Casting of Recycled Aluminum Cans to Electrical Conductivity Tape Production

Abstract

This research presents a methodology for the recycling process via casting, in which aluminum cans and primary aluminum are transformed into a laminated tape, with the possibility of industrial application. Its objective was to incorporate materials of different properties that could favor the making of a laminatedtape. The recycled aluminum was melted and then Cu and Mg was incorporated. For the design of the laminated tape, a cast was made to receive the molten aluminum. The aluminum was cast into this mold and three tapes were produced, with 2, 3 and 4 mm thickness. From these tapes, lamination process was applied to reduce their thickness to values close to 0.5 mm. The casting process of aluminum cans with the addition of commercial aluminum, plus the incorporation of copper and magnesium, demonstrated facilities for thickness reduction in the process of making laminated tapes and an elemental composition suitable to electrical conductivity application. After four lamination passes there was a reduction of 85.4% of the initial thickness, reaching (0.59 ± 0.04) mm of final thickness. The electrical conductivity was 45.96 to 47.67 IACS with a reduction of only 1.82 % after lamination. Therefore, a tape with electrical conductivity and 0.59 mm thickness was obtained from recycled beverage cans aluminum. In addition, the characterization presented for the 3 samples will allow the study of applications for these alloys and respective electrically conductive tapes.