Techno-Economic Analysis for Shear Assisted Processing and Extrusion (ShAPE) of High Strength Aluminum Alloys

Aluminum alloy 7075 (AA7075) is a high strength aluminum alloy (HSAL), attractive for applications such as automotive, aviation, aerospace, defense, and marine applications. However, AA7075 has not yet been widely adopted due slow extrusion speed, high energy use, narrow process window, and sensitivity to incipient melting common in conventional extrusion methods. Alternative extrusion methods may overcome these limitations. New research funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) is exploring the use of a new SPP approach called Shear Assisted Processing and Extrusion (ShAPE) for the manufacture of AA7075 extrusions. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are leading the development, testing and characterization of ShAPE, which is showing that high speed ShAPE extrusions (e.g., above 12 meters/min) which is significantly faster than the 1-2 meters/min possible with conventional AA7075 extrusions. Initial findings from the economic and energy analysis indicate that AA7075 tubes created with ShAPE use less energy than tubes that are conventionally heated and extruded. The reduction in energy use is primarily a result of using direct chill cast (non-homogenized) billets, eliminating the pre-heating step, and faster extrusion speeds. The TEA model translates CAPEX and O&M costs to a manufacturing cost, and then a minimum sustainable price (MSP) per ton of extruded product for multiple facility capacities. A sample output figure of the TEA model is presented below. It presents results of the preliminary version of the TEA model.