Global mining and metals specialist Rio Tinto is taking orders for its new aluminum wheel alloy known as Revolution-Al™. Researchers at its Arvida Research and Development Centre in Quebec, Canada, have spent more than five years developing a stronger car wheel alloy that would help cut fuel consumption and improve both safety and handling. The London-based firm says it received its first order for the new Revolution-Al™ alloy in September 2019 and that it designed the alloy to be easy to recycle.
Technical Director,
Rio Tinto
“We wanted to offer automakers a new, innovative alloy that allowed them, through styling and design, to reduce the weight of the wheels, which is very important to improving fuel efficiency – because, in the end, people want to drive not just the safest but also the greenest and most innovative cars,” states Jerome Fourmann, a technical director at Rio Tinto.
According to Rio Tinto, Revolution-Al™ is 15 to 20 percent stronger than the current predominant wheel alloy, A356.2. They claim this translates to a 7 percent weight reduction and improved fuel efficiency or battery range. Additionally, Rio Tinto claims, Revolution-Al™ can be cast in existing facilities and requires less time to produce a wheel, thereby reducing the cost and increasing the rate of production.
The improved alloy features numerous claims; for instance, it is said to be 15 to 20% stronger than the traditional A356.2 alloy, has a seamless transition with existing casting processes, and requires a 2-hour shorter ageing cycle for heat treatment than the A356.2 alloy.
Industrial Product and Investment Director,
Rio Tinto
It is worth noting that industrial trials of the new alloy, along with an official OEM test program, featured an optimized automotive wheel design, and Revolution-Al™ passed all OEM trials. What’s more, the alloy can be recycled onto itself, eliminating the need for selling the scrap at a discount.
“The current wheel alloy has been around for a long time and now we’re coming to the market with a new way of doing things,” says Rio Tinto Industrial Product and Investment Director Jean-Francois Laplante. “We were super excited when we saw the result.”
Photo Credit: Light Metal Age
