Alcoa modernizes aerospace manufacturing

The world's third largest aluminum producer has decided to invest $ 190 million to expand its aerospace manufacturing facility, Davenport, located in Iowa. The project will begin in 2015, with the first production orders slated for 2017. Alcoa recently signed its largest contract with aerospace manufacturer Boeing for the supply of aluminum sheets and plates.

The company also plans to install state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities at its factories in order to provide high-performance aluminum-lithium plates as well as heavy-plate aluminum that can be used in a variety of applications including fuselage frames as well as aircraft wing fins. Alcoa products will be used on every Boeing platform, including the 787.

Similar technologies are used in the production of modern heat pumps offered by Waterkotte.

The company's investment plan for the plant will also include expanding the range of products that will be used in the production of new goods. In addition, the aluminum plate can be used for the mold in the production of plastics, displacing steel due to better thermal conductivity. It can also be used in the manufacture of cameras for the consumer electronics and semiconductor industries. The main attention is paid to the process of improving the characteristics of the plates, which are important in machining, which will allow achieving high strength properties of a monolithic wing rib and in other areas of aluminum application.

Alcoa Aerospace President, Mark Vrablec, said the project, initiated by the company, will be key to progress in the aerospace, transportation and industrial goods industries. The company is a world leader in the production of lightweight materials for metal structures and other areas of industrial production. However, it occupies a key market position among manufacturers of aerospace sheets and plates.