Re: vs26212140
by: Arslanboy 9/30/00 5:40 pm
Msg: 6744 of 6746
DETROIT, Aug. 3 -- Now that electron beam (EB) melting furnaces are producing titanium slabs up to 64 inches wide and volume production facilities exist for titanium mufflers and associated tubular exhaust system components, Titanium Metals Corp. (Timet) is betting it can compete with stainless steel for the automotive market involving mass-produced exhaust system parts located downstream from catalytic converters.
Timet has developed an exhaust grade titanium alloy that already has found its first production application in the muffler and tailpipe assembly of the Chevrolet Corvette Z06. The assemblies are being fabricated by Timet's partner, ArvinMeritor Inc., which claims that it is now in a position to make titanium exhaust parts and assemblies in high volumes. That is significant because titanium parts have had almost no role over the years in the high-volume auto market, where price is extremely important and the material costs associated with titanium have kept the metal out of automakers' reach.
The Corvette application, which involves two 26-pound assemblies per car, is the biggest-ever use for titanium in the regular production auto industry, and many times the size of the few existing parts like engine connecting rods and valve components currently in use in a few scattered vehicles built in Japan and Europe.
As part of its strategy for getting lightweight, corrosion-free titanium into additional auto component applications, Timet also has developed other alloys for use in such parts as coil suspension springs; door intrusion beams; bumper supports; engine valves, valve springs and retainers; connecting rods and wrist pins; wheel lug nuts and studs; shock center rods; and sway bar fittings. Many of these parts currently are made of steel, but Timet executives said that their company was ready to compete with steel and other materials for a number of high-volume auto applications. In an interview here, Kurt Faller, director of Timet's international automotive applications, said that his company was pursuing long-term contracts with automakers and/or parts suppliers incorporating stable pricing and supplies. In addition, the Denver-based company is willing to work with parts manufacturers, as it is doing with Troy, Mich.,-based ArvinMeritor, to refine the technologies associated with making specific titanium parts.
"Partnering with other companies helps drive costs to the point where titanium is competitive in specific applications for volume-produced vehicles," Faller said, "and we're already able to do this with ArvinMeritor for exhaust systems." He declined to talk about Timet's exhaust system alloy in detail, but
said it was "a version of commercially pure titanium similar to industrial grade 2." It is produced at the company's Morgantown, Pa., facility "where three of the world's largest EB melting furnaces for titanium are in operation," including the one that makes 64-inch-wide slabs. The Corvette application is providing a 41-percent weight savings over stainless steel, Faller said, and the natural corrosion resistance and durability of titanium also gave it a big advantage over stainless
steel in longevity.
"Because of the ease of substituting an exhaust system made of one material for another, a titanium exhaust system provides the biggest weight reduction possible for any bolt-on part, and is going to be very attractive to engineers who are trying to resolve weight problems on any given vehicle or platform without going through costly product redesign work," Faller said. The automotive industry's desire for long-term (10 years and up) customer satisfaction with their vehicles is another reason Faller expects the exhaust system market to become important for titanium.
© 2000 Cahners Business Information
Posted as a reply to: Msg 6743 by Arslanboy
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