• Energy price developments in the short and long term

• Trends in the energy market (RE expansion, LNG terminals and hydrogen)

• Role of aluminium - energy-intensive, but indispensable for the energy transition

„Aluminiumindustrie zwischen Transformation und Krise“

Der Branchendialog ist die jährliche Dialogplattform der Sozialpartner in der Aluminiumindustrie - der Branchenverbände, Unternehmen und Gewerkschaften.

Hans Remsing will focus in his session on the key developments within the automotive industry and what does this mean for the aluminium supplier industry.

Automotive is undergoing multiple crises and is losing the capability to plan its future with traditional methods. The industry seems to be undergoing a complete transformation, as other industries already have. The outcome of a transformation is undetermined – but ultimately, it leads to much higher revenues and more customers. In many cases, the transformation of a physical production sector has led to the emergence of an ecosystem around new services, which the automotive industry can tap into likewise by reversing the product development process. Accessing multiple interconnected ecosystems in a sustainable and agile way creates new, resilient business models.

- Circular economy for the mobility, significant CO2- and need for prime Al-reduction with high strength alloys in high volume production using smart mass production lines.

- Cost- and CO2 effective lightweight construction in high volume production.

- Only achievable by the usage of high-strength alloys.

- HDF overcomes today’s forming hurdles for all metal alloys that do not achieve high forming ratio or needed accuracy in cold or warm conditions.

- Save costs for blank material with up to a 50% reduction and CO2 penalty

Lightweighting is a key enabling technology and is crucial to achieving climate and sustainability targets and transforming industry. This is why the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action has now been supporting lightweighting for 5 years via its successful Lightweighting Initiative. The Lightweighting Initiative serves as a central point of contact for German businesses. Its services are rounded off by targeted funding measures and informative events such as the Lightweighting Forum. The financial support includes the Lightweighting Technology Transfer Programme, which provides approx. €73 million in annual funding for market-oriented research and development projects.

The European Green Deal has put demands on the existence of a secure and stable raw materials sector to deliver renewable energies at an unprecedented pace and scale. Bernd Schäfer, CEO of RawMaterials, the world’s leading partnership on raw materials, will outline the importance of diversification of supply for the Aluminium sector, especially in the wake of soaring energy prices and our increasing import dependency on China. He will discuss how both industry and policy makers must work together to preserve its value chains, create a level-playing field between domestic and international operators to reverse the damaging trend of carbon and investment leakage and ensure that import dependency does not undermine the Green Deal. Schäfer will also highlight how the industry is scaling its innovation across all parts of the value chain, in a transformation that is set to turn industry into powerhouses of innovation and change.

•  Circularity & Closed-Loop Recycling Systems
• Recycling is a true driver of decarbonization
• Low-carbon AND energy efficient aluminium
• How to increase RecyclingRates & Recycling Contents
• Innovate, redesign, collaborate – together we succeed

Interview with Dr. Manuel Kallweit (Head of department “Economic Intelligence” at VDA) about the transformation of the car sector and aluminium`s perspectives

“Low-carbon primary aluminium and recycling, understanding the three key drivers: Legislation, consumer preferences and profitability”

Panel Dicussion with Dr. Carsten Gerhardt (Initiator of Circular Valley / Partner at AT Kearney), Guido Aufdemkamp (Executive Director at European Aluminium Foil Association), Leopold Werdich (Managing Director at Tubex Holding GmbH) and Eoin Dinsmore (Head of aluminium primary and products at CRU Group)

Solar Materials is a start-up company based in Magdeburg. We at Solar Materials are working on closing the loop towards a circular economy for PV modules. Through our technology, we can economically recover all materials (aluminum, glass, silver, silicon and copper) from end-of-life PV modules. Currently, we are working on fully automating our process in order to scale it up subsequently. Our goal is that recovered materials can be used directly in the production of new goods without the need for costly reprocessing. Taking aluminum as an example, the challenges and potentials of closed raw material cycles will be explained.

EOS high strength aluminium, EOS Al2139 AM is 2000 series alloy that has been optimized for AM processing. It has one of the highest strengths of AM aluminium alloys and it has remarkable properties at elevated temperatures up to 200 °C. AM processing of high strength aluminium alloys is not equal to more common Al-Si alloys. Differences start from hot cracking tendency of conventional 2000, 6000 and 7000-series aluminium alloys in AM processing.

Conventional benefits of additive manufacturing in perspective of responsible manufacturing include reduced material waste, improved efficiency of components, reducing weight and possibilities with digital spare part warehousing. Part and component assembly design needs to be addressed to fully benefit from the AM improvement possibilities. With high strength aluminium alloys component weight can be further reduced and thus specially in transportable equipment benefits are obtained.

3D Applications

- Alloy accurate sorting without downcycling

- Sorting with upstream cleaning and de-coating for loss-free recycling

- The digital recyclables chain opportunities and state of the art in laser-based sorting of recyclables

- Future perspective "ready to melt" - target alloy composition at the push of a button

New materials and disruption - potentials through "out of the box" thinkingMaterials matters, they are one of the key factors for meeting the future criteria. One of Europe's key strategic and research goals is to find solutions that can significantly improve energy and cost efficiency through a 50% reduction in product weight, which can be implemented. Another need is to strengthen local supply chains to make EU industry production more resilient and independent. Therefore, this is where the research of industries such as mobility, aviation, electronics, telecommunications. In addition to the goal of "lightness," they must fulfill three other aspects: Ecology, reduction of world market dependence and production/supply security, having long since replaced price pressure as the main criterion. Even though the tasks in the industries are very different, they are looking for materials with the same combination of properties: light weight and very good thermal/electrical conductivity with high strength and corrosion resistance. This cannot be covered by existing materials. Equally important is a low environmental footprint, preferably enforceable at subsequent levels. So far, there have been no individual materials that combine the same property.

Wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is one of the most efficient processes for additive manufacturing (AM) of large scale metal components.

Within the presentation an overview on wire arc additive manufacturing in general and the processing of aluminium by WAAM in detail will be given. Here, process specific advantages over other additive manufacturing processes are presented, as well as challenges that need to be considered when using arc processes for AM.

Besides to that, current work at the ISF department “Plasma Additive Laboratories” in the field of multi material additive manufacturing will be presented.

Wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is one of the most efficient processes for additive manufacturing (AM) of large scale metal components.

Within the presentation an overview on wire arc additive manufacturing in general and the processing of aluminium by WAAM in detail will be given. Here, process specific advantages over other additive manufacturing processes are presented, as well as challenges that need to be considered when using arc processes for AM.

Besides to that, current work at the ISF department “Plasma Additive Laboratories” in the field of multi material additive manufacturing will be presented.

A powder atomization plant for the production of high-quality aluminum powder for additive manufacturing (AM) was developed at SMS group. Low cost and simultaneously highest quality powders are key enablers for AM on its way to the next revolution in manufacturing. The presentation shows how high-quality aluminum powders are produced using SMS technology and how they meet the high requirements in AM.

Pedestrian and cyclist bridges are promising and challenging applications in aluminium allowing evocative evaluations of their characteristics regarding: a) structural optimization with bespoke elements, reducing manufacturing, handling, and installation costs, bdurability with practically maintenance-free service life, and c) beneficial and consistent sustainability characteristics. Quantitative comparisons with other building materials provide supportive evidence.

In practice, the lightweight aluminium structure – often less than half the dead load as with other materials - enables delivery in a single piece of considerable span lengths and recently increased demands for larger clear width. Life-cycle-cost calculations demonstrate their superiority with uninhibited service life. In confirmation of our earlier results we may draw upon similar references of various companies as well as examples of the excellent behaviour and state of existing aluminium footbridges from around the world.

In an earlier comprehensive study of characteristic sustainability indicators we derived markers for the superiority of aluminium structures (for instance weight ratio aluminium vs. steel) - easily attained with footbridges. A correct holistic energy balance calculation also shows CO2 benefits over service life.

Growing sensitization in society in matters of energy saving and environmental pollution demands for net-zero carbon targets and environmentally friendly structures, while maintaining a balance to economy and acceptable living standards. In practice the problem lies often with the poor acknowledgement of factual information by clients/authorities/contractors - aluminium with an up-cycling at the end of a long service life, not ending up in an expensive landfill or potentially a health hazard polluting the environment. Norms and legislation obligating a circular economy of products may be a remedy, providing convincing persuasion through the implementation of uniform evaluation standards – see emerging ECCS recommendations, EuroNorms (EN 15804) and parliamentary action (EU).

Co-Author: Alexandros Kosteas-Kostaropoulos, PhD, MSc (CASS Lon), BSc (NYU, USA)

The surface of an object is responsible for the first impression. By coating aluminium, a variety of different designs can be realised. Especially for aluminium windows and facades, a visually perfect surface is the best advertisement. The surface is exposed to the weather for many years and yet the appearance should always be that of the first day. It is therefore essential that high-quality materials are used and all process steps are executed in compliance with the highest quality standards. Look forward to an exciting insight into the world of coating, colours and quality.