ORLANDO, Fla. (Oct. 23, 2013) — Alcoa Wheel and Transportation Products has developed a stronger aluminum alloy it is planning to use in a line of lighter-weight truck wheels it expects to roll out in early 2014.
Alcoa claims the new allow, called MagnaForce, is 16.5-percent stronger on average than its 6061 alloy, which it calls the industry standard. Alcoa did not quantify what the weight savings will be in the new wheel design it's planning to introduce.
"Our MagnaForce alloy…opens the door to production of the strongest, lightest wheels to increase fleet payload, improve fuel efficiency and enhance sustainability," Tim Myers, president of Alcoa Wheel, said at the American Trucking Associations' Management Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, where it disclosed the development.
Alcoa did not elaborate on the nature of the development, which it said was carried out over the past two years at its R&D Center in Pittsburgh.
Alcoa said this development follows its work over the past 20 years, during which it has trimmed truck wheels by 10 pounds.