Recycled aluminum alloys from manufacturing scrap with cosmetic appeal

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11345980-B2
Application number	US-201916530830-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 2, 2019
Priority date	Aug 9, 2018
Publication date	May 31, 2022
Grant date	May 31, 2022

Abstract

The disclosure provides an aluminum alloy may include iron (Fe) of at least 0.10 wt %, silicon (Si) of at least 0.35 wt %, and magnesium (Mg) of at least 0.45 wt %, manganese (Mn) in amount of at least 0.005 wt %, and additional elements, the remaining wt % being Al and incidental impurities.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An aluminum alloy comprising:
iron (Fe) in an amount of 0.10 wt % to 0.35 wt %;
silicon (Si) in an amount of 0.43 wt % to 0.80 wt %;
magnesium (Mg) in an amount of 0.45 wt % to 0.65 wt %;
manganese (Mn) in an amount 0.005 to 0.060 wt %;
copper (Cu) in an amount from 0.010 to 0.040 wt %;
additional non-aluminum (Al) elements in an amount not exceeding 3.0 wt %; and
the remaining wt % being Al and incidental impurities,
wherein the alloy is in the form of an extruded part and has an average grain size equal to or less than 160 μm.

2. The aluminum alloy of claim 1 , wherein
magnesium (Mg) is in an amount of at least 0.56 wt %.

3. The aluminum alloy of claim 1 , further comprising titanium (Ti) from 0 to 0.10 wt %.

4. The aluminum alloy of claim 1 , further comprising non-aluminum elements selected from:
chromium (Cr) from 0 to 0.10 wt %,
zinc (Zn) from 0 to 0.20 wt %,
gallium (Ga) from 0 to 0.20 wt %,
tin (Sn) from 0 to 0.20 wt %,
vanadium (V) from 0 to 0.20 wt %,
calcium (Ca) from 0 to 0.001 wt %,
sodium (Na) from 0 to 0.002 wt %,
boron (B) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
zirconium (Zr) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
lithium (Li) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
cadmium (Cd) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
lead (Pb) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
nickel (Ni) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
phosphorous (P) from 0 to 0.01 wt %, and
combinations thereof.

5. The aluminum alloy of claim 1 , wherein copper (Cu) in an amount from 0.010 to 0.020 wt %.

6. The aluminum alloy of claim 1 , wherein the aluminum alloy has a yield strength of at least 205 MPa and a tensile strength of at least 240 MPa.

7. A process for recycling manufacturing scrap, the process comprising:
(a) obtaining a first recycled aluminum alloy from a first source and a second recycled aluminum alloy from a second source;
(b) melting the first and second recycled aluminum alloys to form a melted recycled 6000 series aluminum alloy;
(c) casting the melted recycled 6000 series aluminum alloy to form a casted alloy;
(d) extruding the casted alloy to form an extrusion; and
(e) fabricating the extrusion to produce the aluminum alloy of claim 1 .

8. The process of claim 7 , wherein the step of melting comprises removing oxides from the first and second recycled aluminum alloys.

9. An aluminum alloy comprising:
iron (Fe) in an amount of 0.10 wt % to 0.35 wt %;
silicon (Si) in an amount of 0.43 wt % to 0.80 wt %;
magnesium (Mg) in an amount of 0.45 wt % to 0.65 wt %;
manganese (Mn) in an amount 0.005 to 0.060 wt %;
copper (Cu) in an amount from 0.010 to 0.040 wt %;
additional non-aluminum (Al) elements in an amount not exceeding 3.0 wt %; and
the remaining wt % being Al and incidental impurities,
wherein the alloy is in the form of a sheet and has an average grain size equal to or less than 100 μm.

10. The aluminum alloy of claim 9 , wherein
magnesium (Mg) is in an amount of at least 0.56 wt %.

11. The aluminum alloy of claim 9 , further comprising titanium (Ti) from 0 to 0.10 wt %.

12. The aluminum alloy of claim 9 , further comprising non-aluminum elements selected from:
chromium (Cr) from 0 to 0.10 wt %,
zinc (Zn) from 0 to 0.20 wt %,
gallium (Ga) from 0 to 0.20 wt %,
tin (Sn) from 0 to 0.20 wt %,
vanadium (V) from 0 to 0.20 wt %,
calcium (Ca) from 0 to 0.001 wt %,
sodium (Na) from 0 to 0.002 wt %,
boron (B) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
zirconium (Zr) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
lithium (Li) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
cadmium (Cd) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
lead (Pb) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
nickel (Ni) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
phosphorous (P) from 0 to 0.01 wt %, and
combinations thereof.

13. The aluminum alloy of claim 9 , wherein copper (Cu) in an amount from 0.010 to 0.020 wt %.

14. The aluminum alloy of claim 9 , wherein the recycled 6000 series aluminum alloy has a yield strength of 210 MPa and a tensile strength of 230 MPa after sheet rolling.

15. A process for recycling manufacturing scrap, the process comprising:
(a) obtaining a first recycled aluminum alloy from a first source and a second recycled aluminum alloy from a second source;
(b) melting the first and second recycled aluminum alloys to form a melted recycled 6000 series aluminum alloy;
(c) casting the melted recycled 6000 series aluminum alloy to form a casted alloy;
(d) rolling the casted alloy to form a sheet; and
(e) fabricating the sheet to produce the aluminum alloy of claim 9 .

16. The process of claim 15 , wherein the step of melting comprises removing oxides from the first and second recycled aluminum alloys.

17. An aluminum alloy comprising:
iron (Fe) in an amount of 0.10 wt % to 0.35 wt %;
silicon (Si) in an amount of 0.43 wt % to 0.80 wt %;
magnesium (Mg) in an amount of 0.45 wt % to 0.65 wt %;
manganese (Mn) in an amount 0.005 to 0.060 wt %;
copper (Cu) in an amount from 0.010 to 0.040 wt %;
additional non-aluminum (Al) elements in an amount not exceeding 3.0 wt %; and
the remaining wt % being Al and incidental impurities, wherein the alloy is in the form of an extruded part and has a yield strength of at least 205 MPa and a tensile strength of at least 240 MPa.

18. The aluminum alloy of claim 17 , wherein
magnesium (Mg) is in an amount of at least 0.56 wt %.

19. The aluminum alloy of claim 17 , further comprising titanium (Ti) from 0 to 0.10 wt %.

20. The aluminum alloy of claim 17 , further comprising non-aluminum elements selected from:
chromium (Cr) from 0 to 0.10 wt %,
zinc (Zn) from 0 to 0.20 wt %,
gallium (Ga) from 0 to 0.20 wt %,
tin (Sn) from 0 to 0.20 wt %,
vanadium (V) from 0 to 0.20 wt %,
calcium (Ca) from 0 to 0.001 wt %,
sodium (Na) from 0 to 0.002 wt %,
boron (B) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
zirconium (Zr) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
lithium (Li) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
cadmium (Cd) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
lead (Pb) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
nickel (Ni) from 0 to 0.01 wt %,
phosphorous (P) from 0 to 0.01 wt %, and
combinations thereof.

21. The aluminum alloy of claim 17 , wherein copper (Cu) in an amount from 0.010 to 0.020 wt %.

22. A process for recycling manufacturing scrap, the process comprising:
(a) obtaining a first recycled aluminum alloy from a first source and a second recycled aluminum alloy from a second source;
(b) melting the first and second recycled aluminum alloys to form a melted recycled 6000 series aluminum alloy;
(c) casting the melted recycled 6000 series aluminum alloy to form a casted alloy;
(d) extruding the casted alloy to form an extrusion; and
(e) fabricating the extrusion to produce the aluminum alloy of claim 17 .

23. The process of claim 22 , wherein the step of melting comprises removing oxides from the first and second recycled aluminum alloys.

24. An aluminum alloy comprising:
iron (Fe) in an amount of 0.10 wt % to 0.35 wt %;
silicon (Si) in an amount of 0.43 wt % to 0.80 wt %;
magnesium (Mg) in an amount of 0.45 wt % to 0.65 wt %;
manganese (Mn) in an amount 0.005 to 0.060 wt %;
copper (Cu) in an amount from 0.010 to 0.040 wt %;
additional non-aluminum (Al) elements in an amount not exceeding 3.0 wt %; and
the remaining wt % being Al and incidental impurities, wherein the alloy is in the form of a sheet and has a yield strength of at least 210 MPa and a tensile strength of at least 230 MPa.

25. The aluminum alloy of claim 24 , wherein
magnesium (Mg) is in an amount of at least 0.56 wt %.

26. The aluminum alloy of claim 24 , further comprising t

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Gable Brian M
• Jou Herng-Jeng
• Huang Weiming
• Paul Graeme W
• Counts William A
• Hamann Eric W
• Sassaman Katie L
• Misra Abhijeet
• Feinberg Zechariah D
• Yurko James A
• Demers Brian P
• Yu Rafael
• Roy Anuj Datta
• Calvin Susannah P

Classifications

• C22C1/026

  Alloys based on aluminium · CPC title

• C22B21/0007

  Preliminary treatment of ores or scrap or any other metal source (Bayer processes C01F) · CPC title

• B22F1/054

  Nanosized particles · CPC title

• C22C21/02

  with silicon as the next major constituent · CPC title

• C22C19/007 Primary

  with a light metal (alkali metal Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs; earth alkali metal Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Al Ga, Ge, Ti) or B, Si, Zr, Hf, Sc, Y, lanthanides, actinides, as the next major constituent · CPC title