Green and Sustainable Manufacturing of Advanced Material

Mrityunjay Singh, Tatsuki Ohji, Rajiv Asthana

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780124114975
• eBook ISBN: 9780124115262
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Public Health, Administration & Care

Sustainable development is a globally recognized mandate and it includes green or environment-friendly manufacturing practices. Such practices orchestrate with the self-healing and self-replenishing capability of natural ecosystems. Green manufacturing encompasses synthesis, processing, fabrication, and process optimization, but also testing, performance evaluation and reliability. The book shall serve as a comprehensive and authoritative resource on sustainable manufacturing of ceramics, metals and their composites. It is designed to capture the diversity and unity of methods and approaches to materials processing, manufacturing, testing and evaluation across disciplines and length scales. Each chapter incorporates in-depth technical information without compromising the delicate link between factual data and fundamental concepts or between theory and practice. Green and sustainable materials processing and manufacturing is designed as a key enabler of sustainable development. - A one-stop compendium of new research and technology of green manufacturing of metals, ceramics and their composites - In-depth cutting-edge treatment of synthesis, processing, fabrication, process optimization, testing, performance evaluation and reliability which are of critical importance to green manufacturing - Stimulates fresh thinking and exchange of ideas and information on approaches to green materials processing across disciplines

Part I

Material Conservation, Recovery, Recycling and Reuse

Chapter 1

Green and Sustainable Manufacturing of Advanced Materials—Progress and Prospects

Mrityunjay Singh¹; Tatsuki Ohji²; R. Asthana^{3 1} Ohio Aerospace Institute, Cleveland, OH, USA,
² National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Nagoya, Japan,
³ University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI, USA

Abstract

Sustainability is pervasive and impacts every aspect of human activity. Over the last decades, sustainability has emerged as a critical force uniting humanity in its relentless focus on development and growth that in the past often ignored the interdependence of humanity and the ecosystem in which it resided. Perhaps nowhere is the power of sustainable development revealed as remarkably as in the development of new materials, manufacturing technologies, and systems. Future progress in the materials area will critically depend on our engagement with the sustainable practices in research and technology. The chapter provides a broad overview of the current status of sustainability in materials science and engineering and a brief introduction to the themes that subsequent chapters capture and develop in greater depth.

Keywords

Green manufacturing

Sustainability

Material conservation

Metallic materials

Ceramic materials

Polymeric materials

Composite materials

Regulation

Fossil fuels

1 Introduction

Manufacturing is a substantial part of global economy, and manufacturing practices play a critical role in all aspects of modern life. Green and sustainable manufacturing has emerged as a globally recognized mandate. Sustainable manufacturing is defined by the U.S. Department of Commerce as “the creating of manufactured products that use processes that are nonpolluting, conserve energy and natural resources, and are economically sound and safe for employees, communities, and consumers” (http://www.nacfam.org/PolicyInitiatives/SustainableManufacturing/tabid/64/Default.aspx). It has given impetus to development of green materials and technologies that orchestrate with self-healing and replenishing capability of natural ecosystems. It has focused attention on conservation of energy and precious materials, and recovery, recycling, and reuse in virtually all industrial sectors including but not limited to transportation, agriculture, construction, aerospace, energy, nuclear power, and many others.

Historically, industry and governments have been responsive to environmental issues even before sustainability became a recognized global movement. For example, in the United States, a number of acts and Codes of Federal Regulations (CFR) have addressed key environmental issues for several decades. Examples included the Water Pollution Control Act (amended 1987 Clean Water Act), Clean Air Act (amended 1990), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (amended 1984), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (1980), and many others. These regulations provided “cradle-to-grave” programs for protecting human health and the environment from the improper management of hazardous materials including toxic effluents. Other CFRs specifically addressed the health and environmental effects of specific chemicals and materials such as the known carcinogens formaldehyde (29 CFR 1910.1048) and cadmium (29 CFR 19190.1027).

Although a focus on sustainable technologies in various forms has been around for a long time in part due to government regulations and sporadic public support for isolated cases that impacted regional concerns, a paradigm shift toward and awareness of the importance of transformative green and sustainable materials and manufacturing has only recently begun to gain momentum. As a field of academic enquiry and discussion, green manufacturing is relatively young. As an emerging global movement, it has gained considerable traction as part of the broader goals of sustainable development. It is now being increasingly recognized that the integration of green practices is crucial to sustainable technological development and the economic competitiveness of current society as well as that of future generations.

A number of important and widely practiced industrial processes such as case hardening, plating, casting, brazing, soldering, chemical vapor deposition, organic coatings, and numerous others involve consumption or release of harmful ingredients that are injurious to both human health and the environment. All such processes and technologies are candidates for a careful reassessment of the efficiencies and structural changes that could potentially make such processes sustainable. A classic example of sustainable practices is the abolition of lead in electrical and electronic assemblies and in public utility systems owing to the possibility of water and food contamination with extremely serious consequences to human health and the environment. Major initiatives in Europe, North America, China, Korea, and elsewhere have either banned or strictly limited lead use. Major global initiatives are currently in progress to develop green substitute materials for lead and similar hazardous and/or scarce metals and materials. Critical materials including rare earths have a major economic and strategic importance, but they are limited in supply. New materials need to be developed in an environmentally conscientious manner to offset the dependence of naturally occurring critical and strategic materials.

Another focus area of sustainable development involves component weight reduction by use of light materials (foams, magnesium, and titanium) with high specifi...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Contributors
• Preface
• Part I: Material Conservation, Recovery, Recycling and Reuse
• Part II: Sustainable Manufacturing—Metallic Materials
• Part III: Sustainable Manufacturing—Ceramic Materials
• Part IV: Sustainable Manufacturing—Polymeric and Composite Materials
• Author Index
• Subject Index