Abstract
Lightweighting is one of the enabling techniques for energy saving and carbon reduction in the automotive industry. However, the life cycle performance of lightweight components remains unclear. Wheel hub is an important component, and its trend of replacing steel with aluminum is happening. Based on life cycle assessment and using ReCiPe model, this paper reports a cradle-to-grave study on the environmental impact of steel and aluminum wheel hub in passenger vehicles. Considering multi-scenario in the Chinese market, it is found that when the service life of passenger vehicle is less than 5.6 years, steel wheel hub is more environmental-friendly, and when the service life is less than 8.6 years, steel wheel hub also has more economic advantages. Combining different lightweight methods and different types of vehicles, it is found that structural optimization reduces the environmental impact of per unit weight mostly, process optimization reduces the life cycle environmental impact of wheel hub, and using lightweight steel wheel hub in electric vehicles has more potential in environmental benefits. some suggestions are, 1) to choose wheel hub that matches your actual usage to enjoy more environmental-economic advantages; 2) to prioritize structural-process integrated optimization for lightweight wheel hub; and 3) to use more lightweight components in electric vehicles.
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