Re-manufacturing of Pre-deformed Automotive Sheet Metal Stamping Scrap Without Melting

The recycling of aluminium sheet metal typically involves shredding and re-melting, processes which are both energy-intensive and challenged by the presence of metallic contaminants. To mitigate these issues, this study explores an alternative approach: the re-manufacturing of deep-drawn parts directly from scrap aluminium sheets, thus bypassing the melting step. We used 2 mm thick Al-Mg sheet metal in H111 temper to produce simulated stamping scrap (miniaturized bonnets). Blanks were cut from these bonnets and secondary parts in a cross-cup geometry were deep-drawn using two different forming processes: warm-forming at 200 °C and O-temper forming at room temperature. The resulting maximum draw depths were 20–22 mm for warm-forming and 25–30 mm for O-temper forming. While warm-forming resulted in lower draw depths, O-temper forming led to coarse recrystallized grain formation in some regions. Our approach could significantly reduce the energy consumption associated with aluminium recycling.