Aug. 11, 2015—Novelis announced on Monday the development of the Novelis Advanz 7000-series of high-strength alloys designed for safety-critical components of vehicle structures.
The Novelis Advaz 7000-series is two to three times stronger than any automotive aluminum used in high volumes today, the company said in its announcement, and can be used to manufacture components such as bumper systems, crash ring components and door intrusion beams. The new alloy series offers significant weight reduction when compared to current high-strength steels in the marketplace, allowing automakers to further reduce the weight of the vehicles while maintaining high levels of safety.
"As more automakers look to reduce vehicle weight and improve fuel economy, high-strength aluminum alloys are playing an increasingly critical role in vehicle design," said Jack Clark, senior vice president and chief technical officer for Novelis. "For decades, Novelis has been a pioneer in aluminum alloy development and set the standard in the automotive industry. Novelis' Advanz 7000-series will drive the industry forward by offering automakers additional weight savings with superior strength for optimal safety performance."
Customer testing of the first Novelis Advanz 7000-series alloys is currently underway with a number of automakers.
"The development of Novelis Advanz 7000-series high-strength alloys is the latest step in our strategy to expand our automotive offerings around the world," said Todd Summe, vice president of global research and development for Novelis. "Our Novelis Advanz 7000-series alloys will be used to produce automotive sheet at Novelis facilities on all three of the world's major automobile producing regions—Asia, Europe and North America—offering a unique supply chain advantage to our global customers."
