Aluminium R&D consortium highlights NRC's new approach to assisting industry

Expertise drawn from across NRC

The National Research Council (NRC) has launched an aluminium R&D program aimed at reducing the weight of materials used to build ground transportation vehicles. The $45-million, eight-year program is the first to emerge from a new NRC-led consortium for aluminium R&D and is part of the agency's automotive and surface transportation (AST) portfolio — one of 12 created to replace the former NRC institute structure.

The AST portfolio pulls together relevant research units and facilities from throughout the NRC (see chart on page 2), giving clients a one-stop shop for accessing infrastructure and expertise. NRC is contributing $14 million to the Lightweighting of Ground Transportation Vehicles (LGTV) program and anticipates $31 million coming from other collaborators and clients that join the consortium, with Rio Tinto Alcan weighing in as its anchor partner.

The LGTV program is the first of three to be run through the consortium — dubbed the Consortium for Research and Innovation in Light Assembly (CRIAL) — dedicated to developing aluminium assembly and multi-materials technologies. CRIAL was established with the assistance of the Quebec Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Export and the Société de la vallée d'aluminium.

The consortium's two other pending programs are advanced shaping to address the manufacturing challenges associated with high-strength aluminium components and aluminium sheets, and reliability, which seeks solutions for corrosion and degradation problems encountered in Canadian and northern US climates. CRIAL will allow companies and other collaborators to move in and out and share costs using a stage-gate approach that engages users at all decision levels and functions. Much of the equipment within the AST portfolio is unique to Canada.

"The NRC wants to be in the middle of the innovation system. We know all the players. (The consortium) provides us with a mechanism to diffuse and transfer technology widely and efficiently and consult with companies in real time," says Dr Michel Dumoulin, GM of the AST portfolio and a 20-year veteran of the former NRC Industrial Materials Institute which maintained facilities in Boucherville and Saguenay in Quebec and Concord and London in Ontario. "We're taking the whole-of-supply -chain approach which is effective in Canada for getting the small guys at the table with the large guys."

key automotive focus

Although the consortium and its first program are geared toward multiple industry sectors, the automotive industry is the single largest focus. In addition to original equipment manufacturer (OEM) multinationals like General Motors and Nova Bus, many smaller firms all along the supply chain are engaged. NRC's Industrial Research Assistance Program will be utilized to help make Tier I and II suppliers aware that opportunities exist and assist them in communicating with and engaging with other pl;ayers in the project.

"Project governance is simple. It involves whoever is at the table and pays membership fees," says Dumoulin. "Consortium members propose the technology development program for the next year."

The goal of the lightweighting initiative is to enable industry to reduce overall vehicle weight by 10% over the life of the program to help firms meet stringent new vehicle emissions standards set to come into force later this decade. It's that focus on company needs that is helping the refocused NRC gain new traction within industry.

"NRC with this program has become much more focused on short-term, real-world applications and we see this as a major factor," says Steve Rodgers, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association (APMA). "The next round of fuel economy standards kick in in 2017 and we're putting this into our programs now. Aluminium is also a Canadian strength and a way to differentiate Canadian industry."

Rodgers acknowledges that while the NRC's financial contribution to the program is relatively modest, the refocused agency has far more to offer than just cash. He points to the benefits of working with IRAP as a major plus, as well as the opportunity to collaborate with NRC's R&D personnel and utilize its specialized facilities.

"They have major facilities in Boucherville and London and elsewhere and they also have aerospace expertise which is applicable," he says. "It also serves as a single point-of-contact which brings together other programs like IRAP and CANMET."

The emphasis on automotive places the NRC within a much larger R&D ecosystem of major players that includes Natural Resources Canada's CANMET program. NRCan recently relocated its Materials Technologies Laboratory (MTL) from Ottawa to Hamilton, opening up potential collaboration across government and academia, with industry in the driver's seat.

Although NRCan is not a formal member of CRIAL, each organization keeps the other abreast of planned research activities with the potential for collaboration if the need arises.

"Our focus is on lightweighting and powertrains but we are much more broad-based than the NRC in this area which has particular strength in aluminium, says Mark Kozdras, program manager of CANMET MTL's automotive materials division. "It's a fairly large research circle we work in (automotive) and we know all the players and facilities, as well as universities."

portfolio merger

The AST portfolio was created on April 1st with the merger of the automotive and surface transportation portfolios that were identified in the early stages of the NRC's transformation. While each portfolio came with its own set of clients and technologies, officials often found themselves talking to the same set of customers.

"There are many benefits to putting all the ground transport and vehicle technologies under one roof, says Dumoulin, adding that the surface transportation portfolio was largely focused on defence work. "It will take time to reap all the benefits (of the amalgamation), providing a better focus on our mission and value we can bring to clients which is more market-driven research. We're getting our ears to the ground much better."

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