AMGTA
The Additive Manufacturer Green Trade Association (AMGTA) has announced its first lifecycle assessment (LCA) research project will focus on the design and manufacture of an aerospace component.
Rochester Institute of Technology’s Golisano Institute for Sustainability has been commissioned to compare the lifecycles of an additively designed and manufactured aerospace part to a traditionally manufactured component. AMGTA made the announcement at RAPID + TCT.
The study will be ISO 14040 compliant and will compare the cradle-to-grave environmental impacts of a jet engine low pressure turbine (LPT) bracket through traditional production method with one that has been additively manufactured. It will then be peer reviewed by a panel of three LCA experts to ensure the methodology, data, assumptions, results and conclusions are all accurate. The report is expected to be published in the spring of 2022, and the key findings will be announced at the next RAPID + TCT in May 2022.
“This new study will include up to 18 different environmental indicators to quantify the environmental impacts that an optimised jet engine LPT bracket has throughout its entire lifecycle – from material extraction, manufacturing, transportation, use and its eventual end-of-lif,” commented AMGTA Executive Director Sherry Handel. “This data will then be compared to a traditionally designed and manufactured LPT bracket to determine where exactly powder bed fusion AM technology results in lower environmental impacts.”
The AMGTA was founded in 2019 and has since grown to include 28 member companies, including the likes of Stratasys, 3D Systems, ExOne, SLM Solutions, GE Additive, HP and TRUMPF. It has been set up to promote the sustainability benefits of additive manufacturing through a series of research projects, starting with a literature-based review of metal additive manufacturing last year and expanding to include lifecycle assessments.
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