminum, according to Alcoa.

The Micromill alloy is 40% more formable than conventionally produced aluminum, Alcoa says. It also is 40% stronger and 30% lighter than high-strength steel.

Ford says this will allow the material to be used in complex-shaped parts such as fenders and interior door panels. The increased strength also allows the use of thinner aluminum sheet without compromising dent resistance, and multiple pieces can be manufactured as a single part to reduce assembly time.

Later this year, Ford will start using Alcoa Micromill aluminum in door interiors, tailgates and fenders on the F-150. This will be followed next year by box crossmembers, wheelhouses and floor pan tunnels. All of these parts on the truck already are made of regular aluminum produced by Alcoa and other suppliers.

Under a new joint development agreement, Ford also will work with Alcoa to use Micromill aluminum to replace high-strength steel components on the F-150 and other vehicles in the future likely starting with the next-generation Super Duty pickup, which Ford previously indicated will switch to an aluminum body. The carmaker, which plans to more than double its use of the Alcoa product from 2016 to 2017, has exclusive North American rights to use the technology for an undisclosed number of years.

Alcoa says it has 130 patents related to the Micromill process. Instead of forming ingots from melted aluminum then rolling and stretching them into coils, the Micromill system uses a super-fast cooling process that allows molten metal to be poured directly into usable rolls within 20 minutes.

Alcoa initially will make the Micromill steel at a low-volume facility in San Antonio, Tex. It is considering building additional capacity elsewhere as demand for the material grows.