Novaria Group acquires assets of Weatherford Aerospace

October 21, 2014
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Novaria Group, Fort Worth, Texas, announces the acquisition of substantially all the assets of Weatherford Aerospace Inc., Weatherford, Texas. Weatherford is a provider of aircraft wing skins, formed structures, and unique services related to the treatment and processing of aerospace products. Novaria plans to pursue strategic growth and expansion of Weatherford's capabilities, while also delivering enduring value to customers, employees and the aerospace industry.

Weatherford's manufacturing capabilities are focused on a wide variety of processes and products that are incorporated into most airframes flying today. The company's customers include many major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and tier 1 and tier 2 supply chain partners such as: Gulfstream, Boeing, Bell Helicopter, Bombardier, Lockheed Martin, Spirit and Triumph.

Charles Paris, Sr., founder of Weatherford, will be retained as a consultant to the company. Weatherford will continue operations in a total of 165,000 sq. ft. at its two manufacturing locations, both of which are located in Weatherford, just a few miles west of Fort Worth.

Novaria is currently pursuing additional growth opportunities, capitalizing on the expanding aerospace market by acquiring majority interests in small- to mid-market companies looking for a long-term oriented, well-aligned, financial and operational partner.

http://www.weatherfordaerospace.com

Alcoa’s one-piece forged aluminum hull doubles blast protection for combat vehicles

October 15, 2014
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Alcoa, Pittsburgh, has produced the world's largest single-piece forged aluminum hull for combat vehicles to improve troop protection as part of a joint Alcoa-U.S. Army initiative launched last year. Alcoa manufactured the single-piece part, which was co-designed by Alcoa and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, with the goal of replacing today's assembled hulls.

Forging hulls as one unit facilitates three-dimensional shaping, allowing Alcoa to tailor the thickness where needed to maximize protection and allow for weight savings. A monolithic hull could be used to produce new, or retrofit existing combat and tactical vehicles.

Alcoa produced two demonstrator forgings at its plant in Cleveland using its 50,000-ton forging press, the world's most advanced hydraulic press. Alcoa's engineers in Cleveland leveraged their expertise and decades of commercial forging experience to produce the hull earlier than the expected deliverable of 18 months.

Based on early modeling and simulation, single-piece underbody structures could provide two times better protection against blasts than traditional hulls, primarily by eliminating welded seams. In addition to survivability benefits, single-piece hulls can be optimized to reduce vehicle weight and assembly time, and, therefore, overall cost.

The Army is now blast testing the hull to demonstrate its durability. After successful testing, this initiative would open up numerous opportunities for the military to apply single-piece structures to large combat vehicles and other applications.

Alcoa produced two demonstrator forgings at its plant in Cleveland using its 50,000-ton forging press, the world's most advanced hydraulic press. Alcoa's engineers in Cleveland leveraged their expertise and decades of commercial forging experience to produce the hull earlier than the expected deliverable of 18 months.

 http://www.alcoa.com/defense

Aleris introduces aluminum alloy 7017 for commercial plate and defense

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Aleris, Cleveland, Ohio, announces that it now offers a new 7017 aluminum alloy in North America for commercial plate and defense applications. After extensive review and testing of Aleris 7017, the United States Army Research Lab (ARL) issued MIL-DTL-32505 for armor applications. The weld compatibility of the new alloy gives great flexibility to armored vehicle designers, enabling them to incorporate different design characteristics.

The optimum balance of elements that comprise Aleris 7017 provides for superior stress-corrosion cracking resistance while maintaining high strength and weldability properties.

"7017 has a unique combination of properties, making it ideal for the most advanced armor solutions," said Lawrence Kramer, global defense field engineer at Aleris. "These include high strength, weldability, and corrosion resistance. This alloy is currently utilized in Europe and Asia on combat vehicles to achieve superior ballistic protection."

To develop a new alloy for America's ground forces, ARL engineers place the product through a series of standardized tests to validate the material's performance in the ballistic protection level, corrosion resistance, and weldability.

"The analysis has resulted in a significant protective benefit as Aluminum Alloy 7017 has demonstrated a reduction in spallation compared with the legacy AA7039," says Tyrone Jones, mechanical engineer in the Armor Mechanisms Branch. "An armor plate must not only arrest the projectile, but mitigate the kinetic energy before it fatally compromises a protected asset."

Fusion welds of 7017 plate have excellent strength with the weld heat-affected zone strengthening with time. 7017 is weld compatible with the 5xxx series alloys such as 5083 and Alustar 5059, Aleris' high-strength alloy designed to withstand corrosive environments.

www.aleris.com

Alcoa to produce third-generation aluminum-lithium alloys in Lafayette plant

October 9, 2014
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Alcoa, Pittsburgh, is opening the world's largest aluminum-lithium plant in Lafayette, Indiana, where it produces advanced, third-generation aluminum-lithium alloys for the aerospace industry. To keep pace with demand, the company has expanded its aluminum-lithium capabilities at the Alcoa Technical Center outside Pittsburgh, at its Kitts Green facility in the United Kingdom, and in Lafayette. Already, Alcoa has contracted $100 million in aluminum-lithium revenues for 2017.

"This state-of-the-art facility positions Alcoa as the world's premier aluminum-lithium supplier, offering the broadest portfolio of aluminum-lithium components for next generation aircraft," said Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Alcoa's Lafayette cast house, located next to its extrusion plant, can produce more than 20,000 metric tons (44 million pounds) of aluminum-lithium annually—making it the largest facility of its kind in the world. The Company offers the most complete portfolio of aluminum-lithium products, including extruded, forged and rolled parts. It has the number one market position in aluminum-lithium extrusions and a significant position on the Airbus A380, Airbus A350, Boeing 787, and Gulfstream G650.

Alcoa produces single-piece wing skins, including for wide-body airplanes, fuselage skins, wing stringers, floor beams, seat tracks and other components. The company also is developing the first ever aluminum-lithium forging for a front fan blade for Pratt & Whitney's PurePower engines.

The Lafayette facility is uniquely capable of making the world's largest aluminum-lithium ingots—approximately 50 percent larger than the nearest competitor, and big enough to make any single-piece component on today's aircraft. Complementing that capability, Alcoa operates the world's widest, 220 in. rolling mill at its facility in Davenport, Iowa, making it the only company capable of producing single-piece aluminum-lithium wing skins for the largest commercial airplanes. Single-piece parts make structures stronger, lighter and less expensive because they minimize the number of complex joints.

www.alcoa.com/lafayette

RTI to supply titanium aluminide to Snecma for LEAP engine turbine blades

September 24, 2014
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RTI International Metals Inc., Pittsburgh, and  Snecma (Safran) announce that they have signed a long-term agreement under which RTI will provide titanium aluminide intermetallic material for the new CFM International LEAP engine. The LEAP – Leading Edge Aviation Propulsion – engine was launched by CFM International in 2008, to power the next generation of single-aisle commercial jets. RTI will be a major supplier of Snecma's TiAl requirements for the production of LEAP engine low-pressure turbine blades, for which mass production is starting in 2016.

The TiAl alloy is a new-generation intermetallic with outstanding qualities. Able to withstand very high temperatures, its use will substantially reduce the weight of a low-pressure turbine blade compared with nickel-based alloy materials traditionally used in their production. As part of the new LEAP engine, this alloy will be used for the first time on a single-aisle commercial jet. It will contribute to the excellent performance of this new engine, which offers 15% lower fuel consumption than the most efficient engines now in service.

The CFM56 and LEAP engines are produced and marketed by CFM International, a 50/50 joint company between Snecma (Safran), France, and GE of the United States.

NASA’s welding tool for spacecraft is the largest in the world

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NASA, Washington, introduces the largest spacecraft welding tool in the world, the Vertical Assembly Center at its Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The 170-foot-tall, 78-foot-wide giant completes a world-class welding toolkit that will be used to build the core stage of America's next great rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). A 16mm fisheye lens was used to show a wide angle view of the Vertical Assembly Center at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

SLS will be the most powerful rocket ever built for deep space missions, including to an asteroid and eventually Mars. The core stage, towering more than 200 feet tall (61 meters) with a diameter of 27.6 feet (8.4 meters), will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the rocket's four RS-25 engines.

"This rocket is a game changer in terms of deep space exploration and will launch NASA astronauts to investigate asteroids and explore the surface of Mars while opening new possibilities for science missions, " said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.

The Vertical Assembly Center is part of a family of state-of-the-art tools designed to weld the core stage of SLS. It will join domes, rings, and barrels to complete the tanks or dry structure assemblies. It also will be used to perform evaluations on the completed welds. Boeing is the prime contractor for the SLS core stage, including avionics.

SLS will be the world's most capable rocket. It will open new frontiers for astronauts traveling aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft and may also offer benefits for science missions that require its use and cannot be flown on commercial rockets. Last week, engineers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida completed the crew module for the Orion spacecraft that will venture into space on a test flight in December.

http://www.nasa.gov/sls