Life cycle assessment of an aircraft component: a case study

Increasing awareness on environmental protection is being noticed by aviation industries to develop aircraft with light weight and minimal environmental impact; for this purpose, environmental impact (EI) of aircraft to be determined. This article presents life cycle assessment (LCA) of turbine blade used in aircraft engine system. LCA can provide detailed information about chosen material or component from its manufacturing to disposal phase. Environmental impact (EI) of various entities is being analysed using LCA package. LCA has been mainly focused on the environmental impact of the life cycle phases of components. The assessment results showed that plating has highest impact followed by raw material. The conduct of the study enables the determination of environmental impacts over the life cycle of aircraft components.