Metallforming

Effect of alloying elements on the extrudability of recycled aluminum: Experimental study and modeling, is the working title of the department PhD project. There are three main research questions to be addressed elucidated and answered: i) How will impurities introduced via pot consumer scrap influence the extrudability of Al-Zn-Mg alloys, ii) How can the extrudability of Al-Zn-Mg alloys be improved, and iii) How can the extrudability of Al-Zn-Mg alloys be improved. A series of experiments have been carried out to address these questions, where, among others, Si, Fe, Cu and Mn additions have been systematically studied in relation to extrusion speed, as well as force and temperature during extrusion. Work has also been started on modeling tearing during extrusion by combining FEM and thermodynamic simulations. Results from this work has been published at the ESAFORM 2025 conference, and are in process for publication in international journals.