About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Forming and Joining of Advanced Sheet Metal Materials
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| Presentation Title |
Increasing post-consumer recycled content in steel automotive body sheet: examining scrap limits in the electric arc furnace using a linear optimization
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| Author(s) |
Alissa Tsai, George Luckey, Constantin Chiriac, Daniel Ross Cooper |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Alissa Tsai |
| Abstract Scope |
Secondary steel production through recycling offers substantial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions compared to primary steelmaking. However, its use for automotive body sheet (ABS) remains limited due to contamination in end-of-life vehicle (ELV) scrap, particularly from copper (Cu) and chromium (Cr). This study presents a linear optimization model to evaluate how reducing contamination and improving manufacturing scrap segregation affects post-consumer recycled content (PCRC) and end-of-life recycling rates (EOL RR). The model considers alloy demand, scrap supply, and ferroalloy chemistry across four key ABS grades: advanced high-strength steel (AHSS), high-strength low-alloy (HSLA), bake-hardenable, and mild steel. Results show that reducing Cr contamination yields the largest gains in EOL RR, while eliminating both Cu and Cr maximizes recyclability. Improved segregation of manufacturing scrap also significantly increases EOL RR. Despite simplifications, such as excluding surface finish factors, the findings underscore the importance of targeted scrap strategies for advancing closed-loop recycling in automotive steel. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Iron and Steel, Recycling and Secondary Recovery, Modeling and Simulation |