Environmental impact assessment of a sample of Maraging 300 steel using subtractive manufacturing for the aerospace industry

• Grant number: 19/24990-6
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): August 01, 2020
• Effective date (End): July 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Aerospace Engineering
• Principal researcher: Julian Arnaldo Avila Diaz
• Grantee: Felipe Stringa Moreira
• Home Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus Experimental São João da Boa Vista. São João da Boa Vista , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The maraging steel was designed in the 50´s seeking to produce a steel for rocket engine envelopes for large sizes. Thus, this steel depicts ultra-high mechanical resistance (1800 - 2200 MPa) and high mechanical toughness. Therefore, this steel can be applied in the aerospace and telecommunication industries. The current subtractive processes accept the application of this steel in landing gears of big planes, injection moulding dies and parts in the nuclear plants. Even though this steel exists several years ago in the market, and their metallurgical understanding well-stablished, few is known about the environmental impacts in the part fabrication. This study aims to assess the environmental and production impacts of the subtractive manufacturing (SM) of Maraging 300 steel parts. The environmental impacts will be conduct using the life cycle assessment (LCA) and a cradle-to-gate approach. We expect to depict the main environmental factors regarding the parts fabrication using SM, since the raw material and parts machining, and suggest alternatives to improve the environmental performance of this process and suggest alternatives for environment improvement.