300 Cycle Engineering

Question 1

Life cycle engineering

Answer 1

LCE provides a methodology of how to:
• design
• manufacture • use
• maintain
• recover
materials and products with the aim of:
• optimizing resource use
• minimizing environmental impact

Question 2

How efficient are materials technologies?

Answer 2

MIPS (Material Intensity per Service unit, Wuppertal Institute)
MIPS = Material Intensity per Service unit
MI = Material Input (sum of the used resources, in kg)
MIT = Material Intensity = Material Input in relation to e.g.:
-aweight(kg/kg)
- an energy (kg / kWh)
- a transport (kg / kg.km)
Resource Productivity = 1 / MIT

5 categories

abiotic raw materials 
biotic raw materials 
water 
erosion
air

Question 3

Why recycle

Answer 3

Waste recycling represents one of the most immediate, tangible and low-cost investments in dematerialization available. …
Recycling has very positive economic benefits with respect to job creation, manufacturing and technology and innovation.

Question 4

Re use (product level)

Answer 4

Largest benefits from avoided processes
• Some processing (dismantling, cleaning …) may be required
• Product may be reused in the same or different application

Question 5

Recycling (material level)

Answer 5

• Materials obtained
• Possible issues of contamination and property degradation
• May be reused to displace virgin material production

Question 6

Recovery ( elemental level)

Answer 6

Elements recovered

• Same quality as primary (raw) materials

Question 7

Closed loop recycling

Answer 7

• Recovered material directly replaces input from primary production • Implies no loss of quality (no change in technical properties)

Question 8

Open loop recycling

Answer 8

• Material is recovered and used in another product system • Replaces a different material
• Often termed ‘downcycling’ due to quality degradation

Question 9

Summary

Answer 9

Present material technologies do not reach very high resource efficiencies
• Important to define the functional unit (different from the production unit)
• The MIPS (and other LCA methods) with relevant functional unit enables:
Ø to identify the critical material(s), production and life-cycle step(s) in terms of resource use
Ø to evaluate alternative scenarios (e.g recycled vs. raw materials)
• Recycling (city mining) is less resource intensive and insufficiently developed
to substitute raw materials extraction
• All life cycle steps should be included in design approaches!
Ø Raw materials
Ø Manufacture
Ø Transport
Ø Service
Ø Recycling (substitution

Question 10

Material & Equipment

Answer 10

In sports the time of technology and validation is very short and the life of technology is also short, but the innovation implement and service experience starts from sports and goes up to aerodynamics but the design and material like carbon fiber where development where first implemented in airplanes and came down to sports

The technology in sports for environment, equipment, safety, performance measurement
The evolution in sports happens in material, technology, training, professionalism
Evolution depends on the new needs, new requirements, new material, new process, new design.

Question 11

Materials

Answer 11

Materials are made of Atoms
The way the atoms are put together:
Atoms have electrons that run around them
Metallic bonds
 if you have atoms align and electrons are free to mover around them (you can shape it)
Ionic Bonds
 atoms are well aligned and out in order, it is stronger that metallic bonds (ceramic, galss)
Covalent bonds  in between
All materials can be in Gas, Liquid, Solid form
When you transform liquid to solid, you start with liquid and it cool down to create crystals inside the material and it depend on the size of the crystals it differs.

To deform the materials you need level of stress it differs based on the nature of the material
Properties: Foam Elastomers (rubbers) they have low stiffness, while polymers are more stiff and composite are even more stiff similar to metals. The wight as well differs so for examples the metals are heavier than the composite meanwhile they are similar in stiffness.
Composite they are light and stiff which is used in sports equipment.

Question 12

Metals and alloys (used in buildings, infrastructure and transportation..)

Answer 12

Aluminum

Magnesium

Question 13

Ceramics (knives, motor parts, electronics..)

Answer 13

Silicate (glass)

Silicium carbide

Question 14

Polymers (plastic, packaging, transport, building..)

Answer 14

Molecules: iono-covalent bonds
• From small to large strains
• Corrosion resistance
• Insulators
• Easy to process, design freedom

Question 15

Metals in sports:

Answer 15

Magnesium alloys are very light so they are used in chair wheels, bicycle parts
Aluminum alloys used In bicycle frames
Titan in golf, bicycle
Steel in arrowhead, gun, screws, shoes spikes
Stainless steel in ice sake blades, skies
Lead in ballast, boat keel
Tungsten in arrowheads, ski pole tips