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The United States Automotive Materials Partnership Life Cycle Assessment Special Topics Group (USAMP/LCA) has conducted a Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) using a suitable set of metrics to benchmark the environmental (not cost) performance of a generic vehicle, namely, the 1995 Intrepid/Lumina/Taurus. This benchmark will serve as a basis of comparison for environmental performance estimates of new and future vehicles (e.g. PNGV). The participants were Chrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, The Aluminum Association, The American Iron and Steel Institute, and the American Plastic Council. The study was strictly a life cycle inventory. The approach was to quantify all suitable material and energy inputs and outputs, including air, water, and solid wastes. The inventory covered the entire life cycle; from raw material extraction from the earth, to material production, parts manufacture, vehicle assembly, use, maintenance, recovery/recycling, and disposal.

The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry has noted that the peer review process is a key feature for the advancement of life cycle assessment. The International Organisation for Standardisation has recently provided further guidance and requirements for conducting such reviews in the ISO standard on life cycle assessment (ISO 14040). This paper outlines the contribution of the peer review process to the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) of a generic 1500 Kg vehicle that was carried out by United States Automotive Materials Partnership's Life Cycle Assessment Special Topics Group (USAMP/LCA). At the time of writing the final report for this study had not been reviewed, therefore the paper focuses on the overall peer review process, preliminary findings and lessons learned to date. This paper is one of six SAE publications discussing the results and execution of the USCAR AMP Generic Vehicle LCI.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the land requirement, energy consumption and GHG (greenhouse gases) emissions of microalgal biodiesel (M-BD) and Jatropha curcas seeds (J-BD) based biodiesel from the perspective of life cycle assessment (LCA). Mass and energy balance was used through the whole LCA calculation for each process. Two types of biodiesel (100% biodiesel: BD100, and 20% blends of biodiesel: BD20) were assumed to be combusted in the suitable diesel engine. Displacement method was adopted to measure the co-products credits. The results showed that the land requirement of producing 1 kg biodiesel from microalgae was about 1/31 of that from Jatropha curcas seeds. The well to pump (WTP) stage for microalgal biodiesel had higher fossil energy requirement but lower petroleum energy consumption and GHG emissions compared to Jatropha curcas and conventional diesel (CD). The WTP energy efficiency for J-BD100 and M-BD 100 were 26% and 17.4%, respectively.

Environmental issues have significantly impacted automotive operations worldwide. Countries are continuing to ratchet down their allowable emissions and to remain competitive, all industries must take Life Cycle Management (LCM) and implement it into everyday practice. Economic competitiveness as a part of economic development is central to the nation's social and financial well-being. America must catch-up to the rest of the world in how it views government and industry relationships as well as how to focus costs within the corporate structure. The adversarial relationships between government and industry must give way to stronger partnerships. For this concept to succeed a long term view of problems must be made by a corporation and both short and long term actions taken to resolve these problems. Industry must help create the market for recycled goods and must “walk the talk” by using recycled goods where possible.

Environmental issues continue to impact operations in the auto industry. With the introduction of the new Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA), a new emphasis away from traditional command and control regulations towards technology driven regulations has begun. Innovative ways of meeting the new regulations are more essential than ever before. The Life Cycle Management (LCM) approach combines sound environmental decision-making with good business practices. This management approach focuses on the total cost impact of a decision throughout the entire life of the product, process and material. LCM concentrates its efforts up front at the product's developmental stage where 80% of all cost savings can be gained. LCM is not a formula for success. It is an approach which stimulates corporate cultural changes to produce quality, environmental friendly products at the lowest total cost.

A Life Cycle Management (LCM) model was used to compare two plastic protective seat cover alternatives for a vehicle. Protective seat covers are temporary plastic covers placed over the seats of a vehicle to protect them from soiling during the assembly process. A contoured all-plastic seat cover was compared to a plastic seat cover with elastic. The results indicate that use of the contoured seat cover results in cost savings of $136,000 annually for this particular model year vehicle. In addition, the contoured seat protector contains at least 25 percent post-consumer recycled (PCR) content and is recyclable, while the alternative cover contains no PCR and is not recycled. This case study concludes that cost savings can be achieved while increasing the recycled content and recyclability of an item necessary in the production of vehicles. By using the all-plastic seat protector, 90,000 pounds of waste can be diverted from landfills annually.

Life Cycle Management (LCM) is a method for incorporating costs which have historically been considered indirect or overhead costs into a traditional cost analysis. It is a comparative, decision making tool, which combines the systems based thought process and environmental focus of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with the cost evaluation process used in Activity Based Cost (ABC) accounting. However, unlike LCA, this type of analysis may be performed in a matter of weeks rather than months because the boundaries are drawn around the manufacturing facility and the disposal of the material or end product. This paper describes the stepwise approach used in performing a LCM study and also presents a case study of three engine oil filters.

Life cycle benefits of a fully integrated thermoplastic instrument panel (IP) are compared to a traditional steel lattice construction. Design, manufacture, use and end-of-life phases are reviewed and presented in a life cycle management methodology. All components and processes are reviewed in a design for “X” format (i.e., recyclability, assembly, separability, disassembly, etc.) The IP objectives that were balanced include: design implications; feature content; consumer appeal; occupant energy management; quality, warranty, and NVH performance; design flexibility, materials of construction; weight savings and time to market. This methodology has been found useful to examine complex systems to guide decision makers in optimizing total life cycle costs.

An assessment of automobile painting at General Motor's Lake Orion, Michigan, USA assembly facility from a life cycle perspective was conducted. The Orion Facility produces the new Oldsmobile Aurora and Buick Riviera models. Improvements in on-site pollution prevention, energy conservation and regulatory barriers to technology innovation were identified. The environmental implications of auto body substrate material choice were analyzed. A life cycle inventory framework was developed for paint suppliers and other parts of the auto painting life cycle. An Alternative Regulatory System was proposed for the entire U.S. auto industry that will, if implemented, facilitate the integration of environmental management into core business strategies and planning.

A systematic life cycle management (LCM) approach has been used by Chrysler Corporation to compare existing and alternate hydraulic fluids and lubricating oils in thirteen classifications at a manufacturing facility. The presence of restricted or regulated chemicals, recyclability, and recycled content of the various products were also compared. For ten of the thirteen types of product, an alternate product was identified as more beneficial. This LCM study provided Chrysler personnel with a practical purchasing tool to identify the most cost effective hydraulic fluid or lubricant oil product available for a chosen application on an LCM basis.

The developing field of life cycle assessment is influenced by a multitude of environmental, economic, societal and cultural factors. The pace of change in the field masks the emerging consensus on the methodologies and common factors that influence life cycle assessment and give birth to life cycle management. This paper is designed to extract the trends from the developing field and present the concepts and structure of the state-of-the-art life cycle management techniques as they apply to business decision-makers.

A material selection including a natural material is conducted using a Simplified Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) according to SETAC within the framework of Ford's Design for Environment (DfE) process. The aim has been to check both, the environmental performance of a design option concerning a specific component and the feasibility of methodology. The result of the simplified LCA is the recommendation to substitute glass fibers by hemp fibers in a specific insulation. The methodology provides differentiated environmental information and seems to be feasible. However, a lot of LCA experience is necessary to be enabled to simplify LCA.

Due to the strengthening of environmental laws and an increasing concern about sustainability into society, it becomes important in modern corporate management to address these issues and recognize them as a major competitive advantage. The demand for products with enhanced environmental profiles is becoming an essential goal within new product concepts and development. When a new truck line was launched to the market in 2006, the opportunity arose to conduct the first study in the Brazilian automotive industry, which should provide a holistic view of the environmental profile of a product during its entire life through life cycle analysis (LCA). This paper presents the results of the application of this new approach to heavy-duty vehicles.

There is a growing awareness of the business value of sustainable practices. Life cycle tools can be used to design and continually improve future vehicles as well as provide bottom line cost savings, increase the recycled content and recyclability of products, and reduce the hazardous substance content in products. Data collection and management procedures as well as advanced life cycle technologies and tools have been developed and implemented at some corporations to meet the global market demands to increase the recycled content and recyclability of automobiles and to reduce the hazardous substance content in automobiles. Voluntary take-back legislation in Europe, as well as strict domestic and international labeling and reporting requirements for plastics and hazardous substances have prompted automotive manufacturers to aggressively evaluate (1) the regulated substances contained in their automobiles and (2) the recyclability of their automobiles.

Fuel choices are being made today by consumers, industry and government. One such choice is whether to use reformulated gasoline to replace regular unleaded gasoline. A second choice involves the source of crude oil, with synthetic crude oil from tar sands currently expanding its share of the Canadian supply. Decision makers usually work with the direct economic consequences of their fuel choice. However, they generally lack the knowledge to measure environmental aspects of different fuel systems. This paper uses Life Cycle Value Assessment (LCVA) to demonstrate how the life cycle environmental aspects can be compared for alternative fuel choices. LCVA is an engineering decision making tool which provides a framework for the decision maker to consider the key economic and environmental impacts for the entire life cycle of alternative products or process systems.

Transportation, with its high energy consumption, is commonly recognized as a major contributor to local, regional, and global environmental impacts. With around 95% of transportation energy originating from petroleum and an increasing emphasis on the associated environmental impacts, alternative transportation fuels are receiving great attention from industry, government, researchers, and the public. When the motivation for developing alternative fuels is to reduce environmental impact, a rigorous tool is needed for comparing the effects of very different alternative and conventional fuels. Such an evaluation tool must consider not only the effects of fuel combustion, but also the effects of producing, refining/processing, distributing, and disposing of wastes associated with that fuel… in other words, the life cycle effects of the fuel.

Heavy Duty Diesel Truck (HDDT) drivers are required by law to rest 8 hours for every 10 driving hours. As a consequence, the trucks are idled for long periods of time to heat or cool the cabin, to keep the engine warm, to run electrical appliances, and to refrigerate or heat truck cargo. This idling results in gaseous and particulate emissions, wasted fuel and is costly. Various technologies can be used to replace truck idling, including heaters, auxiliary power units, parking space electrification, and heating and air conditioning units in the parking space. In this paper the results of a life cycle analysis are reported giving the associated emissions savings and ecological burdens of these four technologies compared to truck idling. In this analysis the savings related to reduced engine maintenance and increased engine life are included. The fuel consumed and emissions produced by a truck engine at idle was obtained from experiments performed at Aberdeen Test Center (ATC).

Failure mode identification test such as Failure Mode Verification Testing® (FMVT), Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT) and Multiple Environment Over Stress Test (MEOST) have provided a solid means of identifying failure modes quickly. Many experts in these different methods have asserted that making life predictions from these tests will eventually be possible. This paper will explore the current state of making those correlations and detail several methods that have been successful in providing correlation between failure mode testing results and field life data. The short-term and long-term potential for life prediction and population synthesis will be discussed.

The 48V mild-Hybrid system uses a 48V Lithium - Ion battery pack to boost the engine performance, to harness recuperative energy and to supply the accessory boardnet power requirement. Thermal management of the 48V battery pack is critical for its optimal utilization to realize the mild hybrid functionality, to meet CO2 reduction targets and useful life particularly under usage in hot ambient conditions. This paper discusses the various challenges and options of thermal management for the 48V battery pack based on the usage pattern and environmental conditions. The lifetime for a passively cooled battery pack is estimated for a typical Indian usage pattern. Active-air cooling is evaluated for the thermal management of the 48V mild-Hybrid battery pack. The tradeoffs are compared in terms of availability of hybrid functions and battery life.

It is experimentally known that the surface color of bearing balls gradually becomes brown during long term operation of the bearings under appropriate lubrication conditions. That exhibits the possibility of an estimation method for residual life of ball bearings without any abnormal wear on the surfaces by precise color measurements. Therefore, we examined what set colors on bearing balls by surface observation using scanning electron microscopy and subsurface analysis using transmission electron microscopy. Results showed that an amorphous carbon layer had gradually covered ball surfaces during operation of the bearings. The layer not only changed ball color but also made overall ball shapes closer to a complete sphere. The report also introduces a uniquely developed color analyzer which enabled color measurements on metallic surfaces, such as the above-mentioned balls.