Materials Flow Analysis and Dynamic Life-cycle Assessment of Lightweight Automotive Materials in the US Passenger Vehicle Fleet
Name
Cheah-2009-Materials Flow Analysis and Dynamic Life-cycle Assessment of Lightweight Automotive Materials in the US Passenger Vehicle Fleet.pdf
Size
134.09 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
d9a2c48eb3c9631e775395e3da23492a
Author(s)
Cheah, Lynette Wan Ting
Date Issued
July 2009
Journal
Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technology, 2009
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Citation
Cheah, L.W. “Materials flow analysis and dynamic life-cycle assessment of lightweight automotive materials in the U.S. passenger vehicle fleet.” Sustainable Systems and Technology, 2009. ISSST '09. IEEE International Symposium on. 2009. 1. © Copyright 2009 IEEE
Version
Final published version
Abstract
To achieve better fuel economy, automakers are seriously considering vehicle weight and size reduction. This is achieved by using lighter-weight materials like high-strength steel and aluminum, better vehicle design, and offering smaller vehicle models. To consider the effectiveness of these approaches, it is important to take into account the dynamic life-cycle energy and environmental impacts. For instance, primary aluminum requires almost four times more energy to produce than steel today. Expected efficiency improvements in material processing would modify this ratio over time. Examining the impact of lightweighting on the overall vehicle fleet system- level, as opposed to a single vehicle-level, also reveals insights on the timing and degree of the impact reduction achieved.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1109/ISSST.2009.5156692
