Additional photographs of the Aluminum Company anniversary celebration are shown on pases 3 6 and 37.
Francis C. Frary congratulated by A . V . Davis, chairman of the board
ALUMINUM COMPANY HONORS FRARY FOR RESEARCH By F. J. Wan Antwerpen, Associate Editor IN TRIBUTE to the fact that aluminum is a child of chemical research, the Aluminum Co. of America held open house at its New Kensington, Penna., research laboratories December 16, in celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of its central research department. Honored at the same time was Francis C. Frary, who has directed the efforts of the research group since its inception in 1918. A dinner for the laboratory personnel was given that evening at the University d a b of Pittsburgh, at which Dr. Frary received an emblem and a cash award as a tribute to his quarter of a century with the company. After the presentation Dr. Frary spoke on some of the problems attending aluminum research and he was followed by E. R. Weidlein, of the Mellon Institute, and by a paper by Webster N. Jones of the Carnegie Institute of Technology. At the laboratory inspection, officials of the company explained and demonstrated many of the techniques and developments that have made aluminum the important metal it now is in our war program. There were twenty-five exhibits, representing only a small but significant portion of war usages. Aluminum alloys, aa important element in Alcoa research, held most of the attention of the visitors. Pointing out that nature made aluminum light, but that research made it strong, the exhibits portrayed several important modifications of the natural material that were solely the result of organized scientific effort. During thetareotyHnveyears 34
of aluminum research, the company has developed more than twenty-five new alloys of major importance to the war effort. Among these are 24S and Aiclad 243, sheet products that are used on American aircraft to give lightness and structural strength. The Aiclad alloys are composite materials having an inner core of high strength metal and an outer layer of aluminum which provides protection against the corrosive conditions encountered by airplanes in service. Aiclad, incidentally, was an original trade mark of the Aluminum Co., but the right of exclusive use was abandoned shortly after the war started to facilitate standard nomenclature. All the facets of aluminum research were not shown to the visitors, but enough was illustrated to indicate that problems were numerous and difficult. Thus a great deal of work has been done on the creation of an alloy with high strength and good ductility—a development that was necessary before reliable castings could be made for the manufacture of cylinder heads, crankcases, and pistons. To make a piston witn low thermal expansion, an alloy was developed which has resulted in the well-known Lo-Ex piston. One of the most recent combinations is a superstrength material, for use in airplanes, which permits a design load of about tO to 50% higher than permissible in alloy8 now available. The exact composition of the new substance is yet under censorship restrictions. It may be said, though, that newer/ faster, lighter planes will stem from this discovery.
