Feng Tao, Guo Wei, Li Wei, Meng Zhenghua, Zhu Yao, Zhao Feng, Liang Weicheng
Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
Materials (Basel). 2023 Jul 11;16(14):4952. doi: 10.3390/ma16144952.
The development and utilization of new plant-fiber composite materials and microcellular foam molding processes for the manufacturing of automotive components are effective approaches when achieving the lightweight, low-carbon, and sustainable development of automobiles. However, current research in this field has mainly focused on component performance development and functional exploration, with a limited assessment of environmental performance, which fails to meet the requirements of the current green and sustainable development agenda. In this study, based on a life cycle assessment, the resource, and environmental impacts of plant-fiber composite material automotive components and microcellular foam molding processes were investigated. Furthermore, a combined approach to digital twinning and life cycle evaluation was proposed to conduct resource and environmental assessments and analysis. The research results indicate that under current technological conditions, resource and environmental issues associated with plant-fiber composite material automotive components are significantly higher than those of traditional material components, mainly due to differences in their early-stage processes and the consumption of electrical energy and chemical raw materials. It is noteworthy that electricity consumption is the largest influencing factor that causes environmental issues throughout the life cycle, especially accounting for more than 42% of indicators such as ozone depletion, fossil resource consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions. Additionally, the microcellular foam molding process can effectively reduce the environmental impact of products by approximately 15% and exhibits better overall environmental performance compared to chemical foaming. In future development, optimizing the forming process of plant-fiber composite materials, increasing the proportion of clean energy use, and promoting the adoption of microcellular foam injection molding processes could be crucial for the green and sustainable development of automotive components.
开发和利用新型植物纤维复合材料及微孔泡沫成型工艺来制造汽车零部件，是实现汽车轻量化、低碳化和可持续发展的有效途径。然而，该领域目前的研究主要集中在零部件性能开发和功能探索上，对环境性能的评估有限，无法满足当前绿色和可持续发展议程的要求。在本研究中，基于生命周期评估，对植物纤维复合材料汽车零部件和微孔泡沫成型工艺的资源及环境影响进行了调查。此外，还提出了一种将数字孪生与生命周期评估相结合的方法，以进行资源和环境评估与分析。研究结果表明，在当前技术条件下，与植物纤维复合材料汽车零部件相关的资源和环境问题显著高于传统材料零部件，这主要是由于它们在早期工艺以及电能和化学原料消耗方面存在差异。值得注意的是，电力消耗是导致整个生命周期环境问题的最大影响因素，尤其在臭氧消耗、化石资源消耗和二氧化碳排放等指标中占比超过42%。此外，微孔泡沫成型工艺可有效降低产品的环境影响约15%，与化学发泡相比，整体环境性能更佳。在未来发展中，优化植物纤维复合材料的成型工艺、提高清洁能源使用比例以及推广采用微孔泡沫注射成型工艺，对于汽车零部件的绿色和可持续发展至关重要。
