Hydro has supplied extrusions for ABB’s motor housings since 1994. The level of sophistication in manufacturing has increased steadily over the years and since 2000 deliveries have consisted of complete motor housings made using friction stir welding.

From 2001 the housings supplied to ABB have been complete units – extruded, machined and lacquered. To this end Hydro built a customized and semi-automated production line with robots at the extrusion plant at Magnor.

Tight tolerances apply to both extrusion and assembly as the motor unit is fitted into the motor housing by heating the housing, installing the motor and then allowing the housing to cool and shrink around the motor. The demands for reliable deliveries and quality are also high.

During the years Hydro has delivered over 130,000 motor housings of which 90,000 have been fully machined, assembled and lacquered.

“We are pleased to have been entrusted with continuing to supply motor housings to the end of 2010,” says Gunnar Svensson, general manager of Hydro Aluminium Profiler AB in Åseda, Sweden. He looks forward to developing products, technologies and logistics together with ABB.