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A thermodynamics based precipitation model for aluminium alloys is presented. The model is capable of describing the simultaneous nucleation, growth and coarsening of all known stable precipitates in multi-component systems for arbitrary heat treatments. The thermodynamic data required to calculate the nucleation driving force and the equilibrium phase compositions is taken from a database that contains 15 elements (Al, B, C, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Si, Sr, Ti, V, Zn, Zr). As a result, the model can be applied to most commercial aluminium alloys. The model was validated by comparing simulated with experimental results of various alloys on precipitate volume fractions and matrix composition. This validated model was utilized to predict the precipitation kinetics of recycled commercial alloys. In particular, the sensitivity of precipitation on composition fluctuations, which are inherent with recycled materials, is evaluated.