Mechanical Performance and Fracture Behavior of Recycled AA6061-T6 Alloy Melted from Aluminium Chips

Aluminium chips were re-melted under the molten bath in a gas fired reverberatory furnace and superior quality recycled AA6061-T6 alloy was synthesized. The chips were added 5 to 20% by weight in the recycled alloy. The furnace charge included clean scrap of the same alloy (AA6061) along with the machining chips or tunings of mixed nature. The chips used in this study were mostly generated from lath/bore operations carried on homogenized billets. The fabricated alloy of each heat was characterized for microstructures, mechanical properties and fracture behavior. The results showed that the metallurgical and mechanical performance of the recycled alloy was comparable to the primary alloy. However, SEM analysis of the recycled alloy revealed a sizeable amount of Fe and Si containing intermetallic compounds such as AlFeSi, AlFeMg, and AlSiMg phases.