The main aim of this paper is to present an environmentally friendly method for aluminum recycling. Development of new recycling technologies in order to increase scrap reuse potential and CO₂ emission savings are of the main importance for aluminum circular economy. In this paper, aluminum chips waste was recycled without any remelting phase in order to increase energy and material savings. The presented process is usually called solid state recycling or direct recycling. Solid state recycling process consists of chips cleaning, cold pre-compaction and hot direct extrusion followed by a combination of equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) and heat treatment. Influence of holding time during solid solution treatment and both artificial aging time and temperature on mechanical properties of the recycled EN AW 6082 aluminum chips were investigated. A comprehensive number of the experiments were performed utilizing design of experiments approach and response surface methodology. Regression models were developed for describe the influence of heat treatment parameters for presented solid state recycling process on mechanical properties of the recycled samples. Utilizing novel procedure high quality recycled samples were obtained with mechanical properties comparable with commercially produced EN AW 6082 aluminum alloy in T6 temper condition. Metallographic analysis of the recycled samples was also performed.

The corrosion properties of an EN AC AlSi9Cu3(Fe) alloy (reference sample (RS)) and samples produced by recycling chips of RS by direct hot extrusion (DHES) and subsequent thixoforming (TFS) were tested in 0.5 M NaCl solution. The plastic deformation changes the microstructure of RS, and brittle, coarse Si particles and intermetallic compounds (IMCs) were effectively broken into ultrafine-grained particles and redistributed homogeneously into the α-Al matrix in DHES. TFS exhibits a globular structure, and polyhedral clusters rich in Si and IMCs were observed along the grain boundary. Electrochemical measurements combined with surface characterisation show that the microstructure significantly influences the tested samples’ corrosive properties. It was confirmed that corrosion resistance increased in the following order: RS < TFS < DHES. Similarly, the corrosion potential becomes nobler, the corrosion current decreases, the passive area increases, and the oxide layer becomes more stable (higher resistance and thickness). Also, the percentage of the surface affected by corrosion and the volume of pits reduce. The effect of microstructure is particularly pronounced in the level of the corrosion current and the volume of pits formed. The corrosion current of DHES and TFS decreases by 4–5 times, while the pit volume of DHES and TFS decreases by several orders of magnitude compared to RS. The corrosion stability of DHES and TFS in relation to RS is a consequence of the comminution of the Si particles and the IMC. The refined and homogeneous microstructure contributes positively to forming a stable oxide film on DHES and TFS and increases their corrosion resistance in an aggressive environment. The applied recycling method represents an innovative and sustainable process for the recycling of semisolid materials, with lower energy consumption and less greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional recycling. The fact that the products obtained through recycling have a significantly higher corrosion resistance further increases the economic and environmental impact of the process.

The main aim of this research was to investigate the aluminum AlSi9Cu3(Fe) machining chips recycling possibility utilizing a direct hot extrusion process and thixoforming. The thixo feedstock was prepared directly from the aluminum alloy AlSi9Cu3(Fe) machining chips waste without any remelting step. The machining chips were compacted, and direct hot extruded to create the solid samples and thixo feedstock. The aluminum alloy AlSi9Cu3(Fe) machining chips had a high degree of plastic deformation and after extrusion and heating in the semisolid temperature range, the suitable globular microstructure was achieved, which is a precondition for a successful thixoforming process. This approach can be characterized as a semisolid recycling process with a lower energy consumption, a higher material yield, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere compared with conventional casting and recycling. Optical metallography, scanning electron microscopy accompanied with energy dispersive spectroscopy, electrical conductivity, and mechanical properties investigation were performed on the reference casted sample with a dendritic microstructure, the extruded sample with a severely deformed microstructure, and finally the thixoformed samples with a globular microstructure produced with different parameters, according to the Taguchi L4 (2³) experimental plan.