Aluminum alloys possess excellent mechanical properties and corrosion resistance that make them desirable for applications in the automotive industry. Additionally, aluminum is infinitely recyclable with excellent recovery rates. However, recycling aluminum leads to the accumulation of impurities such as iron, copper, and zinc. These impurity elements decrease the corrosion resistance... more

Aluminum alloys possess excellent mechanical properties and corrosion resistance that make them desirable for applications in the automotive industry. Additionally, aluminum is infinitely recyclable with excellent recovery rates. However, recycling aluminum leads to the accumulation of impurities such as iron, copper, and zinc. These impurity elements decrease the corrosion resistance and ductility of secondary aluminum, which limits the use of recycled alloys for structural applications. Casting is one of the most efficient methods used to fabricate aluminum alloys because aluminum has a low melting point and relatively high fluidity. In this study, the mechanical properties of novel secondary aluminum alloys have been thoroughly investigated. Several new aluminum alloys were designed and prepared for permanent mold casting. ASTM E8-21 subsize tensile bars were machined for tensile testing. Furthermore, metallographic samples of each alloy were prepared for microstructural analysis. While further experimentation is required in order to develop a secondary aluminum alloy that possesses the strength, ductility and corrosion required for structural applications, the preliminary results are promising. It is the current goal of the project to increase the ductility of recycled alloys to around 7-12% elongation in the as-cast state, while maintaining reasonable strength. less