Abstract
The embodied energy of vehicles is growing as energy-intensive materials such as aluminum auto body sheet (ABS) are used to deliver improved performance. This presents an opportunity for recyclers to shift towards high-value recycling into wrought alloys and for car makers to increase the end-of-life (EOL) recycled content of their sheet, reducing their material costs and energy burden. However, the current system cannot effectively recycle the aluminum and steel sheets. Shredded and contaminated EOL metal (e.g., mixed aluminum alloys with steel rivets and mixed steel alloys with embedded copper wiring) is often exported, downcycled to castings, or recycled as rebar. In this paper, we will discuss preliminary work on developing a design tool that couples the effects of vehicle design, recycling system practices and technologies, and alloy compositional tolerances, under different ecosystem scenarios from 2020-2050. Ultimately, design and R&D recommendations will be made using the tool to test the effect of cross-lifecycle design changes on the system metrics, which include cumulative energy demand (primary energy), greenhouse gas emissions, and primary metal demand associated with automotive sheet metal production.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Technology Innovation for the Circular Economy |
| Subtitle of host publication | Recycling, Remanufacturing, Design, System Analysis and Logistics |
| Publisher | wiley |
| Pages | 199-210 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781394214297 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781394214266 |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2024 |
Keywords
- Alloy design
- Recycling systems
- System optimization
- Vehicle design
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Engineering
