Life cycle assessment comparing manufacturing and repair operations of aerospace fan blades with conventional and additive manufacturing

Abstract

The aviation sector has made it possible for people to explore the world in just a matter of hours but the industry is facing large challenges. To prevent further environmental changes, actions must be taken. This report investigates the sustainability impacts of new manufacturing Fan blade, compared to two repair methods, one based on conventional manufacturing and one based on Additive Manufacturing (AM) with Laser Metal Deposition with powder (LMD-p). Literature search and interviews were performed to understand and map the different processes. A Life cycle assessment (LCA) was made to assess the environmental impacts associated with the three cases to validate potential hotspots. Lastly a social assessment was made to understand the social impacts. The LCA showed that the AM repair significantly reduces the environmental impacts, resulting in 6 kg CO2 equivalents, compared to new manufacturing, 184 kg CO2 equivalents, and conventional repair, 80 kg CO2 equivalents. The social assessment displays several positive aspects, firstly less toxic exposure to workers and less impact on natural capital. This study concludes that the AM repair significantly reduces the environmental and social impacts compared to both new manufacturing and conventional repair.