Improving environmental performance of magnesium instrument panels

Using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach, the study first compares the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from conventional instrument panels (IPs) and bio-plastics as an alternative to plastics. It is found that IPs made out of steel, plastic and bio-plastic are, respectively, 15%, 29% and 37% lower than magnesium. The higher emissions of magnesium are mainly due to high impact of the source of Chinese primary magnesium used, impact of SF6 cover gas used in die casting and lower percentage of recycled magnesium content. By adopting best practice technologies in casting magnesium car cross beam, the study shows that comparative performance of magnesium IPs can be vastly improved.

[1]  Albert W. Chan,et al.  A Comparison of Thermoplastic Composite vs.Conventional-Steel Instrument Panel Systems for Side-Impact Energy Management , 1998 .

[2]  P. Koltun,et al.  Global warming impact of the magnesium produced in China using the Pidgeon process , 2004 .

[3]  Philip G. Gott,et al.  Life Cycle Energy. Requirements for Selected Automotive Sheet Materials , 1982 .

[4]  A. Tharumarajah,et al.  Is there an environmental advantage of using magnesium components for light-weighting cars? , 2007 .

[5]  Gregory A. Keoleian,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment and Design of Instrument Panels: A Common Sense Approach , 1997 .

[6]  O. Jolliet,et al.  Life cycle assessment of biofibres replacing glass fibres as reinforcement in plastics , 2001 .

[7]  Meike Schmehl,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment on a Bus Body Component Based on Hemp Fiber and PTP® , 2008 .

[8]  K. Kainer.  Verfahren und Produkte , 1997, HTM Journal of Heat Treatment and Materials.

[9]  Subramania Ramakrishnan,et al.  AN APPROACH TO TREATMENT OF RECYCLING IN LCA STUDY. , 2005 .

[10]  Muhammad Pervaiz,et al.  Carbon storage potential in natural fiber composites , 2003 .

[11]  J. Fenhann.  Industrial Non-Energy, Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions , 2000 .

[12]  Peter Dewhurst.  Evaluation of instrument panel designs for cost of manufacture and environmental impact , 1998 .

[13]  Kamran Behdinan,et al.  A material and gauge thickness sensitivity analysis on the NVH and crashworthiness of automotive instrument panel support , 2003 .

[14]  Hans-Jürgen Dr. Klüppel,et al.  The Revision of ISO Standards 14040-3 - ISO 14040: Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Principles and framework - ISO 14044: Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Requirements and guidelines , 2005 .

[15]  Gregory A. Keoleian,et al.  Is Environmental Improvement in Automotive Component Design Highly Constrained? , 1998 .