Stretching plate. Extending leadership.
Travel may be making the world smaller, but some aircraft parts are getting bigger. Way bigger. These larger parts require advanced manufacturing technologies. Arconic responded with an investment in a massive new machine for stretching thick aluminum and aluminum-lithium plate to produce some of the largest fuselage frames, wing ribs and bulkheads in the industry.
Weighing in at a staggering 4,200 tons, our thick plate stretcher allows us to produce plate that has a significantly greater cross section (combination of thickness times width) than ever before - and greater than anyone else in the world can make today.
The thick plate stretcher is critical because it introduces minimal internal stress to the metal during the process, which allows a grain structure that’s easier to shape into the finished form. Ultimately that means we will be able to produce the largest, high strength monolithic wing ribs in the aerospace industry.
The Arconic thick plate stretcher. Big capabilities that will help deliver an even bigger aerospace future.
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