Philippe Meyer

Novelis

Summary

Of all metals, aluminum is synonymous with light metal par excellence. In hardly any other industry is the importance of this high-performance material as great as in aircraft construction. The aviation industry places the highest safety requirements on the lightweight materials used and today's wide-body aircraft is proof of the intensive research and development of new aluminum alloys for new applications. Tools for modeling at all process stages play a key role in applied research, as Philippe Meyer from Novelis explained in his opening speech “Applied research for advanced aluminum materials for new applications”. 
“Models are currently being used intensively in every phase of the development and production process,” explained Meyer. The coupling of physical measurements, in-depth microstructural investigations and understanding, modeling and accurate process monitoring is the powerful way to achieve the highest requirements, such as optimal design and material selection, the best material performance and process control for consistent quality. 
With the digitalization of the entire process chain from material to product, with the tools of machine learning and artificial intelligence, the possibilities in research and development can be significantly expanded. Meyer demonstrated the potential of digitalization using the example of the digital twin. Prototypes of digital twins are already being tested at Novelis for some process steps, as Meyer explained. For example, in rolling, where physical measurements and sensors combine reality and model to control the process. In further development, the aim is to use learning algorithms (machine learning) along the entire production process to obtain a complete prediction of the microstructures, geometric features and properties of the product.
In conclusion, Meyer emphasized that the tools of artificial intelligence and machine learning will significantly advance future alloy and product development in aluminum. 

back