Page 7 - Research Report 2021 - Institut für Leichtbau und Kunststofftechnik

a new (fourth) design approach for technical structures Finally, a lightweight engineering-specific assessment
with the aim of avoiding harm to the environment or the metric must be developed that predicts the effects of de-
remaining global resource potential. We call this goal sign, material and technology as well as their interactions
“neutral lightweight design”. Although this approach is, along the entire life cycle of a product. The classic Life Cy-
by today's standards, an ideal that can only be partially cle Assessment offers good starting points here in com-
realised with the technologies of our time, it must deter- bination with other assessment methods. In this context,
mine our thinking and actions in order to achieve a re- the availability and comparability of corresponding data
source-neutral circular economy in the future. are a decisive prerequisite for the success of neutral light
engineering. National and ultimately international harmo-
The basic principle of neutral design is the considera- nisation of methods, technologies, materials and data
tion of sustainability criteria in all decision-making stages must therefore accompany this process. Only through
along the development chain of a product. In doing so, cooperation and communication can the complex chal-
the entire life cycle of the product system from material lenges of a global circular economy be overcome.
procurement to end-of-life parts management must be
anticipated for the respective production, use and recy-
cling region. Neutral lightweight design thus goes further
than pure life cycle assessment or the “cradle to cradle”
principle. From today's point of view, this objective gives
rise to four highlighted fields of action in research and
development.

Firstly, a development process must be implemented that
anticipates the entire life cycle of a product and already
takes environmental impacts into account during prod-
uct development. The responsibility of the developer no
longer ends at the transition of the product into
the use phase, but extends far beyond that.
A specific product design must be worked
out that enables a long product life and
a recovery of the product-bound re-
sources at the end of the life and at the
same time fulfils the economic boundary
conditions in all life phases. To realise this
complex task, the 10 R strategies must be
systematically taken into account.

Secondly, only recycled or fully recyclable as well as re-
newable bio-based materials may be used in the future.
The use of materials that are not or only with difficulty
recyclable, such as composite materials or their hybrids,
must in future be appropriately well justified and also
economically correctly taken into account in the overall
life cycle balance.

The third field of action encompasses the technologies
for manufacturing, repairing, reprocessing and disman-
tling lightweight products up to the disintegration of
high-tech materials with low resource consumption and
minimal environmental impact. Here, for example, it is
necessary to find new methods of production based on
regenerative sources or to develop approaches for the
reuse of entire assemblies.

Bicycle rack made from bio-based raw materials

7