LCA of trailing edge maintenance – a case study of graphene nanoplatelet-based coating

A screening Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was conducted on trailing edge demonstrator to evaluate its preliminary environmental impacts. This study is part of the Horizon Europe GIANCE Project (Graphene Alliance for Sustainable Multifunctional Materials to Tackle Environmental Challenges). A screening Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was conducted on a trailing edge demonstrator to evaluate its preliminary environmental impacts. This study is part of the Horizon Europe GIANCE Project (Graphene Alliance for Sustainable Multifunctional Materials to Tackle Environmental Challenges). Within the project, the partners have the responsibility to check the potential environmental benefits of the novel solutions against conventional reference systems. The current assessment focused on a preliminary analysis based on the demonstrator’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), main differences in the bill of materials, and the expected impacts during the use phase. The analysis followed a "best-case" scenario approach, aiming to identify potential environmental benefits, assess the significance of impacts, and pinpoint environmental hotspots for improvement during the design stage. Two functional units (FUs) were defined: FU1, based on the material required to manufacture two trailing edge components, with system boundary limited to the material production phase; and FU2, based on expected performance benefits during the use phase, fuel savings due to the expected 10% weight reduction. Key material changes included replacing thermoset matrices with thermoplastics and substituting metal-based components with graphene nanoplatelet (GNP)-based coatings. While the modifications did not yield significant reductions in environmental impact categories during the material production phase, the use-phase assessment indicated a positive, though not significant, trend toward impact reduction due to fuel savings. These findings prompted a revaluation of the relationship between technical performance and environmental benefits. Additional benefits of the GNP-based coating were also considered. These included the avoidance of copper or aluminium foil / mesh, which is often embedded in composite parts for lightning strike protection (LSP) and expected 30% improvement in lightning strike protection compared to neat resin, which enhances repairability and recyclability compared to conventional embedded metallization approaches. However, performing LCA for maintenance of an aircraft part presents several challenges, due to the complexity, variability, and lack of standardized method in this phase of the product life cycle. The variability of maintenance scenarios (e.g. frequency, type and depth), setting system boundary (e.g. how much of the supply chain or logistics to include) and defining the functional unit (e.g., “1 maintained part per 10,000 flight hours”) are some examples of the main parameters that influence the results. For that, a modular approach was proposed to assess the environmental impacts per maintenance event, and multiply by estimated frequency over lifetime, which is a practical way to manage complexity by breaking down the overall maintenance phase into discreet and modules. Each module represents a specific maintenance activity or event. These modules can then be individually assessed, and their environmental impacts can be aggregated based on frequency over the part's or aircraft’s lifetime. The main advantages of this approach are flexibility and scalability, ease of updating or adapting modules such as changes in technology or maintenance strategy, a clear breakdown of where the impact is coming from and easier comparison of different maintenance strategies.