Abstract
In the present paper, an innovative process for the reuse of carbon fiber prepreg scraps, based on a zero-waste approach, was proposed in order to recovery scraps produced during cutting operations of virgin prepreg rolls. Unfortunately, during the prepreg transformation, about 75% of the materials is discarded due to the inefficiency of the cutting phase. Nevertheless, this prepreg can be reused, in a closed loop system, to produce second life products. In this research, the environmental and economic benefits of implementing a recovery system for prepreg scraps were investigated exploiting Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) techniques. The LCA technique was used to compare the environmental impact of the innovative reclaiming process with the one obtained by the manufacturing process based on the use of virgin prepreg. Typical compression molding process was modeled for both the scenarios and the environmental performances were evaluated exploiting the Cumulative Energy Demand indicators. Moreover, the LCC analysis of the two alternatives was performed for evaluating the economic sustainability of the recycling process.
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We would like to thank HP Composites for the information, the experimentation and the support in the LCA and LCC analyses.
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Vita, A., Forcellese, A., Simoncini, M. (2022). Reuse of Composite Prepreg Scraps as an Economic and Sustainable Alternative for Producing Car Components. In: Carrino, L., Tolio, T. (eds) Selected Topics in Manufacturing. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82627-7_10
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