NEWS

S ON
O N INNOVATIVE
INNO
IN
N VA
ATIVE ALUMINIUM
ALUMINII UM SOLUTIONS FROM THE SAPA GROUP 1:2015

Mostt LED
Mos
LED
D systems use
aluminium
alumin
alu
m ium
min
m for its thermal
management
m
man
ag m
age
properties
a
and
nd itt lo
looks good.
Gabriell Garufo,
Gabriel
Gabrie
Gar
Gar
owner of LED
lighting
company Ledxon.
lighti
lig
hting
ing com

Golden
glow
Al i i is
Aluminium
i hot
h t property
t iin
a brightening Polish economy

SILVER BULLET
THE KEY TO
LIGHTER CARS
IN HER ELEMENT
DANISH DESIGNER
FINDS HER METAL

Editorial

Contents

Creators
at work

04

Now trending

HE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT is

a strong characteristic of Sapa.

Our company was founded on it.
Part of my job involves meeting
customers, and I must admit I
have a soft spot for those who have created and
run their own companies.
When I was ve years old, my father started
his own company and made it into a major
player. I know what dedication and sacrices
are necessary to build your own company.
Henry Ford founded Ford Motor Company
in 1903. It is now a public company but it still
maintains that spirit. Its new F-150 pickup
truck is the rst large-series vehicle that demonstrates the advantages of aluminium.
In this issue you can read about two
other entrepreneurs, from Poland.
Theyre not on the same scale as
Ford, but theyre just as important
to us. We know our solutions are
often innovative, because the
products are new.
And we know that they
add value, because entrepreneurs accept nothing
less.

Full speed ahead

Carmakers are turning away from steel ahead of stricter
carbon emission standards and a push to improve fuel
efficiency.

08

Polish companies report a surge in interest in aluminium

furniture and lighting as the local economy powers ahead.

16

The metal worker

Aluminiums versatility and ability to reect light have made
it Danish designer Bess Kristoffersens metal of choice.

20

Smooth move
The new HVAC&R Applications Manual is facilitating the
transition from copper tubing to aluminium an industry
rst.

MORE TO READ
How it works/FSW 03 Role Model 07 News 14
Trends 19 Development 20 Green Solutions 22

08

04

16

20

SVEIN TORE HOLSETHER

President and CEO of Sapa

Shapes is the Sapa Groups customer magazine. It is published twice a year in 18 language editions.

Editor-in-chief: Kevin Widlic, kevin.widlic@sapagroup.com Editorial Assistant: Eva Ekselius,

eva.ekselius@sapagroup.com Managing Editor: Ylva Carlsson Art Directors: Johan Nohr, Karin
Sderlind Language coordination: Inger Finell Production: Appelberg Publishing Group
Printing: V-TAB Changes of address: Inform your contact person at Sapa or Corporate
Communications at info@sapagroup.com Shapes is also available at www.sapagroup.com
Copyright Sapa AS 2015 - Sapa's product names in this magazine are all
trademarks of Sapa Group.

SHAPES1.2015

How it works

FSW: The joining method which exploits the

laws of nature. All we add is mechanical effort.

A method
of joining
ILLUSTRATION PETR KOLLARK

FRICTION STIR WELDING is a method of

joining that is based on the fact that metal
is subjected to heavy plastic deformation
at temperatures which are high, but lower
than the melting point.
When the rotating tool is plunged into
the metal, friction heat is generated. The
tool produces severe plastic deformation
under high pressure, during which the
weld interfaces are stirred together and a
homogenous structure is formed.

Process is nished

Exit from
work piece

Start by rotating tool

The rotating tool moves

along the joint line

Tool plunged into metal

1.2015SHAPES

MATERIAL DEMAND

Playing to
your strengths
Aluminiums use in lightweight cars and
in buildings is set to drive future demand.
TEXT LOIS HOYAL PHOTO FORD MOTOR COMPANY

HERE IS NOTHING like being

ahead of the game. This approach is being adopted by the
Ford Motor Company, which
has just unveiled an aluminiumbodied version of its F-150 pickup truck, its
most popular model.
Finally, a car which allows aluminium to
showcase its advantages, says John Mothersole, senior principal analyst at IHS. Other
carmakers, including Toyota and General
Motors, are set to follow suit.
The move comes as the car sector shifts
from steel to aluminium in response to impending stricter CO2 emission requirements
and the push to improve fuel efficiency. As
aluminium is lighter than steel, its wider use
in the automotive industry will make cars
much more fuel-efficient. The holy grail
for the industry is aluminiums use in light
vehicles, with its promise of high-volume
production runs, says Mothersole.
Looking ahead, the construction industry
will also continue to drive long-term aluminium demand, particularly in those countries at an earlier stage of development and
urbanization. Aluminiums light weight reduces the bearing loads on a building, while
its resistance to corrosion makes it suitable

The Ford F-150s use of

aluminium sheet in the trucks
body panels reduces total
vehicle weight by 700 pounds
(320 kilograms). The F-150 uses
higher-value-added 5000 and
6000 series heat-treated alloys
rather than lower-grade alloys.

A growing demand
In North America, transportation (cars, trucks, trailers,
aerospace) makes up about 35
percent of aluminium's physical
use, followed by cans and packaging at about 23 percent.

G Demand for heat-treated

sheet, which will be used

for lightweight vehicles, is
expected to grow as much as
30percent a year.
China accounted for about
60 percent of global demand
for aluminium extrusions in
2014, following a boom in the
construction industry.
The European construction
market is reaching rmer
ground, with expected
average growth of 1.8 percent
per year in real terms from
2014 to 2016, according to
Euroconstruct. This will fuel
demand for aluminium in the
sector.

1.2015SHAPES

for all weather conditions, and its workability

gives architects more design freedom.
The construction market already accounts
for two-thirds of the demand for aluminium
extrusions, fueled by the construction boom
in China in recent years. While building activity in China is slowing, demand will be kept up
by a rebound in the construction industry in
North America and growing demand in developing countries, such as Indonesia, Vietnam
and Thailand, explains Eoin Dinsmore, senior
aluminium consultant at independent markets analyst CRU Group.
Demand for aluminium is also on the rise
in the aerospace industry. A new generation
of aircraft made from aluminium and lithium
alloys is poised to be introduced in certain
civilian applications. Meanwhile, the marine
and offshore sector is recognizing the benets
of aluminium for the design of lightweight
constructions. And aluminium is becoming
the material of choice for offshore helipads and
other applications in the oil and gas industry,
Dinsmore says.
Now it is up to producers to meet the anticipated growth in demand.

PHOTO: ALSTOM TRANSPORT / TOMA M. GENEL

MATERIAL DEMAND

The Euroduplex is the world's only double-deck very high speed train
that is capable of operating across several European rail networks.

On the fast track

ALSTOMS EURODUPLEX MOVES as

Aluminium is becoming the material of

choice for off shore applications.

SHAPES1.2015

rapidly as any train in the world, using

complex aluminium solutions from its
development partner Sapa.
Reaching speeds of 320 kilometers
(200 miles) per hour, Alstoms Euroduplex is a double-deck, very high
speed train with the largest capacity,
highest level of comfort and greatest
safety on the market. The main customer for Euroduplex is the French
National Railway Company (SNCF).
Aluminiums benets in highspeed train car bodies are its light
weight, and its uniform and smooth
surface there are no "waves" in the
metal, as with steel. Furthermore,
assembly in modular fashion is more

cost effective in the overall cost

picture, compared with smaller and
heavier components. In this respect,
the train industry is following the
automotive industry.

Sapa's responsibility
G Complex/structural extruG
G
G

sions (up to 19 meters, or

62feet, in length)
Machining (short length and
long length)
Kitting (assembling items in
ready-to-ship kits)
Just-in-time deliveries, with
shipment in special longlength trucks

Role model

Safety
crusader
Michael S. Traxlers heartfelt
message about workplace safety
has reached a wide audience,
including Sapas top managers.
TEXT DANNY CHAPMAN
PHOTO JOSHUA SMITH

Michael S. Traxler
Age: 47.
Occupation: Customer
service representative.
Work location: Delhi,
Louisiana, USA
Family: Wife of 21
years, Anita, and
daughter, Kristen, 18.
Years with Sapa:26
years.
Hobbies: Speaking
with young children in
his church, shopping
with his family, woodworking, the outdoors.

Ever since an automated hydraulic bender

crushed one of his hands and severed several
ngers 20 years ago, Michael Traxler has waged a
personal ght against workplace accidents.
He lost the upper part of his ngers, but it
could have been worse. I told the doctor I didnt
want to lose my ngers, he says. I cried like a
baby when I woke from the operation and they
had been reattached.
A video of his story has been made to encourage employees to follow safety processes and
report near-misses incidents that do not result
in injury, illness or damage, but which could. I
learned after the accident that the same thing
that happened to me nearly happened to one of
my colleagues just a couple of weeks before,
says Traxler. That made me furious.
If the near-miss had been reported, his hand
might have been saved.
When Sapa President Svein Tore Holsether
saw the video, he asked Traxler to come to Sapa's
management conference and speak to 200
delegates. Mike's open-hearted story made a
strong impact, leading to many further speaking
engagements. There is a lot of activity, Traxler
says. The focus on safety at Sapa is as great as I
have ever seen.
Today, Traxler, a Sapa customer service
representative, often spends time on the shop
oor talking to colleagues about safety. He also
conducts speaking engagements across the
company.
1.2015SHAPES

Outlook Poland

Europes

rising
star
8

Shapes1.2015

Polands consumers
are making more money,
and spending it too.
TEXT KEVIN WIDLIC
PHOTO david lundmark, istockphoto

oland has finished its first

decade in the European Union, one
in which it avoided a recession while
Europe stood still economically.
Polands gross domestic product per
capita is 25 percent higher than in 2008, according to the New York Times, with imports and exports increasing each year.
Since 2004, the EU has sent the country 130
billion euros in financial aid, and another 106 billion euros is earmarked by 2020. Poland also has
received more than 100 billion euros in direct foreign investment since joining the EU, according
to the Polish Information and Foreign Investment
Agency.
Poland offers a growing economy, rising productivity and low wage rates compared with its
Western neighbors. Industry and infrastructure
are benefiting.
Polish people used to think foreign products
were always better, but that is no longer the case,
says sales director Pawe Chyziski of Zakad
Obrbki Aluminium (Zobal), a producer of furniture products and home accessories.
In 2011, the Polish government adopted a 10year program to increase the share of innovative
and high-tech investment and create productive
jobs. Several big-name global companies have
followed.
Volkswagen, Toyota and General Motors have
built facilities in Poland. So have 3M, Google,
Amazon, Dell and Procter & Gamble. Most of the
products that Ikea sells in its European stores
are produced in Poland. But investments from
local businesses, from companies like Zobal, are
driving the growth.
Zobal was founded 19 years ago by Krzysztof
Zakrzewski, who left the aluminium extrusion
industry to become an entrepreneur. Besides its
a luminium processing competence, the company
has repeatedly invested in specialized, technologically advanced equipment and production.
1.2015Shapes

Outlook Poland

Zobal
GG Production in Siedlisko and anodizing in Trzcianka

GG Products include furniture fronts,

GG

We sell service, not production, says marketing manager Pawe Wojniusz. Customers can order one piece, choose their own color and size, and
we will produce it piece-anodized. The market
wants everything, but not everyone can provide it.
This is what we do.
Zobal is located in Trzcianka, about an hour
from Poznan and 250 kilometers east of Berlin.
The company works with wholesalers: industrial customers and producers of furniture and
furniture services. Wholesalers know their
customers better than we do we listen, says
Chyziski.
Two of its largest customers are the German
companies Hfele and Hettich. Zobal exports up
to 50 percent of its products, and Germany is its
largest export market.
Germany has become the equal of Italy in

design and new products in this business, says

Chyziski. But we try to find inspiration from
all around the world when it comes to product
development.
Zobal created nearly 100 products the last
year, from handles and furniture legs to LED
glass panels, construction profiles and its flexible
new wall system. The common denominator is
a luminium.
Aluminium is perfect for designing modern
and attractive furniture, says Zakrzewski. It is
what customers want.

10

Shapes1.2015

legs, bases and accessories, as

well as systems for partitions,
shelving and sliding doors, and
an innovative wall system
Products are used in kitchens,
bathrooms, living rooms, wardrobes, shops and offices

Zobal's techno
logically advanced
production line
has broadened the
company's range
of surface finishes
and improved ser
vice in anodizing.

WE SELL
SERVICE, NOT
PRODUCTION.
Pawe Wojniusz,
marketing manager, Zobal

Ledxon systems are lighting the

production hall at Sapas extrusion
plant in Trzcianka, Poland.

Whats LED?

Bright future for Ledxon

LED, short for light-emitting diode,

is a two-lead semiconductor light
source. LEDs are smaller, use less
energy and last longer than incandescent light sources. They are
used in applications from aviation
lighting to traffic signals, automotive headlights, general lighting
and camera flashes. The development of LED technology has
caused their efficiency and light
output to rise exponentially. Replacing lights that spend the most
time lit makes the most savings.

An LED lighting pioneer looks to aluminium for its

thermal management properties and attractive appearance.
Entrepreneur Gabriel Garufo estab-

lished Ledxon in 2005, when his son Benjamin

challenged him to return to pioneering mode
and take on the growth in LED lighting. Today, the
German company is quadrupling production at its
plant in Masw, Poland.
With its companies Ledxon Modular GmbH
and Ledxon Replace GmbH, Ledxon has two business areas LED components with LED modules
and LED strips, as well as LED replacements.
Ledxon Modular GmbH develops tailored lighting solutions for industrial applications, while
Ledxon Replace GmbH sells LED replacements
for electrical wholesalers in Germany.
The company was the first to substitute LED
systems for halogen lamps in Germanys wholesaler market. Companies like Philips and Osram
have since followed.
Garufo started his first company, Garufo
GmbH, in 1986. He was a pioneer in the LED sector with the invention of the first LED traffic light,
which led the way to new products and patents for
road, rail and air traffic applications. He sold the
company 15 years later, but he has never left the
business.

Weve tried to come up with good application

technology not the LED itself because complete units were not available at the time, he says,
citing food industry lighting as an example.
Food lighting is specialized, he says. When
you go into a bakery and can see the texture of the
bread, you will buy more. Cheese lighting is different
they all are, and this is just the food industry.
As a company, we need to be as flexible as an automotive supplier, with just-in-time delivery and as
a developer for the next generation. We are part of
the material chain, not just a supplier.

Gabriel Garufo
established Ledxon
in 2005.

LED systems require good thermal management, drivers and optics. Most systems use
aluminium rather than copper and ceramic, due
to its thermal management properties. An addi
tional benefit, says Garufo, is that aluminium
looks good.
Aluminium is a technical part of the lamp, so
it needs to fulfill all the specifications, he says.
When I look ahead at improvement possibilities,
maybe we could develop a slimmer structure, with
thinner walls, and even better thermal management. But the design should always look good.
1.2015Shapes

11

the picture

London's
Crystal
IN ADDITION TO serving as the workplace for Siemens

team of multi-disciplinary urban experts, The Crystal

houses the worlds largest exhibition on the future of
cities, focusing on possibilities for sustainable mobility,
building technologies, power and water supplies, and
health care.
Aluminium is the building material of the modern
age. It has manufacturing exibility, a broad range of
nishes, and an excellent strength-to-weight ratio. It is
also fully recyclable and gives architects the ability to
create solutions pleasing to the eye.
PHOTO TREVOR PALIN

Hollow-section aluminium
extrusions in doors make it
easy to install locks and other
furnishings, while providing
lightness and rigidity.

12

SHAPES1.2015

Sections for facades

and curt
curtain walling can be
built thinner
th
and deeper
with alu
aluminium and still
achieve desired strength
an
and stiffness.

Aluminium windows
A
requ
require less maintenance
tha
than wood and are not
affected by moisture.

1.2015SHAPES

13

News

The winged bike rack

SAPA HAS HELPED to develop

Something new: Ayse Bysanz aluminium foil Future Fashion Wedding Dress is
designed to make brides sparkle on their big day

Here shines the bride

THIS SPARKLING wedding dress made

out of a patented woven aluminium

fabric by Ayse Byzanz was nominated
in the Design & Lifestyle category for
the European Aluminium Award 2014.
Byzanz says the shiny aluminium foil
creation can be worn all day and owes its
fairy-tale sheen to the way the material
reects light.

The German fashion and art designer

scooped an honorable mention at the
prestigious awards for her Future
Fashion Wedding Dress. Byzanz says:
I have a special relationship with
aluminium; my nickname is actually
the Aluqueen. I create everything from
shoes and furniture to business cards in
aluminium.

the Thule Groups new trailerhitch-mounted bike rack, the

Thule EasyFold. The rack is foldable, making it easy to store and
transport, and can carry loads of
up to 60 kilograms.
Anders Sjdell, chief engineer
at Thule Rear Mount Systems,
says, Our demands on design
and detail have always been huge,
and Sapa gave us the utmost
support throughout the entire
process.
The bike rack consists of two
extruded aluminium proles: a
40-centimeter wing prole and a
central prole that serves as the
hub of the design.

Study: Longer life for aluminium

ALUMINIUM IN USE in buildings

PERCENT
Aluminium has 200 percent
the conductivity of copper on
a weight basis.

14

SHAPES1.2015

around the world is expected to

remain in tip-top condition much
longer than initially thought, researchers have found. A study led by
renowned architect and professor
Michael Stacey has recommended
a 40-year warranty for coated aluminium used in buildings. It also rec-

ommended an 80-year service life for

aluminium used in window frames
an upward revision of 40 years. The
study, conducted on behalf of the
International Aluminium Institute,
examined buildings ranging from
Cribbs Causeway Retail Park in Bristol, England, to the Financial Times
Printworks in London.

Work of art
AMERICAN ARTIST Jeff Koons

Light from above

artwork Play-Doh looks like a

4.5-meter-high pile of soft clay.
Who would have guessed that
the sculpture consists of polychromed aluminium? Play-Doh
is Koons newest sculpture and
took 20 years to complete. A retrospective of the artists work
will be shown at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, in Spain,
in June 2015.

Philips OneSpace Luminous Ceiling is a made-tomeasure ceiling panel that

transforms the interior of
a room into one cohesive
space with homogeneous
LED light that eliminates
shadows completely. The
aluminium components
are extruded by Sapa
Trzcianka in Poland.

Homage to British history

A sumptuous arrangement of overlapping
aluminium circles covers
the facade of the Library
of Birmingham in England.
The building, designed by
the Dutch studio Mecanoo
Architecten, was built at a
cost of 193 million British
pounds (302 million US
dollars). Interlaced circles
in two different colors
cover the facade's upper
oors. The black circular

proles measure 5.4 meters in diameter, and the

underlying silver-colored
rings measure
1.8 meters.
The circular pattern is
an homage to Birminghams industrial history
and the many skilled
metalworking craftsmen,
says Francine Houben,
an architect at Mecanoo
Architecten.

Limited-edition Streetbike
WITH ITS PATENTED exible unisex frame, the Streetbike bicycle
W
can
c be ridden by most riders between 160 and 188 centimeters tall.
The
T frame is made of anodized extruded aluminium proles that
are
a CNC-milled and assembled using screws instead of welding.
Streetbike,
S
produced by David Larsson Design in Sweden, will be
produced
in an exclusive limited edition of only 25 bicycles.
p

1.2015SHAPES

15

Profile BESS KRISTOFFERSEN

Bess Kristoffersen
Hometown: Copenhagen
Age: 59
Family: Married, one son.
Education: Degrees in
textile design from the
Danish Design School,
1984, and in precious
metals design from the
Institute of Precious Metals, 1994.
Clients: Bl Form, Denmark; Forms+Surfaces,
USA; Bang & Olufsen,
Denmark; Georg Jensen
Damask, Denmark; Kvadrat, Denmark.
Next challenge: To construct a spacious design
studio and workshop
close to the familys
house in the woods near
Tystrup Lake, about 100
kilometers southwest of
Copenhagen.

16

SHAPES1.2015

A crystallization
project aimed to
nd the very core
of aluminium.

THE
METALS
INNERMOST
SELF

Danish designer Bess

Kristoffersen nds
her main inspiration
in nature.
TEXT LARS STERLIND
PHOTO ALASTAIR PHILIP WIPER

IN THE EARLY 1990s designer Bess Kristoffersen

had an assignment to combine textiles with copper. But the toxic chemicals involved in dyeing
the metal suggested the use of another material:
aluminium. It was really just a coincidence, but I
soon realized that this was the right material for
me, she says. The techniques were similar to the
ones used for textiles, and since aluminium is a
relatively new material, there are still undiscovered territories to explore. To learn more about
metals, she took a degree in precious metals in
1994, complementing her degree in textile design
from the Danish Design School 10 years earlier.
For Kristoffersen, structure and planning are
necessary to make way for chaos and creative
work. Its important for me to allocate a long period of uninterrupted time so that I can be nerdy
and totally focus on the material, she explains.
She describes the process of creating something
new as a long investigative journey. Through
countless experiments she takes the material to
its limits. She treats the metal surface with chemicals, heat and electricity. It is anodized, ground
and stained. She tests the materials reections
in daylight and at night. I cant force the process
toward a certain goal, she says. It matures. One
thing leads to another, often as a ow.
1.2015SHAPES

17

Profile BESS KRISTOFFERSEN

Although her background is in

textile design, Kristoffersen likes
to work with many types of materials: aluminium, steel, glass,
paper and wood. Tactility, color
and luster are relevant parameters for all kinds of materials,
she says. She applies discoveries from her metalwork to other
Bess Kristoffersen
materials, and vice versa. Its
about aluminium
important to respect each materials
individuality, she says. I dont try to
make aluminium look like textiles, but
when I work with the surface to make it reect
light in a certain way, its a process similar to the
one for textiles and how the threads are woven in
the fabrics to reect light.
Kristoffersen gives herself new assignments
all the time. She is especially pleased with the outcome of a crystallization project on which she collaborated with Professor Andy Horsewell at the
Technical University of Denmark. The purpose
was to nd the very core of aluminium. We managed to control how the aluminium crystallizes,
which creates a very elegant pattern, she says.

It has an
outstanding
capacity to
reflect light.

HER DESIGNS ARE SIMPLE, organic and

contemporary. The work ranges from small
aluminium pins and woven tapestries to large
metal partitions. For her latest exhibitions at
Kunsthal Nord in lborg and at Rundetrn in
Copenhagen, she worked with embroidered linen
and stained and burned wood.
Aluminium is her favorite material. Its
very versatile, she says. I can create numerous nishes, and it has an outstanding capacity
to reect light. She uses anodizing to create a
durable surface and to stain the metal. For most
of her aluminium work she does the anodizing
herself in her small workshop, where she keeps a
10-liter anodizing plant in which the aluminium
is immersed.
Kristoffersens main inspiration comes from
nature. Besides the apartment in Copenhagen,
she and her husband own a house in the countryside an hours drive from the city. I have always
found inspiration in nature, she says. Its an
integrated part of my life and the way I think.
You can see in my art that I cooperate with nature. Another source of inspiration is her trips
to Morocco, Egypt, the United States, Japan and
England, where she studied patterns and what she

18

SHAPES1.2015

Danish designer Bess

Kristoffersen nds
inspiration in nature
and from overseas trips.
Aluminium is her
favorite material, and
her commercial assignments have ranged from
phones to toilet seats.

calls pleasant decay. The challenge of aluminium

is the lack of pleasant decay, she says. It doesnt
age nicely or oxidize in iridescent colors as most
other metals do. Im impressed with how the Japanese integrate aging in objects and appreciate the
beauty in natural wear.
The commercial assignments vary as much
as the materials. She has made a limited series of
hand-decorated phones in aluminium for Bang &
Olufsen, bed linen for Georg Jensen Damask and
metal surface designs for Forms+Surfaces. One
of her strangest projects was to create two toilet
seats in aluminium for Pressalit. It was a fun assignment, although they were just showpieces and
not meant for serial production, she says. I favor
assignments when I can cooperate with manufacturers to produce surfaces on sheet aluminium
or other objects.

trends

NO LIMITS

trends for recycled aluminium

Recycled aluminium conserves resources and helps the
environment, says Yang Cao, senior aluminium analyst at
Metal Bulletin Research. Shapes asked him to elaborate.
TEXT DANNY CHAPMAN ILLUSTRATION CHRISTIAN MONTENEGRO

Aluminium is a highly recyclable metal. With an accumulated

aluminium product inventory
since 1888 estimated at 600 million metric tons, the availability of
aluminium scrap is not a constraint.
And producing recycled aluminium
requires just 5 percent of the
energy required to produce the
primary metal.
REGIONAL HUBS

Asia Pacic is the leading

manufacturing hub for recycled
aluminium, with 45 percent of
global production in 2013. Production in Brazil, China and India is
rapidly increasing.
MAJOR MARKETS

End-use sectors such as

transportation, construction, packaging and steel production are the
major recycled aluminium markets.
Total global recycled aluminium usage by end-use sectors will reach
26.5 million metric tons by 2023.
KEY DRIVERS

Used beverage can recycling

will be a key factor in the usage
and growth of recycled aluminium,
as will awareness programs like
the American Action to Accelerate
Recycling.
KEY CONSTRAINTS

Global availability of
aluminium scrap for domestic industries, particularly in some Western countries that are increasingly
exporting to Asia, is a worry. Scrap
grades that contain impurities also
pose problems.

1.2015SHAPES

19

Development
Sapas Precision Tubing Technical
Center has its hub in Karmy, Norway.

A new HVAC&R manual

helps smooth the switch from
copper tubing to aluminium.

Manual
transmission

TEXT KEVIN WIDLIC

PHOTO KJELL RUBEN STRM

20

SHAPES1.2015

The HVAC&R Applications Manual is based on relevant knowledge about

aluminium heat exchanger technology and corrosion resistance.

APAS HVAC&R APPLICATIONS Manual

is the rst in the industry with documented

test results and technical argumentation
supporting aluminium as the preferred
metal to meet the future demands and
regulations of the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration market.
The objective of the 88-page manual is to educate
the manufacturers of HVAC&R heat exchangers in the
correct use of aluminium solutions and the metals
basic material properties. The manual covers all the
important topics, such as corrosion, alloys, products
and coating solutions, and is a follow-up to the 2012
publication Aluminium System Solutions for HVAC&R
Applications.
I have checked the manual, and there is very important information inside, says Sandro Ortolano,
senior technical customer support manager of the
Italian company ThermoKey SpA.

PRECISION TUBING

HVAC&R
APPLICATIONS

SAPA ALUMINIUM SOLUTIONS

The 88-page
manual is the rst
in the industry
with documented
test results.

3 questions for Thierry Guillaume:

Who should read the manual?
Engineers, designers and purchasing professionals from companies
that are manufacturing copper-based heat exchangers but considering
aluminium solutions. And beginners.
Who did the background work?
Sapas Precision Tubing Technical Center and other technical experts
throughout the company and across the world.
Is the information valid for the HVAC&R industry in all markets and
regions?
Yes.

One conclusion from the manual is that moving

from copper to aluminium can be done with great success, but that it is not as easy as selecting an alloy. It
requires design work, learning and testing.
It demysties aluminium as a material for
HVAC&R application and sets the record straight in
the basic principles and techniques for aluminium
heat-exchanger design, says Thierry Guillaume,
technical manager at Sapa, who gathered the information and wrote the manual.
He says the knowledge reected within the book
has been accumulated over many years. It is based
on 30 years in automotive and more than 10 years in
HVAC&R, he says.
THE MATERIAL COMES from test results, development projects, eld-failure analysis and controlled
testing in Sapas research and development laboratories. The technologies presented are continuously
updated and show state-of-the-art solutions today.
The most easily executed design change is to substitute copper round tubes with aluminium round
tubes. This like-for-like substitution provides an
immediate advantage in material cost savings. Additional benets include immunity to formicary corrosion, reductions in size and weight, the need for less
refrigerant and 100 percent recyclability.
The manual concludes that moving from copper
heat exchanger technology to all-aluminium heat
exchanger technologies is benecial and not difficult
to achieve. But it also underlines the importance of
adhering to the guidelines in order to prevent easily
avoidable product errors and failures.
1.2015SHAPES

21

Green Solutions FIXED-LINK CROSSING

Instead of using direct seabed mooring, the
concept of oating bridges uses a Reinertsenpatented articial seabed with pretensioned
pipes moored to each of the shores, stretching
across the fjord at a water depth of 30 meters.

Building bridges
to the future
Norways deep and wide fjords may see
xed-link crossings, with aluminium
playing a major part.
TEXT ULF WIMAN ILLUSTRATION REINERTSEN

ITH ITS BLUE FJORDS, steep

coastline and snow-tipped

mountain backdrop, Norways
west coast is the stuff that scenic routes are made of. It can
also be a huge infrastructural challenge.
In 2010 the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) was commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications
to investigate xed-link alternatives to the seven
remaining ferry crossings along the 1,100-kilometer E39 highway route between Kristiansand and
Trondheim.
The NPRA was to investigate the impact of different alternatives on trade and industry, regional
employment and settlement patterns, as well as
the technological challenges and whether the
bridge structures could be used to generate power
from renewable sources.
Sognefjord, Norways longest and deepest
fjord 205 kilometers long, 1,300 meters deep
and 3,700 meters across was chosen for the feasibility study. Based on the initial studies, three
concepts were presented in 2012: a oating bridge,
a submerged oating tube bridge (SFTB) and a
suspension bridge.
After the feasibility study, a consortium consisting of the companies Reinertsen AS, Dr.techn.
Olav Olsen AS and Snhetta Oslo AS, partly funded by the Norwegian Research Council, presented
a concept consisting of a oating bridge with an

22

SHAPES1.2015

Dr. Marit Reiso, marine

constructor and project
leader at Reinertsen.

SFTB at midspan. We combined our respective

competences to develop a new solution, says project leader Marit Reiso, marine constructor, Reinertsen. The main challenges were how to moor
the structure and how to facilitate ship traffic.
GIVEN THE DEPTH of the fjord, the concept has no

direct seabed mooring. This is a proven technology in the offshore oil and gas industry, which has
been adapted to a new application, but it is probably
the rst time it is used for a bridge, Reiso says.
Were not material experts, she says, but
the automotive industry uses aluminium, and we
thought that it could be an interesting alternative.
We contacted Hydro, which led us to Sapa, both of
which are now part of the consortium.

PROJECT GROUP: REINERTSEN, DR.TECHN. OLAV OLSEN, SNHETTA, SAPA, NORSK HYDRO OG DEEP OCEAN.

Ship passage
Ship barrier
to protect the
zone between
the oating
bridge and the
submerged
oating tube
bridge

ALUMINIUM
IS DUCTILE
AND LIGHT.
Dr. Marit Reiso, Reinertsen

Investigations are currently under way regarding the use of aluminium in the ship barriers that
shelter the SFTB from ship collisions. Reiso says
aluminium may increase the investment cost
compared with other materials, but from a lifecycle perspective it could even out. Aluminium is
ductile and light, which simplies construction,
she says. It has advantages over other materials with respect to corrosion resistance, which
reduces maintenance costs. It can also be reused,
which is good from a sustainability standpoint.
There are also aluminium factories nearby, which
reduces transport costs and emissions.
Only time can tell how and when the xed link
E39 will be completed, but so far the project has
seen the birth of some very innovative solutions.

Three questions for Jonas Bjuhr

director product development, Sapa
What is Sapas role
in the project?
Together with
Hydro we investigate how aluminium
can be used in the
ship barrier that will
protect the bridge to
tube bridge transition. We will also
investigate other
uses.

How do you do it?

Our internal R&D
center is engaged,
combining existing
knowledge and basic
research. We also
collaborate with the
Norwegian University of Science and
Technology.

From Sapas point

of view, what is
most exciting?
This is a cuttingedge project where
we collaborate
actively with our
partners to broaden
the use of aluminium
in a new application.

1.2015SHAPES

23

Cooling ns. Dissipate the heat

from the LED circuit board.

Screw pockets.
In assembly,
for sealing the
ends with plastic or cast end
caps.

Led circuit board surface. The LED

printed circuit board is mounted onto
this surface, either screwed or glued.

Channel for cables. Used

as ducts for electrical wiring

detail

Adding value
in LED lighting
Aluminium extrusions have become important in shaping lanterns
and xtures in the fast-growing market of LED lighting. In addition
to its aesthetic advantages, aluminium offers thermal properties
together with myriad possibilities for built-in functions, thereby
facilitating assembling and mounting.