AA7075 aluminum alloy is widely used for several high-technology applications for its high mechanical strength to weight ratio but is still the subject of several studies seeking a further increase in its mechanical properties. A commercial powder is used, either as-received or after ball-milling. Dense AA7075 samples are prepared in one step by Spark Plasma Sintering, at 550 °C with a holding time of 15 min and a uniaxial pressure of 100 MPa. No additional heat treatment is performed. Laser granulometry, X-ray diffraction and optical- and scanning electron microscopy show that both grain size and morphology are preserved in the dense samples, due to the relatively low temperature and short sintering time used. The samples prepared using the ball-milled powder exhibit both higher Vickers microhardness and transverse fracture strength values than those prepared using the raw powder, reflecting the finer microstructure.

The reuse of industrial waste, such as electric arc furnace dust (EAFD) as reinforcement in aluminum matrix composites (AMC), is still little explored even though it has shown potential to improve the mechanical properties, such as hardness and mechanical strength, of AMCs. To propose a new alternative for EAFD recycling, AA7075-EAFD composites were produced by spark plasma sintering (SPS). The starting powders were prepared by high-energy milling with different weight fractions of EAFD in two particle size ranges added to an AA7075 matrix. SEM shows that the distribution of reinforcement particles in the matrix is homogeneous with no agglomeration of the particles. XRD patterns of initial powders and the SPS-sintered (SPSed) samples suggest that there was no reaction during sintering (no additional peaks were detected). The relative density of all SPSed samples exceeded 96.5%. The Vickers microhardness of the composites tended to increase with increasing EAFD content, increasing from 108 HV (AA7075 without reinforcement) up to 168 HV (56% increase). The maximum microhardness value was obtained when using 15 wt.% EAFD with a particle size smaller than 53 μm (called G1), showing that EAFD presents a promising potential to be applied as reinforcement in AA7075 matrix composites.

The pultrusion process is a well‐established and promising technology for the continuous production of high‐performance composite profiles. Accurate modeling of this process, particularly in the heating and cooling zones, is essential for improving product quality, especially in terms of thermal‐field homogeneity and void content. However, existing models often rely on complex multiphysics formulations, such as Brinkman‐based porous‐media approaches describing the polymer matrix flow through the fiber reinforcement, which increases the computational cost. This work presents the development and validation of a simplified and computationally less expensive model for glass fiber/polyethylene terephthalate (GF/PET) commingled‐yarn pultrusion, based on a laminar‐flow formulation combined with an effective homogeneous composite approach. Instead of modeling the polymer matrix separately from the fibers as a flow through a porous medium, the proposed approach identifies an equivalent homogenized material made of matrix and fibers, with effective thermal and rheological properties. Validation is performed by direct comparison with temperature‐field data available in the literature, leading to an error below 5% while reducing computational time by a factor of approximately 3.1. This faster formulation facilitates parametric studies, surrogate‐model development, digital‐twin implementation, and potential industrial real‐time feedback control, process scale‐up, and optimization driven by temperature‐gradient reduction or mass‐flow rate increase.