Manufacturing Challenges for Aluminum Sheet in the Automotive Industry

Aluminum sheet is used in the automotive industry for body applications such as hoods, liftgates, and doors, as a way to achieve mass reduction and improve fuel economy. Aluminum sheet usage has been steadily increasing to assist in meeting new fuel economy regulations and consumer demand for improved fuel economy resulting from high fuel costs. With the accelerated need to decrease mass to support aggressive fuel economy improvements, it is expected that the volume of new applications will not only push the manufacturing restrictions, but also exceed the current capacity of automotive-grade aluminum sheet. This paper will outline the major challenges in manufacturing aluminum sheet metal components and describe new alloys and new technologies that are being explored to overcome these challenges. Suggestions for future research and development projects will be made to accelerate additional applications.