Alcoa (Booth # 4458; Cleveland, OH) introduced QC-10, the next generation of aluminum mold material at NPE 2006 in Chicago. Building on the 20-year legacy of the QC-7 alloy, QC-10 was developed in response to market need for an aluminum mold material with superior thick-section properties.

The new proprietary material features a high-purity composition and quench insensitive microstructure, providing minimal reductions in strength across section thicknesses. QC-10's strength characteristics reportedly remain very consistent from 8 through 24 inches, improving machining performance as it retains high strength through the plate thickness.

In addition to its increased strength, QC-10 offers performance improvement characteristics that make it an ideal mold material, including better corrosion resistance than traditional aluminum mold alloys. QC-10 reduces maintenance time and it is compatible with more than 75% of resins used in the marketplace.

"Alcoa developed QC-10 in response to customers looking to improve cycle time, machinability, and corrosion resistance in thick sections," said Jeff Nicol, marketing manager, Alcoa Forged Products, in a statement. "It is especially suited to meet the needs of molders manufacturing large parts in larger presses."