Aluminium Technology Centre

National Research Council Canada, Saguenay, Québec
What the facility does

Advanced scientific and industrial infrastructure, as well as expertise in developing assembly procedures and aluminium forming

Areas of expertise

The National Research Council of Canada’s Aluminium Technology Centre has the expertise and equipment to meet the needs of the aluminium transformation industry in the field of transportation and other manufacturing sectors. A wide range of services includes everything from large-scale research projects to consultation requests and characterization.

The main aluminium transformation technologies available include adhesive assembly, various welding techniques (laser welding, friction stir welding and robotic arc welding), pressure and semi-solid casting, forming and extrusion, as well as techniques for evaluating mechanical resistance, environmental sustainability, and metallurgical and chemical characterization.

The large-scale laboratory, measuring nearly 1,200m2, contains oversized equipment for industrial prototyping work: two robotic welding cells connected to a 10-kW laser, a friction stir welding machine, a 1,000-ton forming press and a 650-ton injection molding press.

Research services
  • Surface transport vehicle lightweighting
  • Aluminium assembly and forming
  • Multi-material joining
  • Advanced welding processes for manufacturing
  • Sustainability assessment, including corrosion control and validation of the performance during use
Sectors of application
  • Aerospace and satellites
  • Automotive
  • Defence and security industries
  • Manufacturing and processing
  • Mining, minerals and metals
  • Transportation

Specialized lab

Equipment

Function

Welding laboratory

10-kW TruDisk10002 welding laser

 

Equipment for welding metals with most welding processes

 

Blackbird SCANLAB ScanControlUnit (SCU)-1

 

Equipment for welding metals with most welding processes

 

Lincoln (Power Wave 455) welder

Equipment for welding metals with most welding processes

 

Fronius (Cold Metal Transfer (CMT), ROB 5000) welder

Equipment for welding metals with most welding processes

Molding laboratory

Buhler SC N/53 die casting press

Industrial equipment for casting high-integrity aluminium parts

 

Fondarex HIGHVAC PREMIUM 2C vacuum

Industrial equipment for casting high-integrity aluminium parts

 

YXLON Multiplex 5500M tomograph

Industrial equipment for casting high-integrity aluminium parts

Forming laboratory

Interlaken ITC-100-40-HFP 1000-ton forming/hydroforming press

Industrial equipment for forming metal sheets and tubes.

 

Interlaken 3360-150-115-24-HP 75-ton servo press

Industrial equipment for forming metal sheets and tubes.

Metallurgical characterization laboratory

Hitachi SU70 scanning electron microscope

Complete microscopic material characterization equipment

 

3 EDS-EBSD-WDS detectors

Complete microscopic material characterization equipment

Corrosion and surface laboratory

BioLogic Model 470 Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy (SECM)

Equipment for measuring materials’ sensitivity to corrosion

 

4 Ascott cyclic corrosion chambers

Equipment for measuring materials’ sensitivity to corrosion

Mechanical characterization and metrology laboratory

MTS Landmark +/-100kN servo-hydraulic device

Measurement of the mechanical resistance of materials and precise dimensions

 

Mitutoyo CRYSTA-Apex 9168 coordinate measuring machine

Measurement of the mechanical resistance of materials and precise dimensions

Virtual digital simulation and casting laboratory

LS-DYNA for forming

 

Simulation of metal transformation and assembly processes

 

ProCast for casting

Simulation of metal transformation and assembly processes

 

HyperXtrude for extrusion

Simulation of metal transformation and assembly processes

 

SPH3D for friction stir welding

Simulation of metal transformation and assembly processes

  • Natural Resources Canada
  • Transport Canada
  • Rio Tinto
  • Bombardier Transportation
  • Bombardier Recreative Products
  • Cosma International of America
  • Dajcor Aluminum
  • Ford Motor
  • Deere & Company
  • Lincoln Electric Canada
  • Magna Exteriors
  • Manac
  • Novelis
  • Prevost Division Group Volvo Canada
  • Raufoss Automotive Components
  • Vari-Form
  • Verbom