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The ‘evaluation of cycle of life (LCA)' is an analysis that comprises all the environingingmental impact caused by a product along all his vital cycle

Construction of aircraft more sustainable

Robert Ilg, Fraunhofer Institute, Department of Engineering of Cycle of Life (GaBi) of the Institute for Building Physics IBP03/09/2013

The evaluations of the cycle of life of the components can help to that the production of aircraft was more sustainable. For this is important that the data are available in a very early phase. Thanks to the software of ecological design, these data are available even during the phase of design.

The industry of European aviation has established his own aims regarding the environingingmental protection refers : for the year 2020 no only pretends to reduce the broadcasts of hurtful gases, the carbon dioxide in 50% and the oxide of nitrogen in 80%, but it also wishes to improve the cycles of life of the own aircraft. The term ‘evaluation of cycle of life (LCA)' is the term that employ the experts to describe the systematic evaluation of the adverse environingingmental impact of the components into use of the aircraft. The analysis comprises all the environingingmental impact that a product has caused along all his vital cycle (from the production, to the use and until the recycling or elimination).

For recopilar all these data requires a software of high performance. These programs are very complex and are being used by external experts with experience LCA specific. The disadvantage: for the majority, this software only registers the notable data and processes with hindsight. The industry of aviation does plans on a long-term basis: often the models of aircraft keep in service during 20 years or more. In this context, if it does not carry out the evaluation of the cycle of life in an initial phase, will have to compensate the impact more advance with greater effort and cost.

Hall Of production of the airbus in Hamburg: employing the tool of software of ecological design, the evaluations of the cycle of life can carry out even in the phase of design. Photo: EADS.

Evaluation simplified of the cycle of life

Researchers have developed a computer program whose environingingmental impact of the components of the aircraft can take into account even in the stage of design, during the phase of R&D and before beginning with the production. This ‘tool of software of ecological design' is based in the database of aviation that contains the environingingmental information based in LCA in a host of components of reference. “With a click of mouse, the designer knows the environingingmental impact of a component, basing in the process of previous production. This means that so much the material related like the flows of power can be quantified”, comments Ilg, at the same time that describes the functionality of the tool of ecological design.

For example, a kilo of plates of aluminium, (material used often in the construction of aircraft) has an environingingmental repercussion of roughly 140 MJ like result of the minería of bauxite, the international transport and other processes in Europe. It is four times the power issued in the combustion of a kilo of raw oil. The environingingmental impact of the components used has increased significantly during the process of back production, like result of the big requirements of material in the sector of the aviation. Of this way, the data of evaluation of the cycle of life have to adapt exactly to the industry of the aviation. In the tools employed to date was missing the specific component of aviation.

Another key element of the new software are the previous models of LCD programmed. With these models, the designers can vary of stage with diverse components and can achieve an immediate image of how distinct materials, options of construction or processes affect to the environingingmental performance. The designer does not have to carry out an analysis detailed and can compare the components selected with adjust them of the components of reference of the tool of ecological design. The interface of intuitive user presents the parameters LCA more important by means of the menu desplegable. It exists another profit more: The designer of the aircraft can employ the software to generate the types of analysis that reserved in an occasion to the specialists formed LCA. Of this way, the environingingmental appearances of the sector of the aviation can take into account in a very initial stage, and therefore, decisive, in the process of production: the phase of planning and development.

The computer program was developed together with the colleagues of the department Interactive Engineering Technologies (IET) of the Institute Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD of Darmstadt and the department Life Cycle Engineering (GaBi) of the University of Stuttgart like part of 'Clean Sky'. With a budget of roughly 1,6 trillion euros, the project is one of the greater initiatives of the European Commission and was created in 2008 with the aim to attain that the aviation have more in account the environingingment. This is precisely an area in which Fraunhofer has worked a lot of the hand of the industry of the aviation. Between the partners of project are, for example, EADS, Airbus, Eurocopter or Rolls-Royce. “In the actuality the industry is using the technology like part of the phase of comprobación initial. With the help of the software, creates his own evaluation of cycle of life published like ‘ecological affirmations, '” add Laura Brethauer of the department GaBi of IBP. In Paris Air Show (SIAE) in Paris-Him Bourget, showed the first version of the tool of software of ecological design.