Aluminium–ferro-chromium composites produced by recycling of chips

In this paper, a new method of recycling aluminium and aluminium-alloy chips is presented. The method consists of the conversion of the chips directly into a finished product. The method has been applied to the production of composites, characterised by good strength properties at elevated temperatures. As a reinforcing phase the FeCr powder with the particle size below 75 μm was used, the amount of that phase was changed from 6 to 14 wt.%. The process was performed in following steps: granulation of chips, mixture of granulated chips with FeCr powder and zinc stearate as lubricant, cold compaction of the mixture into the billets, presintering and hot extrusion. The effect of FeCr contents and presintering on the mechanical properties of extruded rods at different temperatures has been studied. The produced composites show very good mechanical properties at room and elevated temperatures, as well as stabilised structure.