Life cycle assessment of the potential environmental benefits of a novel hot forming process in automotive manufacturing

Besides turning to less energy-intensive power train options, lightweighting is commonly regarded as the most effective way to reduce a vehicle's environmental impact. Achieving high recycling rates for energy-intensive lightweight materials is a most important goal, lest the advantages afforded by vehicle lightweighting are unduly diminished or even annulled. Additionally, in order to reap the full benefits of recycling in terms of avoided primary (virgin) material production, it is desirable that the quality of the recycled scraps be kept as close as possible to that demanded by the original application. Solution Heat treatment, Forming and in-die Quenching (HFQ) is a novel sheet metal forming process that allows the forming of large sheet metal parts without the need for extraneous rivets or other bonding techniques which impair end-of-life disassembly and recycling. Our comparative life cycle assessment has shown that the additional energy required for the HFQ process is over-compensated by the ensuing benefits in terms of enhanced end-of-life recyclability, thereby potentially resulting in an overall net improvement of the environmental profile of the manufactured parts over their full life cycle.