A Robust Sustainability Assessment Methodology for Aircraft Parts: Application to a Fuselage Panel
Aikaterini A. Anagnostopoulou, Dimitris G. Sotiropoulos, Konstantinos I. Tserpes
TL;DR
The paper develops a robust cradle-to-gate sustainability assessment framework for aircraft components by integrating LCA, LCC, and multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM). It introduces a rigorous MCDM pipeline with vector normalization, five objective weighting methods, and four ranking techniques, including the novel R-TOPSIS, and validates robustness through perturbation and clustering analyses. Demonstrated on nine fuselage-panel variants, the framework consistently identifies thermoplastic CFRP configurations as the most sustainable, with geometric mean weights providing balanced consideration across environmental, economic, and performance criteria. The methodology is fully parametric and adaptable to any aircraft component with sufficient data, enabling sustainable design and procurement decisions in aviation.
Abstract
The paper presents a cradle-to-gate sustainability assessment methodology specifically designed to evaluate aircraft components in a robust and systematic manner. This methodology integrates multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) analysis across ten criteria, categorized under environmental impact, cost, and performance. Environmental impact is analyzed through life cycle assessment and cost through life cycle costing, with both analyses facilitated by SimaPro software. Performance is measured in terms of component mass and specific stiffness. The robustness of this methodology is tested through various MCDM techniques, normalization approaches, and objective weighting methods. To demonstrate the methodology, the paper assesses the sustainability of a fuselage panel, comparing nine variants that differ in materials, joining techniques, and part thicknesses. All approaches consistently identify thermoplastic CFRP panels as the most sustainable option, with the geometric mean aggregation of weights providing balanced criteria consideration across environmental, cost, and performance aspects. The adaptability of this proposed methodology is illustrated, showing its applicability to any aircraft component with the requisite data. This structured approach offers critical insights to support sustainable decision-making in aircraft component design and procurement.