INTERMET Applies Technology to the Production Of Steering Knuckles

Company demonstrates technical leadership with study presented at SAE Congress

    TROY, Mich., March 6 When automakers look for ways to
lighten car and truck suspensions, they usually look away from key safety-
critical structural components like steering knuckles and control arms, which
traditionally are manufactured in ductile iron.  INTERMET Corporation
says that recent innovations in casting design and process
technology make the use of aluminum a very practical and cost-effective
alternative to ductile-iron suspension components.

    A new study presented by INTERMET at the 2001 Society of Automotive
Engineers International Congress and Exposition concludes that pressure-
counter-pressure casting (PCPC) can be utilized to manufacture robust,
premium-quality aluminum steering knuckles.

    INTERMET is the first North American automotive supplier to use pressure-
counter-pressure casting for the production of structural automotive
components, and soon will be supplying PCPC aluminum steering knuckles to a
major automobile manufacturer for use in a passenger vehicle platform.

    "We believe that PCPC is the process of the future for casting aluminum
structural components like knuckles and other chassis and suspension safety-
critical parts," said Dr. Gary F. Ruff, Executive Vice President of Technical
Services for INTERMET, one of the authors of the study.  "With its high
production rates and cost-effective capital requirements, PCPC is an excellent
economical solution for the supply of high-integrity aluminum castings."

    Ruff and Thomas E. Prucha, INTERMET's Director of Process Research and
Development, outlined their findings at this week's SAE Expo at the Cobo
Conference and Exposition Center in Detroit, Michigan.  The presentation was
one of two given this year by INTERMET at the annual SAE event.