Environmental impact assessment of magnesium alloy automobile hub based on life cycle assessment

Abstract

In order to find out the impact of aluminum alloy hub replaced by the magnesium alloy hub on environment, the resource consumption, energy consumption and pollutant emission during hub production and their service life of the two types of hubs are investigated based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) theory. The results indicate that the adverse impact on environment can be effectively reduced by the application of magnesium alloy hubs. Compared with aluminum alloy hubs, the global warming potential (GWP) and human toxicity potential (HTP) are reduced by 39.6% and 24.0%, respectively. CO₂ is the main pollutant in the life cycles of the two kinds of hubs, which is generated throughout the whole life cycle including the fabrication process and the service life, while the pollutants of particles mainly come from the fabrication stage. Compared with the aluminum alloy hubs, the green effect brought by magnesium alloy hubs is mainly due to the reduction of fuel consumption caused by weight loss.

Keywords

life cycle assessment theory / magnesium alloy / aluminum alloy / hub / environmental impact

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