Aluminium Materials Technologies Ltd., United Kingdom, has taken the first steps toward investing in the future sustainability of their A20X high strength Al-Cu alloy in a proof of concept study on re-processing metal powder together with researchers at The University of Sheffield, United Kingdom.
The study led by Prof. Martin Jackson at The University of Sheffield was initiated to evaluate the Field Assisted Sintering Technology (FAST) technique to re-process metal powder. FAST has the ability to take powdered materials and transform them into solid objects. This then provides a potential use for the grade of metal powder that up until now has always been considered the waste material output from the atomization process.
The work carried out to date has found at this very early stage that the out-sized powder can be sintered into a solid compact, as shown in the image of the machined pucks provided by Simon Graham, Eng.D. student at the University of Sheffield.
Investigations have been carried out involving the heat treatment of the sintered materials and their resultant mechanical properties. While no conclusions can be stated at this point, there are very good indications that the resulting metal will be able to at least match that of the conventionally produced alloy. Further investigation will require a more in-depth project that both parties will now pursue together.
For more information:
Aluminium Materials Technologies Ltd. – Eckart GmbH, an Atlana Group company
https://www.altana.com/
A20X
https://a20x.com/powder-2/
University of Sheffield
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/royce-institute/capabilities/manufacturing
