Performance Enhancement of Components Made from Sintered Aluminium Chips

This research project investigates resource-efficient recycling of aluminium chips. The energy-intensive remelting step is avoided by a direct sintering process below the melting temperature (solid-state). This route - sintering followed by forming - offers numerous opportunities to improve the performance of chip-based materials compared with conventional wrought materials. Over the course of the project, hybrid components will be developed and their properties will be optimised and assessed through targeted heat treatments. Moreover, a performance-enhancing heat treatment can be integrated into the process chain and its potential will likewise be explored. The project’s goal is to manufacture components from chip-based materials with well-understood, characterisable strengthening mechanisms.