A methodical approach for an ecological assessment of joining technologies — optimized decision-making in automobile body development

In recent years, energy and resource efficiency have become crucial factors in the automotive sector. Challenges, such as stricter environmental requirements or rising resource costs necessitate a sustainable product life cycle, as well as sustainable manufacturing processes. Hence, the focus lies on the car body development, which has a significant impact on the overall weight of a vehicle. The trend to lightweight structures promises great optimization potential; however, the increasing number of various material combinations is leading to a growing diversity of joining technologies. To date, the decision-making of the optimum technology is based on the expertise of design engineers. A standardized method for the selection of sustainable technologies does not exist. Extant literature provides mostly models focusing on economic or technological criteria. This research introduces a methodology for a sustainability-oriented decision-making for the selection of joining technologies in car body development, based on the life-cycle-assessment approach. The methodology allows a transparent and optimized decision-making of joining technologies to determine the most sustainable solution already in the early stage of product development.