HEXAL - Hyper Efficient process for eXtruded ALuminium based on post consumer scrap

The IPN project with the short name HEXAL has been granted by the Norwegian research council. Hydro will be the project leader and Raufoss Technology and NTNU will be partners in the project. The project will start early 2024 with a 4-year project period. HEXAL seeks to develop and verify a step-change in the use of post-consumer scrap (PCS) aluminium for structural products particularly for the automotive industry, aiming to meet the automotive OEM's ambitious goals for decarbonization. The project is focused on a new process for heat treatment and extrusion of high strength aluminum for automotive applications named HyperAl. With this process the production cost can be reduced while the material properties are improved. A new patented calibration method for significantly improving the geometrical tolerances of parts will be integrated with the HyperAl process. This combination will enable fabrication of modules with very strict requirements on geometrical tolerances without costly machining of the included parts. By utilizing primary aluminium produced with renewable electricity in combination with a high amount of PCS it will be possible to produce aluminium parts with a carbon footprint below 2 kg CO2/kg Al, which is only 1/8 of the world average footprint of aluminium. This will be very attractive for the OEM’s and a competitive advantage for Hydro and Raufoss Technology.

This project seeks to develop and verify a step-change in the use of Post-Consumer-Scrap (PCS) aluminium for novel and structural products particularly for the automotive industry, representing the most demanding market. The first wave towards greener mobility has focused on electrification of vehicles, resulting in sales of 12% Battery Electrical Vehicles (BEVs) and >30% Hybrids in Europe in 2022. The next wave will be directed towards further light-weighting and decarbonization of components and systems. Hence, this represents a huge business opportunity for the Norwegian aluminium value chain, if we can develop such systems based on PCS material in combination with novel and hyper-efficient metal forming methods as well as subsequent assembly processes. The aim is to develop extrusion-based applications for the automotive market, focusing especially on the use of unique techniques that can eliminate and accept the ‘natural’ variability accompanied by using scrap from various sources. It is well known that the use of PCS in production of automotive components is limited by the alloying elements of PCS, which may affect the mechanical properties and product quality, including dimensional accuracy and integrity. Thus, research is needed on new industrial methods that can improve the dimensional tolerances and leverage the use of PCS in the automotive industry. This will help OEM’s world-wide reach the decarbonization goals towards 2050.