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A combined finite element – Life cycle assessment approach for assessing the sustainability of the thermoforming process of a thermoplastic composite component
STAMOPOULOS Antonios G., LA ROSA Angela Daniela, CREONTI Gianluigi
download PDFAbstract. Nowadays, thermoplastic-based composite materials are catching up in many industrial sectors due to their unique features, especially their recyclability, their lower requirements regarding their storage and the fact that may be heated-up and formed into a definitive product. To this end, the thermoforming process appears to be an appealing fabrication process. However, throughout this process, a number of defects may be introduced that can affect the morphology and structural performance of the product. Until recently, the definition of the optimal process characteristics was based on trial-and-error experimental tests that increased the resources required for its development. In addition, a significant part of the thermoplastic composite plate has to be removed/wasted after the thermoforming process. In this work, a well-established numerical methodology is applied to an industrial thermoplastic composite component. After considering an initial thermoplastic composite plate, the effect of the reduction of the overall dimensions, without compromising the product quality, on the environmental footprint is considered. To perform this task, a finite element (FE) simulation is utilized for assessing the possibility to reduce the plate dimensions without introducing defects while, in parallel, a life cycle assessment (LCA) is put into practice. Through the synergy between the 2 disciplines, useful insights are provided regarding the effectiveness of the fabrication process by defining the composite plate dimensions that contributes to the amelioration of the environmental footprint with the minimum expense on the component quality.
Keywords
Thermoforming, Thermoplastic Composites, Finite Element Simulation, Life Cycle Assessment
Published online 4/24/2024, 10 pages
Copyright © 2024 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: STAMOPOULOS Antonios G., LA ROSA Angela Daniela, CREONTI Gianluigi, A combined finite element – Life cycle assessment approach for assessing the sustainability of the thermoforming process of a thermoplastic composite component, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 41, pp 2767-2777, 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644903131-303
The article was published as article 303 of the book Material Forming
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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