
Cast Aluminum Crushing Process
Material Inspection and Preparation
Cast aluminum scrap should be inspected before crushing. Residual oil, coolant, sealed cavities, oversized steel components and other unsuitable attachments should be removed or handled separately.
The maximum casting dimensions, wall thickness, hardness, alloy composition and internal steel content must remain within the processing limits of the selected crusher.
Controlled Feeding
Prepared cast aluminum scrap is transferred into the crushing chamber by a conveyor or suitable loading device. The feeding rate should match the casting dimensions, individual weight and crusher load.
Oversized or unusually thick castings may require hydraulic breaking, dismantling or primary size reduction before hammer crushing.
Hammer Crushing
A high-speed rotor drives the hammers to repeatedly impact, deform and break the cast aluminum inside the crushing chamber. Friction and compression between the hammers, liner plates and screen grate further reduce the material.
The crushing action helps expose embedded bolts, bearings, steel inserts and other ferrous components for downstream separation.
Screen-Controlled Discharge
Material that meets the selected screen opening is discharged from the crusher, while oversized pieces remain inside the crushing chamber for further processing.
Actual output depends on the casting structure, wall thickness, hammer configuration, screen opening and feeding condition.
Magnetic Separation
After crushing, the processed material can pass through magnetic separation. Exposed steel inserts, bolts, bearings and other ferrous components are recovered from the aluminum-rich material stream.
Optional Screening and Material Classification
Screening can divide the crushed output into different particle-size fractions and remove excessive fines. The screen configuration should be selected according to the downstream recovery process.
Optional Non-Ferrous Sorting
After ferrous metal removal and suitable material preparation, additional sorting equipment may be used according to the material composition and target recovered fractions.
Eddy current separation may recover conductive non-ferrous metals from suitable non-conductive residues, but it does not normally identify different aluminum alloy grades.
Dust Collection
Dust collection can be configured around the crusher, screening equipment and conveyor transfer points according to the material surface condition and workshop requirements.