The Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC), a trade association dedicated to advancing the effective use of aluminum extrusion in North America, launched a new interactive resource tool on its website for automotive design engineers.

The interactive web page delivers a wealth of information on the effective use of aluminum extrusions in various vehicle components, systems and subsystems, and highlights technical details such as alloys, fabrication methods, performance characteristics and more.

As visitors scroll over an image of a vehicle, a pop-up box appears to provide information on the selected system or component, offering a link to explore deeper into that particular application. Currently, the site features detailed information on vehicle components including:

• Roof Headers;
• Battery Boxes;
• Sub Frames;
• Rockers; and
• Cross members.

More modules are being developed and will be added in the future. This interactive tool was designed to impart important information and useful details about aluminum extrusion in vehicle design, and is intended to assist automotive designers better to understand aluminum extrusions and how to employ them effectively in vehicle applications.