Environmental life cycle assessment of an automobile component fabricated by additive and conventional manufacturing

Sustainability is the concept of satisfying the current needs of a society while safeguarding the needs of future generations. Three pillars make up the idea of sustainability: economic, environmental, and social. Additive manufacturing (AM) offers several environmental advantages compared to conventional manufacturing (CM) methods which include the capability to optimize designs and generate lightweight components utilizing less raw material and energy for manufacturing. The objective of this study is to assess the environmental footprint of components manufactured using both AM and CM processes. This study specifically evaluates the rocker arm, an automotive component, in terms of its design, raw material usage, manufacturing processes, and their respective effects on the life cycle implications of AM and CM processes. The component is redesigned using topology optimization and Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) approach. Eventually, an optimized and non-optimized component is manufactured by AM. A cradle to gate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study of this component is conducted, involving a comparison with CM. The information for the life-cycle inventory is acquired from literature, relevant databases, and experimentation. The results indicate that the rocker arm manufactured by CM has less environmental damage of 14.53% compared to AM without topology optimization. AM with topology optimization has 21.31% less environmental damage compared to CM. Hence, AM with topology optimization is more environmentally friendly in manufacturing a rocker arm. The energy consumed for product manufacturing by Selective Laser Melting (SLM) process is the primary cause of environmental footprint. When optimization is included, the effect on the environment has reduced due to decrease in electricity and material consumption.