ALUMINIUM ALLOYS VS CAST IRON: A CRITICAL COMPARISON CARRIED OUT BY MEANS OF LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA)

The continuous search for lighter materials in the automotive industry is justified by the environmental advantage deriving from the reduction of fuel consumption and, therefore, lower CO2 emissions throughout the vehicles’ use phase. However, a correct evaluation of the environmental effects related to the choice of “light” materials should involve not only the use but the whole life of the vehicle. This paper presents the results of the comparison between the environmental load of cast iron and aluminium cylinder blocks. The methodological approach adopted for the analysis is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) since it allows to consider the environmental effects of a product during the production, use and end-of-life treatment phases. The study demonstrates that, while during the production stage the environmental load related to the aluminium block is higher than the one related to the cast iron block, during use and end-of-life treatment the gain of aluminium over cast iron makes the aluminium cylinder block more environment friendly than the cast iron one.