EXPLORING PROPERTY BASED ALUMINUM SPECIFICATIONS

摘要

One of the limiting factors to increased use of scrap in alloys is problematic tramp elements that accumulate in the scrap stream. Currently, alloy producers make use of blending models to assist in choosing from a large number of inputs (scrap sources, primary aluminum, and alloying elements) to manufacture a portfolio of alloys within specification. Alloys are batched to specification to maximize alloy function which includes a complex set of desired properties. While AA specifications have been put in place to guide batch blending decisions, often maximum constraints result in conservative scrap utilization, thus minimizing the potential for environmental and economic savings. This work begins to quantify the trade-offs in an approach where property based constraints are substituted for compositional constraints using a linear programming aluminum blending model tracking up to twenty alloying elements. Results show that increased scrap utilization is possible for a set of specific cases.