Material Life Cycle Assessment of Extrusion Process of A7003

A7003 알루미늄 합금 압출공정의 MLCA 산정기술

A7003 alloy has characteristics of their excellent weldability, high corrosion resistance and superior plastic working however the broadening of application for the alloy has been hampered by the lower extrudability associated by Mg content. For improvement of extrudability and enhanced recovery efficiency during Al scrap recyeling, it has been generally practiced to reduce Mg content in A7003 alloy. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the influence of Mg content on mechanical strength and extrudability of A7003 alloy. For efficient material processing which has small amounts, life cycle assessment in material processing(MLCA) is evaluated. The quantitative analysis of energy requirements and $CO_2$ emission for production of A7003 extruded bar are estimated with different Mg content and billet pre-heating process (heating source by light oil or LPG). In particular, the estimation of energy requirements was performed within shipping and gating range (except the mining and extraction stages)to investigate the influence of the variables on energy requirements and $CO_2$ emission in detail. As Mg content increased, the flow stress and the extrusion pressure for A7003 alloy increased. It has been thought that an increment in extrusion pressure with increasing Mg content is caused by the solid solution hardening of Mg atoms in the matrix and increment in volume fraction of intermetallic compound, $Mg_2Si$. The extrudability and the tensile strength are equal to, or above that of conventional A 7003 alloy even the content of Mg varied from $1.1wt.\%\;to\;0.5wt.\%$ alloy. This means that minimizing the content of Mg in A7003 alloy can enhance recovery efficiency during Al scrap recycling. It can be quoted that rather than Mg content energy source for billet heating is a prime factor to determine the atmospheric $CO_2$ emission.