Cost Model of Recycling of Automobile Body Stamping Scrap

摘要

A significant barrier to the widespreadadoption of aluminum intensive vehicles is the higherprice of aluminum automobile bodies compared with steelbodies. However, the cost difference between equivalentsteel and aluminum bodies decreases as the potentialweight savings of over 50 percent with aluminum isrealized. On the other hand, because aluminum scrap ismore valuable than steel scrap, the high scrap ratesassociated with stamping operations tends to increasethe cost difference. Considering the total system, thecost difference can be reduced by capturing the fullvalue of the aluminum stamping scrap though closed-loop recycling.In this paper, the material flows from aluminumproducing/sheet fabricating to automobile bodymanufacturing to scrap recycling are modeled. With thismodel, the difference in material costs between aluminumand steel automobile bodies is determined foralternative scrap recycling strategies. The resultsshow that the high value of the aluminum scrap isachieved when the automobile manufacturer owned scrapis tolled through the aluminum fabrication system,thereby minimizing the cost difference between aluminumand steel automobile bodies. The increased cost of analuminum automobile is higher when the automobilemanufacturer sells the aluminum stamping scrap to thescrap market. The key input factors influencing theautomobile body cost difference are the price of thealuminum sheet and the weight savings of the aluminum body.