Development of a sustainable novel aluminum alloy from scrap car wheels through a stir-squeeze casting process

Abstract

Aluminum alloys are extensively finding applications in many industries, including automotive and aerospace, because of their lightweight. This research produced a novel aluminum alloy using a stir squeeze casting technique. Sustainability analysis of three competing processes to produce the alloy was carried out using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Scrap aluminum alloy wheels from cars were used as the matrix material. High entropy alloy (HEA) was used as the alloying element, with a total weight percentage of 2.6 %. Hardness, tensile and compressive strength tests were conducted for the developed alloy. An optical microscope, SEM, and XRD were used to analyze the microstructure. The produced alloy was heat-treated, and then mechanical properties and microstructure were compared before and after heat treatment. The results showed a significant improvement in hardness and compressive strength after heat treatment. This improvement is mainly attributed to the Si particle precipitation that occurred during the aging process.