| Abstract Scope |
The GE Ecoassessment Center of Excellence has been applying LCA to explore the environmental impacts, benefits, and trade-offs of additively manufactured aircraft engine parts compared to traditional machined or cast parts. This presentation will explore a case study focused on GE Aviation’s additively manufacturing fuel nozzle for the CFM LEAP engine. The use of additive manufacturing at a commercial scale represents a significant change affecting materials sustainability. The choice of manufacturing technology can influence environmental impacts across the entire life cycle of the part, component, product, or system that is being manufactured. For example, new additive manufacturing processes may potentially: (1) enable different or novel materials choices; (2) have different material yields and energy efficiencies; (3) have less (or more) manufacturing emissions and wastes; (4) enable unique part geometries or other features affecting performance; (5) offer enhanced repair-ability, re-usability, or recyclability at end of life. The presentation will also briefly discuss life cycle initiatives relevant to materials sustainability being developed by the US Department of Energy and the US Department of Defense. |