The life cycle analysis of the material usage for camouflage radio unit (CRU)

Abstract

When becoming aware of the environmental impact of all manufactured goods has become more important than ever due to the accelerating climate change. When comparing different materials and manufacturing methods can prove vital for the efforts to mitigate emissions and other negative effects. The comparing of different material choices needs to be made with comprehensive data and life cycle assessment is an irreplaceable tool to provide such results. There are lots of assumptions circling around and not all of them are fact-based. LCA can provide some insight into how environmentally friendly some materials are. In this thesis, four materials were chosen to be compared for their environmental impact. The materials chosen were steel, plastic, natural fibre reinforced composite and, carbon fibre rein-forced composite. On a theoretical level, parts were manufactured using the selected materials. The different versions of raw material acquisition, manufacturing processes and, disposal scenarios were compared to find out the version with the smallest environmental impact. Most of the data was available in LCA software, but for the composite manufacturing, a physical prototype had to be made. The physical prototype was used to acquire the data for thee composite manufacturing calculations. The power consumption of the manufacturing process was measured. Comparing the results reveals that plastic is the most environmentally friendliest material out of the ones studied.