11 - Life cycle assessment of sustainable composites

Abstract

This chapter discussed on the use and evaluation of flax and glass fiber phenolic composite on aircraft applications using the life cycle assessment (LCA) technique. In extend, it also involves the evaluation and comparison of the environmental impacts of flax and glass fiber phenolic composite used in Boeing 737 aircraft’s sidewall panels from cradle to grave phases. Four phases of LCA were applied; goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory (LCI), life cycle impact assessment, and interpretation of selected materials’ applications using GaBi software and ReCiPe impact assessment method. Results show that by approximately 23%, the impact categories of all flax fiber phenolic composites are lower than the glass fiber. It shows that the LCA results are dominated by the result of the use phase. Conclusively, despite of high energy usage during the extraction of flax fiber raw material, flax fiber phenolic composite panel is considered more environment-friendly than the glass fiber phenolic composite panel.