Recycling of Glass Fibre Reinforced Aluminium Laminates and Silicon Removal from Aerospace Al Alloy

Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Technische Universiteit Delft; op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. The subproject is aimed at exploring a solution for impurity elements (Fe and Si) removal from industry pure Al and the recycled aerospace aluminium alloys due to their harmful influence on the fracture toughness of Al alloys. The objective of my research is to find a practical solution for the impurity Si removal from Al alloy melt in industrial scale. Si purification efficiency by using Ti addition was investigated in this thesis. The first-principles calculation was also employed to give us insight to the Si substitution behaviour in Al 3 Ti, which is beneficial to understand the Si removal mechanism and the purification potential of Ti addition. The research results are presented in Chapter 4. Delamination is the first and critical process for the recovery of materials from GLARE scrap, thermal method is used to decompose the resins between 2024 Al sheets and S2-glass fibre layers in this research. After the delamination, S2-glass fibres are obtained and 2024 Al sheets can be recovered by refining method. The related results are presented in Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. Preface ii iii This thesis would not have been made a reality without the guidance, support, help and understanding of many people involved directly or indirectly. I would like to thank one and all who helped me to achieve this. First of all, I like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisors Prof. dr. Rob Boom and Prof. dr. Yongxiang Yang for their tremendous guidance and encouragement. Professor Boom has always been enthusiastic, helpful and inspiriting to me, he always is generous when I need his help. I had a great support of Professor Yongxiang Yang which helped me of keeping my mind disengaged from existing difficulties. Professor Yongxiang Yang always provides his invaluable guidance, encouragement and willingness to address the queries whenever I knocked his door. I am extremely thankful to my daily supervisor Dr. Yanping Xiao who is a very kind, patient, helpful and generous person. Dr. Xiao's knowledge, research experiences and invaluable guidance have been very beneficial to this thesis. She is always generous when I ask for her help. I am grateful for what she has been, at times more a friend, than simply a daily supervisor. I would like to thank Mrs. Olga Wens-van Swol for her …