Alcoa burns rubber in the steel wheel arena

Sep 27, 2012 | 12:52 PM | Jo Isenberg

Tags  Alcoa, Aloca Wheel and Transportation Products, AWTP

In a global road race stretching from Hannover, Germany to Tacoma, Wash., Alcoa Wheel and Transportation Products (AWTP) pressed the pedal to the metal and laid down a challenge to the steel truck wheel supply chain in the form of four new forged aluminum wheels--two of which are said to offer maximum loads per wheel currently unavailable in steel--and the findings of a just-released peer-reviewed life cycle assessment which concludes that Alcoa aluminum wheels substantially cut the carbon footprint of commercial vehicles.
The study, conducted by PE International, Inc. & Five Winds Strategic Consulting, Boulder, Colo., is billed as the most comprehensive and comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) ever conducted on aluminum and steel truck wheels. “Our findings are based on the full life cycle of Alcoa forged aluminum wheels--from raw materials through production, distribution, use, disposal and recycling of the product,” Dr. Christoph Koffler, technical director, PE International & Five Winds Strategic Consulting, commented on the scope of the study in a statement.....