Modern-day alchemy in Koblenz – the Germany Group visits Aleris ​

The Germany Group was invited for its latest technical visit to experience at close quarters the mystery of forming Aluminium at the Aleris rolling mill in Koblenz.

Aluminium has been described as a miracle metal – it is infinitely recyclable and is seen as part of the solution for reducing greenhouse gases by lowering energy consumption. It is a miracle metal in that its properties may be significantly altered through a careful combination of alloying, heat treatment and final processing. Its uses are vast, from aerospace applications such as wings and fuselages at one end of the spectrum, through increased use for automotive applications such as body panels and heat exchangers, to construction applications such as façade cladding at the other end of the spectrum.

The visitors were given a guided tour of the Koblenz site by Germany Group member S.Kirkham, following the process a raw ingot takes until it becomes a finished sheet destined to be part of an aircraft or automotive component. This started in the specialist research casting facility, where Aleris carries out modern day alchemy by adjusting the additives and processing of molten aluminium to fine tune the material properties for the ultimate application. The tour followed each step that the aluminium ingot took on its way to becoming rolled sheet. After homogenising and cooling, the cast aluminium plate underwent a scalping process to remove the outer crust, followed by a lamination step before hot and cold rolling, tension levelling, slitting and annealing. The highlight of the tour was standing atop the hot rolling bridge as the thickness of the aluminium plate was progressively reduced by being passed backwards and forwards through the mill, emerging as sheet extending into the far distance before being rolled up into a coil.

Aleris explained how plates made from material produced in Koblenz have a manufacturing history that is traceable, with the surface of plates destined for the aerospace or marine industries being NDT inspected before they leave the factory.

Part of Aleris’s vision is to “capture aluminium’s unlimited potential” – it is through the modern-day alchemy being developed at the Koblenz plant that this vision will be attained.

The visit to Aleris provided the Germany Group with an opportunity to hold its Annual General Meeting, the fifth since it was formally established as a group in 2013.