About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Forming and Joining of Advanced Sheet Metal Materials
|
| Presentation Title |
Increasing Post-Consumer Recycled Content in Steel Automotive Body Sheet: Examining Scrap Limits in the Electric Arc Furnace Using a Linear Optimization |
| Author(s) |
Alissa Tsai, Aya Hamid, Constantin Chiriac, George Luckey, Daniel Ross Cooper |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Alissa Tsai |
| Abstract Scope |
Secondary steel production via electric arc furnaces (EAFs) offers the potential for substantial greenhouse gas emissions reductions compared to primary steelmaking. However, the use of EAFs for automotive body sheet (ABS) remains limited with most ABS produced using the traditional integrated steelmaking blast furnace to basic oxygen furnace route. This study explores how both the quantity and quality (i.e., chemical composition) of scrap may constrain the transition toward increased production of ABS using EAFs with a high post-consumer recycled content. A linear optimization model is developed to assess how reducing contamination in post-consumer vehicle steel scrap (shred) and improving the segregation of ABS manufacturing scrap can influence two key outcomes: (1) The post-consumer recycled content (PCRC) achievable in new ABS grades; and, (2) The end-of-life (post-consumer) recycling rate (EOL RR) for ABS. The model considers alloy demand, scrap supply, and ferroalloy chemistry across four key ABS grades: advanced high-strength steel, high-strength low-alloy, bake-hardenable, and mild steel. The system analyzed is restricted to closed-loop ABS recycling via EAFs in the United States (2020-2050). The results show that both copper and chromium act to limit the closed-loop post-consumer scrap recycling rate (at around 20 wt.%) and post-consumer scrap recycled content (at around 8 wt.%). Segregating production scrap by grade leads to a modest improvement in both post-consumer scrap recycling metrics. However, removing chromium (Cr)—and to a lesser extent, copper (Cu)—from post-consumer scrap has a significantly greater impact, enabling recycling rates of up to 95% and post-consumer recycled content levels of up to 33%. These findings underscore the critical importance of advancing scrap sortation technologies to eliminate sources of Cr and Cu contamination, or alternatively, developing steel alloys with greater tolerance of these residual elements. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Iron and Steel, Recycling and Secondary Recovery, Modeling and Simulation |