Metal additive manufacturing (AM) using laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is often associated with material and energy savings when compared to conventional manufacturing (CM). In industrial applications such as commercial vehicle components, structurally optimized designs can reduce environmental impacts – provided that increased complexity and build time do not negate these gains. Given that up to 80 % of a product’s environmental impact is determined during the design phase, prospective product carbon footprint (PCF) assessment tools could support more sustainable design choices. However, existing solutions remain insufficiently validated for use in metal AM, particularly regarding their scope, precision, and usability in real-world industrial workflows. This study examines the applicability of existing prospective PCF tools using simulated and physically produced parts. In a comparative pilot case study, a commercial bus component is optimized for AM using multiple design approaches and compared to an initial and an optimized CM variant. While the optimized CM parts are not physically produced, their resource demand is assessed using a combination of simulation and database information. For AM parts, process data including energy consumption, inert gas use, powder input, build time, and part weight is recorded and analyzed. The PCF for each design and manufacturing scenario is calculated, covering both production (cradle-to-gate) and use-phase emissions. Environmental impacts are evaluated using a classical life cycle assessment (LCA), considering functional equivalence between designs. The goal is to evaluate whether weight savings from AM-optimized designs translate into net life cycle CO2eq- reductions, and to assess the accuracy and usability of early-stage PCF prospection tools against detailed LCA results. The study highlights research gaps and integration challenges, laying the groundwork for extensive investigations.
Duve et al. (Thu,) studied this question.