remelted

Remelted refers to a material that has been melted again after solidification. It is a common step in recycling, refining, and reworking processes across metals, glass, ceramics, and certain plastics. Remelting allows removal of impurities, adjustment of alloy composition, or reshaping of a material to meet specific properties or forms.

In metals, remelting is central to recycling and refining. Scrap metal is melted in furnaces, such as electric arc furnaces for steel or reverberatory and induction furnaces for aluminum, and then re-cast into ingots, billets, or new products. Remelting can also remove impurities and homogenize composition, though it may alter the material’s microstructure through grain growth or segregation if not properly controlled. Precious metals are commonly remelted in refining operations to produce high-purity ingots.

Glass and ceramics also undergo remelting, particularly in recycling and glaze production. Recycled glass cullet is melted to form new glass products, while certain ceramic bodies are remelted to recover or rework materials.

Plastics can be remelted for recycling in processes like melt extrusion or injection molding, though thermal degradation and contamination limit reuse for some polymers.

Advantages of remelting include material reuse, potential purification, and the ability to tailor properties for new applications. Challenges involve energy demands, oxidation and contamination, changes in microstructure, and the need for careful process control and material sorting to maintain quality.

Remelted materials thus sit at the intersection of recycling, materials engineering, and sustainable manufacturing.