New consortium to speed innovation in lightweight metals

One of the members of ALMMII is Lockheed Martin, which is the leader of the team building Littoral Combat Ships at Marinette Marine in Marinette, WI. Photo is of the USS Ft. Worth (LCS-3) on sea trials in 2012

FEBRUARY 26, 2014—President Obama announced yesterday the award of funding for a new consortium that will team leading aluminum, titanium and high-strength steel manufacturers with academia and laboratories to pioneer new technology and research. The goal is to create new consumers—including the marine industry—of products and systems that use lightweight, high strength metals and alloys.

Called the American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute (ALMMII), the non-profit consortium will be based in Detroit and will focus on developing innovative lightweight and modern metal manufacturing techniques.

The long-term goal of ALMMII will be to expand the market for and create new consumers of products and systems that utilize new, lightweight, highperforming metals and alloys by removing technological barriers to their manufacture.  ALMMII aims to achieve this through leadership in pre-competitive advanced research and partnerships across defense, aerospace, automotive, marine, energy, and consumer products industries.

The institute will be led by the Department of Defense and supported by $70 million in federal funds and about $78 million in non-federal resources over a five-year period.

One of the companies in ALMMII consortium is Houston-based classification society ABS.

“ABS is consistently focused on identifying novel and innovative concepts that aid the marine and offshore industries in improving the design, construction and maintenance of their assets,” says ABS Chairman and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki. “The institute is a natural avenue to leverage ongoing ABS technology development in next-generation materials, metals and joining technologies.”

Wiernecki says a key area of focus will be “streamlining the often lengthy process for material certification. ABS will take a leadership role at the early stage of technology development in order to identify the optimal path for testing and certification of new materials and manufacturing concepts, with a particular focus on both commercial marine and U.S. Navy requirements.”

Kick starting the process
According to ABS Chief Technology Officer Todd Grove, ALMMII is a “way to kick start the whole process.  We’re often approached by manufacturers that want to know how to introduce new technologies into practice in the marine industry. Our main goal is always how to implement these new technologies safely into the marine environment.”

By being involved in the consortium, says Grove, ABS will be able to “keep its eyes and ears open” and build its knowledge of the new technologies and products at the ground level.  “If there is a new welding technique for a shipyard, for example, we’ll be better prepared to assess it quickly.”

He also sees possibilities for developing techniques to be more efficient in the shipyard fabricating components and ships.

With the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) mandatory for new ships, weight savings is one area that can yield fuel savings. “We’re not going to see a revolution overnight,” he says. He predicts that in the 3- to 5-year timeframe, some new technologies will come into practice, perhaps in the area of accommodations or the hull structure on smaller vessels.

“What’s really exciting for us,” says Grove, “is the opportunity to work with companies from other industries—a cross pollination of ideas with other industries.”

Alcoa, a specialist in the supply of aluminum and lightweight metals engineering and manufacturing, is also part of the consortium. “Lightweight metals are a growing and critical segment of the national manufacturing base. We’ve seen this most recently through the increased use of aluminum in the automotive industry to produce energy efficient vehicles,” says Alcoa Chairman and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld. “As one of the country’s most established leaders in lightweight metals, Alcoa is committed to sharing our expertise to ensure the competitiveness of U.S. industry.”

Besides ABS and Alcoa, other members include:

Companies: AEM, Boeing, Comau, Easom Automation, DNV GL, EWI, Fabrisonic, Flash Bainite Steel, GE, Honda North American Services, Huys, Infinium, Inc., Innovative Weld Solutions, ITW, Lockheed Martin, Luvata, Materion, MesoCoat, MTI, NanoSteel Company, Optomec, Phoenix Integration, PowderMet, RealWeld, RTI International Metals, SaCell, Southwest Research Institute (SWRI), Steel Warehouse Co., ThermoCalc, TIMET, Trumpf, Inc., UTRC, and Wolf Robotics

Nine Universities and Labs: Colorado School of Mines, Michigan State University, Michigan Tech University, The Ohio State University, University of Kentucky, University of Michigan, University of Notre Dame, University of Tennessee, and Wayne State University.

Other organizations: American Foundry Society, American Welding Society, ASM International, CAR, Columbus State Community College, Conexus Indiana, Focus Hope, International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, Ivy Tech, Macomb Community College, MAGNET, Pellissippi State Community College, State of Kentucky, State of Michigan, State of Ohio, and Southeast Michigan Workforce Intelligence Network.