Scrap aluminum can now be collected and transformed directly into new vehicle parts using an innovative process being developed by the automotive industry, in particular for electric vehicles. Today, the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, in collaboration with leading mobility technology company Magna, unveils a new manufacturing process that reduces more than 50% of the embodied energy and more than 90% of the carbon dioxide emissions by eliminating the need to mine and refine the same amount of raw aluminum ore. Lightweight aluminum can also help extend EV driving range.

This patented and award-winning Shear Assisted Processing and Extrusion (ShAPE) process collects scrap bits and leftover aluminum trimmings from automotive manufacturing and transforms it directly into suitable material for new vehicle parts. It is now being scaled to make lightweight aluminum parts for EVs.

The most recent advancement, described in detail in a new report and in a Manufacturing Letters research article, eliminates the need to add newly mined aluminum to the material before using it for new parts. By reducing the cost of recycling aluminum, manufacturers may be able to reduce the overall cost of aluminum components, better enabling them to replace steel.

"We showed that aluminum parts formed with the ShAPE process meet automotive industry standards for strength and energy absorption," said Scott Whalen, a PNNL materials scientist and lead researcher. "The key is that ShAPE process breaks up metal impurities in the scrap without requiring an energy-intensive heat treatment step. This alone saves considerable time and introduces new efficiencies."

The new report and research publications mark the culmination of a four-year partnership with Magna, the largest manufacturer of auto parts in North America.

"Sustainability is at the forefront of everything we do at Magna," said Massimo DiCiano, Manager Materials Science at Magna. "From our manufacturing processes to the materials we use, and the ShAPE process is a great proof point of how we're looking to evolve and create new sustainable solutions for our customers."

Aluminum advantages

Besides steel, aluminum is the most used material in the auto industry. The advantageous properties of aluminum make it an attractive automotive component. Lighter and strong, aluminum is a key material in the strategy to make lightweight vehicles for improved efficiency, being it extending the range of an EV or reducing the battery capacity size. While the automotive industry currently does recycle most of its aluminum, it routinely adds newly mined primary aluminum to it before reusing it, to dilute impurities.