Constellium’s Element 13 facility is one of the world’s largest recyclers of used beverage cans in the world. While Element 13 has a self-sufficient DC Casting Complex and is responsible for a significant amount of molten aluminium for Muscle Shoals Alloys Plant Cast House input.

Constellium uses state-of-the-art electromagnetic casting in a Greenfield Casting Facility built within the alloys plant. Electromagnetic casting uses an electromagnetic field to levitate and contain molten aluminum prior to solidification, rather than the solid mold used in standard direct chill casting. This process creates a smoother slab surface, or long piece of aluminum, that does not require scalping to remove rough surfaces, thus saving time and cost in the manufacturing process.

The hot rolling mill consists of a series of three mills that compress the 30,000+ pound slabs of aluminum. The process begins on a reversing mill, one of the largest in the industry, which reduces the slab, or ingot, to four inches thick. The second mill on the Hot Line is also a reversing mill that reduces the slab to an intermediate gauge before feeding to the final single pass 4-stand hot mill. These mills have automatic computer controls to ensure the flatness and surface quality requested by the customer. In addition the final mill includes surface inspection capability that allows surface quality to be reviewed and monitored.

The cold rolling area consists of several mills including two three stand mills and a five-stand mill. The three-stand tandem cold mills are used for finished body stock for aluminum cans and automotive sheet.  The five-stand mill finish rolls end and tab stock for aluminum cans.   These mills are equipped with hydraulic automatic gauge control, a shape meter, and the most modern controls available. Finished products vary in thickness from approximately .0080 inches to much heavier gauges, and are conditioned by the cold working of the mill for formability and strength as per customer specifications.

End stock and similar packaging products go to an additional high-speed, state-of-the-art 66-inch line that trims, levels, pre-treats, rinses, applies and cures an organic coating on both sides of the aluminum sheet. These coatings can be clear base coats or a variety of colors and protective finishes, depending on end use.

Our Sheet Finishing department consists of multiple slitting operations to trim according to customer needs. We recycle 100% of all trim scrap, the trim is collected through a quick draft system into roll-off boxes that are picked up and returned to the Cast House. Our finishing slitters slit sheet to specified widths consistently holding tight tolerances and include automated sheet inspections systems that allow 100% review of surface, both top and bottom.