Aluminium, the Lightness of the Metal, the Versatility of its Alloys

A technologically oriented conference to guide converters and end users. How to exploit the criteria for choosing the right alloy and take advantage of market competition

by Alberto Pomari

The international conference “Aluminium, the lightness of metal, the versatility of its alloys”, organized by our magazine A&L, by Metef, the organizing body of the Fair to be held in Bologna in 2021 and by AQM, the Technical Services Centre for companies, will be held on February 20th in Provaglio d’Iseo (Brescia) at the prestigious headquarters of AQM. The great development of aluminium applications in all its forms, from extrusions to rolled products, from die castings and wire rod to forged elements, has been favoured by the research and spreading of new alloys. Starting from its first industrial uses to date, more than 400 alloys have been created and used to satisfy the most varied metallurgical performance requirements. The conference will take stock of the current situation, showing the most recent and innovative alloys, production processes and emerging applications.
The conference will be opened by AQM President Rinaldo Trichilo and Chairman Mario Conserva. The programme of the day includes numerous speakers at national and international level. Sponsor companies will be at the centre of the event. Eural Gnutti will present its new Lead Free Al-Cu-Mg-Si-Mn-Bi alloy with high machinability and superior mechanical strength, which could replace many of the hard and very hard alloys currently being used.
Hydro Aluminium will discuss new low carbon alloys and new alloys for automotive and other applications. Metra will describe its experience in the field of structural extrusions for building and industrial applications. GMS will present the new ingot mould currently being patented. Trimet will talk about alloys for the production of wire rod and its applications. Idra Presse will present the latest large die casting machines. Among the speakers at the conference, OMR’s report on automotive foundry alloys will certainly be very interesting . The presentations by F.A.R.O. Club of the situation of the aluminium market, by A&L magazine on the trends in the applications of alloys and rolled products, by Aital for the surface finishing of alloys and finally by AQM on additive manufacturing and on the development of manufacturing techniques from computerized 3D models should also be highlighted.
As may be seen, the program is multifaceted and interesting. The documents of the conference will be available to applicants at the AQM secretariat; we shall present a full report of the event in the next issue of the magazine.