What ’s your car made of ? There was a time that the solvent to that question was passably childlike , at least for most part of it : branding iron . But , today , the answer is just as probable to be something else . Here , a steelworker explain how that transition materialise — and why it might swing back .
Commenteramp0730filled us in on some of the professional and cons of sword vs. aluminum for auto - manufacturers , from inside of the foundry . While iron once rule the land , aluminum has popped up to once in a while slip the crown — although iron ’s not exactly down for the count yet .
But , just as atomic number 13 arrived to unsettle iron , there ’s yet another smart untried rival on the horizon :
Even as someone who works in a cast iron ( ductile ) metalworks , our self-aggrandizing competitor for the parts we make are actually companies that make aluminum forgings . There are positives and negative to both .
When you are talking aggregated production , cost is obviously as important as effectiveness . Aluminum is much lighter than brand and iron components , which is the easiest way to improve gas pedal fuel consumption rate . Problem is branding iron is mode cheaper . It ’s a wad comfortable to find recycled branding iron than aluminum , and excavation iron is also much bum .
Long term intensity though , Fe and blade win again . So there is a lot to be considered when jumping back and onward between materials , which has happened to us quite a muckle . We have 3 or 4 jobs that were aluminum and we are now stool out of ductile cast branding iron . We also have a few jobs we might turn a loss to aluminum forging .
tenacious term , composite like carbon fibre will be thrown in that mixture too , but for now that is n’t a factor . It will be interesting to see how progress in that engineering will affect manufacturing summons in the future .
Image : Tesla Model S assembly /Steve Jurvetson
ALUMINUMAutoCarsFactoriesIron
Daily Newsletter
Get the best technical school , science , and culture news in your inbox daily .
News from the future , surrender to your nowadays .
Please select your trust newssheet and submit your e-mail to kick upstairs your inbox .
You May Also Like
