IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i7p3188-d1627580.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the Aerospace Industry Regarding Aviation Seat Frame Options

Author

Listed:
  • Yusra Hasan

    (School of Engineering, Thornbrough Building, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada)

  • Ishak Hasan

    (School of Engineering, Thornbrough Building, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada)

  • Amir A. Aliabadi

    (School of Engineering, Thornbrough Building, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada)

  • Bahram Gharabaghi

    (School of Engineering, Thornbrough Building, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada)

Abstract

The aerospace industry is actively seeking sustainable solutions within the aviation sector to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions driven by increasing population demands. This study presents the first environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) of economy-class seating frames, comparing conventional alloy steel with lightweight alternative materials, including magnesium alloy, aluminum alloy, and titanium. Seat frames account for an aircraft’s total weight, making them a critical component for innovation toward more sustainable solutions. Using SolidWorks V3.1, economy-class seat frames were designed and evaluated through a cradle-to-grave assessment of a functional unit (FU) representing the interior of a single aircraft. The analysis was conducted using SimaPro V8.4.0 with the Ecoinvent V3.10 database. The total GHG emissions associated with seat frames composed of alloy steel, titanium, aluminum alloy, and magnesium alloy were 208 kt CO 2 equivalent (eq.), 120 kt CO 2 eq, 71.1 kt CO 2 eq, and 44.9 kt CO 2 eq per FU, respectively. This study identifies alloy steel and titanium to be the most sustainable seat frame materials relative to other considered materials for commercial aircrafts.

Suggested Citation

  • Yusra Hasan & Ishak Hasan & Amir A. Aliabadi & Bahram Gharabaghi, 2025. "Comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the Aerospace Industry Regarding Aviation Seat Frame Options," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:7:p:3188-:d:1627580
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/7/3188/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/7/3188/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rosario Vidal & Enrique Moliner & Pedro P. Martin & Sergio Fita & Maik Wonneberger & Eva Verdejo & François Vanfleteren & Nieves Lapeña & Ana González, 2018. "Life Cycle Assessment of Novel Aircraft Interior Panels Made from Renewable or Recyclable Polymers with Natural Fiber Reinforcements and Non†Halogenated Flame Retardants," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(1), pages 132-144, February.
    2. Dennis Keiser & Michael Arenz & Michael Freitag & Matthias Reiß, 2023. "Method to Model the Environmental Impacts of Aircraft Cabin Configurations during the Operational Phase," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-27, March.
    3. Eduardo Cabrera & João M. Melo de Sousa, 2022. "Use of Sustainable Fuels in Aviation—A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-23, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Igor Kabashkin & Vladimir Perekrestov & Timur Tyncherov & Leonid Shoshin & Vitalii Susanin, 2024. "Framework for Integration of Health Monitoring Systems in Life Cycle Management for Aviation Sustainability and Cost Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-40, July.
    2. Tobias Mueller & Steven Gronau, 2023. "Fostering Macroeconomic Research on Hydrogen-Powered Aviation: A Systematic Literature Review on General Equilibrium Models," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-33, February.
    3. Rodrigues Dias, Veruska Mazza & Jugend, Daniel & de Camargo Fiorini, Paula & Razzino, Carlos do Amaral & Paula Pinheiro, Marco Antonio, 2022. "Possibilities for applying the circular economy in the aerospace industry: Practices, opportunities and challenges," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    4. Teresa Castiglione & Diego Perrone & Luciano Strafella & Antonio Ficarella & Sergio Bova, 2023. "Linear Model of a Turboshaft Aero-Engine Including Components Degradation for Control-Oriented Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-18, March.
    5. Diego Luna & Rafael Estevez, 2022. "Optimization of Biodiesel and Biofuel Process," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-4, August.
    6. Yu Wu & Shiting He & Qingsong Zhang & Jinxin Shi & Jiang Xie, 2023. "Evolution Game and Simulation Analysis of Disturbance Emergency Disposal of In-Flight Cabin: China Civil Aviation Security Strategy Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-24, June.
    7. Arias, Ana & Nika, Chrysanthi-Elisabeth & Vasilaki, Vasileia & Feijoo, Gumersindo & Moreira, Maria Teresa & Katsou, Evina, 2024. "Assessing the future prospects of emerging technologies for shipping and aviation biofuels: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    8. M. Mobeen Shaukat & Farhan Ashraf & Muhammad Asif & Sulaman Pashah & Mohamed Makawi, 2022. "Environmental Impact Analysis of Oil and Gas Pipe Repair Techniques Using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-11, August.
    9. Lucas Reijnders, 2022. "Defining and Operationalizing Sustainability in the Context of Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-9, July.
    10. Antonia Rahn & Kai Wicke & Gerko Wende, 2022. "Using Discrete-Event Simulation for a Holistic Aircraft Life Cycle Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-31, August.
    11. Paul Bardon & Olivier Massol & Arthur Thomas, 2025. "Greening aviation with sustainable aviation fuels : Insights from decarbonization scenarios," Post-Print hal-04874217, HAL.
    12. Vishal Ram & Surender Reddy Salkuti, 2023. "An Overview of Major Synthetic Fuels," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-35, March.
    13. Pablo Resende Oliveira & Sebastian Kilchert & Michael May & Tulio Hallak Panzera & Fabrizio Scarpa & Stefan Hiermaier, 2022. "Environmental assessment of discarded plastic caps as a honeycomb core: An eco‐mechanical perspective," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(2), pages 643-654, April.
    14. Rafael Estevez & Laura Aguado-Deblas & Francisco J. López-Tenllado & Carlos Luna & Juan Calero & Antonio A. Romero & Felipa M. Bautista & Diego Luna, 2022. "Biodiesel Is Dead: Long Life to Advanced Biofuels—A Comprehensive Critical Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-39, April.
    15. Moaaz Shehab & Kai Moshammer & Meik Franke & Edwin Zondervan, 2023. "Analysis of the Potential of Meeting the EU’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Targets in 2030 and 2050," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-20, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:7:p:3188-:d:1627580. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.