Energy demand reduction of aluminum alloys recycling through friction stir extrusion processes implementation
Abstract Aluminum alloys are characterized by high-energy demands for primary production. Recycling is a well-documented strategy to lower the environmental impact of light alloys production. Despite that, conventional recycling processes are still energy-intensive with a low energy efficiency. Also, permanent material losses occur during remelting because of oxidation. Recently, several solid-state recycling approaches have been analyzed; in fact, by avoiding the remelting step both energy and material can be saved and, therefore, the embodied energy of secondary production can be substantially reduced. In this paper, the solid-state approach Friction Stir Extrusion (FSE) is analyzed for a…
Evaluating the material resource efficiency of secondary aluminium production: A Monte Carlo-based decision-support tool
The contamination of aluminium streams during the different life cycle stages by alloy mixing and/or accumulation of foreign elements, in combination with the limited melt purification options during remelting, represents an important limiting factor in recycling. Consequently, in secondary aluminium production, primary aluminium is used to dilute the concentration of the residual elements, and alloying elements are added to adjust the composition to the target alloy specifications. However, adding elements, for which their refinement in a subsequent recycling step is problematic, results in permanent down-cycling or ‘quality losses’. Hence, it is crucial to more efficiently control the com…
Asymmetric Single Point Incremental Forming of Sheet Metal
The use of computers in manufacturing has enabled the development of several new sheet metal forming processes, which are based upon older technologies. This paper describes modifications that have been made to traditional forming methods such as conventional spinning and shear forming, forming processes in which deformation is localized. Recent advances have enabled this localized deformation to be accurately controlled and studied. Current developments have been focused on forming asymmetric parts using CNC technology, without the need for costly dies. Asymmetric Incremental Sheet Forming has the potential to revolutionize sheet metal forming, making it accessible to all levels of manufac…
A comprehensive analysis of electric energy consumption of single point incremental forming processes
Abstract Production processes, as used for discrete part manufacturing, are responsible for a substantial part of the environmental impact of products, but are still poorly documented in terms of environmental impact. The present paper proposes a comprehensive energetic analysis of Single Point Incremental Forming Processes (SPIF). The three most commonly used machine tool architectures able to perform SPIF operations have been taken into account: a CNC milling machine, a six-axes robot as well as the dedicated AMINO machine tool were analyzed from an electrical energy consumption point of view. For all the setups, a working cycle time study and power study were performed. Moreover the cont…