@article{60885,
  abstract     = {{To reduce transport-related environmental impacts, innovative mobility system approaches such as on-demand services are being developed. These can include operating vehicles that differ regarding their characteristics and application profile from privately owned cars in motorized individual transport. Studies on life cycle assessment and life cycle engineering of vehicle lightweight structures are mainly limited to these privately owned cars and the impact category of climate change. In this paper, a method for life cycle assessment-based engineering of lightweight structures in vehicles for various mobility system applications, including on-demand mobility services, is developed. The method enables the holistic life cycle assessment of lightweight structures in different mobility system applications considering parameter changes at the upstream products, component, subsystem, vehicle and mobility system levels, as well as the integration of results into engineering activities. A case study is used to show that the vehicle and mobility system application of lightweight structures can significantly influence their environmental impacts and the selection of ecologically preferable product designs. The application in vehicles for on-demand mobility services can lead to an increase in absolute use stage energy demand and environmental impacts compared to applications in privately owned vehicles for motorized individual transport. However, normalized to the transport performance provided, the lifecycle environmental impacts of structural components in vehicles for on-demand mobility services can be lower than in vehicles for motorized individual transport. The paper contributes methodically and with quantitative results to improved decision making in life cycle engineering activities for lightweight structures in mobility system applications.}},
  author       = {{Ostermann, Moritz and Dierkes, Eric and Marten, Thorsten and Tröster, Thomas}},
  issn         = {{2666-7908}},
  journal      = {{Cleaner Engineering and Technology}},
  keywords     = {{Life cycle assessment, Life cycle engineering, Lightweight design, On-demand mobility, Shared mobility, Mobility services}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier BV}},
  title        = {{{Life cycle engineering of lightweight structures in vehicles for on-demand mobility services}}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.clet.2025.101058}},
  volume       = {{28}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}

@article{43464,
  abstract     = {{<jats:p>Lightweight design is a common approach to reduce energy demand in the use stage of vehicles. The production of lightweight materials is usually associated with an increase in energy demand, so the environmental impacts of lightweight structures need to be assessed holistically using a life cycle assessment. To estimate the life cycle environmental impacts of a product in its developmental stage, for example, by life cycle engineering, future changes in relevant influencing factors must be considered. Prospective life cycle assessment provides methods for integrating future scenarios into life cycle assessment studies. However, approaches for integrating prospective life cycle assessment into product development are limited. The objective of this work is to provide the methodological foundation for integrating future scenarios of relevant influencing factors in the development of lightweight structures. The applicability of the novel methodology is demonstrated by a case study of a structural component in a steel, aluminium, and hybrid design. The results show that appropriate decarbonisation measures can reduce the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 95 percent until 2050. We also found that shifts in the environmentally optimal design are possible in future scenarios. Therefore, the methodology and data provided contribute to improved decision-making in product development.</jats:p>}},
  author       = {{Ostermann, Moritz and Grenz, Julian and Triebus, Marcel and Cerdas, Felipe and Marten, Thorsten and Tröster, Thomas and Herrmann, Christoph}},
  issn         = {{1996-1073}},
  journal      = {{Energies}},
  keywords     = {{Life Cycle Engineering, Life Cycle Assessment, Lightweight Design, Prospective LCA, Future-oriented LCA, Energy System, Material production, Sustainable production}},
  number       = {{8}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  title        = {{{Integrating Prospective Scenarios in Life Cycle Engineering: Case Study of Lightweight Structures}}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/en16083371}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}

@inproceedings{44154,
  abstract     = {{<jats:p>Abstract. Due to an increasing volume of shipments, there is a significant need for more delivery vehicles. One approach to reduce the associated increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is a new light weight design approach involving the substitution of conventional materials with glass fiber mat-reinforced thermoplastics (GMT) based on polypropylene (PP). The application of GMT by compression molding is a widely used process in the automotive industry. However, application in the commercial vehicle sector requires much larger dimensions, making it necessary to clarify whether the manufacturing process and material are suitable for semi-structural applications on this scale. To find this out, two replacement geometries are abstracted in this study and manufactured by varying the main manufacturing parameters. The feasibility can be demonstrated by recording and analyzing the resulting process variables and measuring the formed fiber distribution. At the end of the paper, recommendations are given for the production of GMT structures on the scale of commercial vehicles. </jats:p>}},
  author       = {{Lückenkötter, Julian and Leimbach, J.P. and Stallmeister, Tim and Marten, Thorsten and Tröster, Thomas}},
  booktitle    = {{Materials Research Proceedings}},
  issn         = {{978-1-64490-247-9}},
  keywords     = {{Compression Molding, Fiber Content, Process Development, Lightweight Design}},
  location     = {{Krakow, Poland}},
  pages        = {{249--258}},
  publisher    = {{Materials Research Forum LLC}},
  title        = {{{Feasibility Study of Compression Molding for Large Reinforcement Structures in the Commercial Vehicle Sector}}},
  doi          = {{10.21741/9781644902479-27}},
  volume       = {{28}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}

@article{45782,
  abstract     = {{<jats:p>The development of automotive components with reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is needed to reduce overall vehicle emissions. Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) supports this by providing holistic information and improvement potentials regarding eco-efficient products. Key factors influencing LCAs of automotive components, such as material production, will change in the future. First approaches for integrating future scenarios for these key factors into LCE already exist, but they only consider a limited number of parameters and scenarios. This work aims to develop a method that can be practically applied in the industry for integrating prospective LCAs (pLCA) into the LCE of automotive components, considering relevant parameters and consistent scenarios. Therefore, pLCA methods are further developed to investigate the influence of future scenarios on the GHG emissions of automotive components. The practical application is demonstrated for a vehicle component with different design options. This paper shows that different development paths of the foreground and background system can shift the ecological optimum of design alternatives. Therefore, future pathways of relevant parameters must be considered comprehensively to reduce GHG emissions of future vehicles. This work contributes to the methodological and practical integration of pLCA into automotive development processes and provides quantitative results.</jats:p>}},
  author       = {{Grenz, Julian and Ostermann, Moritz and Käsewieter, Karoline and Cerdas, Felipe and Marten, Thorsten and Herrmann, Christoph and Tröster, Thomas}},
  issn         = {{2071-1050}},
  journal      = {{Sustainability}},
  keywords     = {{prospective LCA, life cycle engineering (LCE), lightweight design, automotive components, body parts, circular economy, steel, aluminum, hybrid materials, fiber metal laminates}},
  number       = {{13}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  title        = {{{Integrating Prospective LCA in the Development of Automotive Components}}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/su151310041}},
  volume       = {{15}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}

@inbook{22930,
  abstract     = {{Self-piercing riveting is an established technique for joining multi-material structures in car body manufacturing. Rivets for self-piercing riveting differ in their geometry, the material used, the condition of the material and their surface condition. To shorten the manufacturing process by omitting the heat treatment and the coating process, the authors have elaborated a concept for the use of stainless steel with high strain hardening as a rivet material. The focus of the present investigation is on the evaluation of the influences of the rivet’s geometry and material on its deformation behaviour. Conventional rivets of types P and HD2, a rivet with an improved geometry made of treatable steel 38B2, and rivets made of the stainless steels 1.3815 and 1.4541 are examined. The analysis is conducted by means of multi-step joining tests for two material combinations comprising high-strength steel HCT70X and aluminium EN AW-5083. The joints are cut to provide a cross-section and the deformation behaviour of the different rivets is analysed on the basis of the measured changes in geometry and hardness. In parallel, an examination of the force-stroke curves provides further insights. It can be demonstrated that, besides the geometry, the material strength, in particular, has a significant influence on the deformation behaviour of the rivet. The strength of steel 1.4541 is seen to be too low for the joining task, while the strength of steel 1.3815 is sufficient, and hence the investigation confirms the capability of rivets made of 1.3815 for joining even challenging material combinations.}},
  author       = {{Uhe, Benedikt and Kuball, Clara-Maria and Merklein, Marion and Meschut, Gerson}},
  booktitle    = {{Forming the Future - Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on the Technology of Plasticity. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series.}},
  editor       = {{Daehn, Glenn and Cao, Jian and Kinsey, Brad and Tekkaya, Erman and Vivek, Anupam and Yoshida, Yoshinori}},
  keywords     = {{Self-piercing riveting, Lightweight design, Deformation behaviour, Stainless steel, High nitrogen steel}},
  pages        = {{1495--1506}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  title        = {{{Self-Piercing Riveting Using Rivets Made of Stainless Steel with High Strain Hardening}}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/978-3-030-75381-8_124}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}

@inproceedings{24395,
  abstract     = {{In the field of lightweight design by composites, the V-Model forms the basis of inter- and
transdisciplinary collaboration and research of 13 doctoral students from different disciplines, i. e.
engineering, sciences and social sciences. The technological challenges of the research college itself
and the V-Model as an approach for addressing these challenges are introduced. Within the
cooperation of the young researchers, a technology demonstrator was produced. On the one hand this
can be seen as demonstrator for the different technologies which are addressed by individual research
and on the other hand for the interdisciplinary collaboration itself. Exemplary, this technology
demonstrator is presented as one result of the research group and the challenges of the
interdisciplinary collaboration while producing it are pointed out.}},
  author       = {{Weiß, Borkowski and Ilona, Horwath and Berscheid, Anna lena and Fischer, Silvia Dohmeier and Tröster, Thomas}},
  keywords     = {{Lightweight Design, Composites, Interdisciplinarity, Transdisciplinarity, V-Model.}},
  location     = {{Valencia, Spain}},
  title        = {{{NEW APPROACHES IN LIGHTWEIGHT DESIGN: V-MODEL OF LIGHTWEIGHT DESIGN BY COMPOSITES AS AN APPROACH OF INTER- AND TRANSDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH}}},
  doi          = {{Weiß-Borkowski, N.; Horwath, I.; Berscheid, A.-L.; Tröster, T. (2018)}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}

@inproceedings{24468,
  abstract     = {{Inter- and transdisciplinary research are new demands in Higher Education. Aiming to enhance the social relevance, usability and sustainability of technological products and solutions, society and public institutions such as research funding organizations increasingly expect engineers to include inter- and transdisciplinary approaches into the development of new technologies. Engineering research and education, however, are particularly challenging areas to realize inter- and transdisciplinary collaborations, for manifold reasons.
This contribution presents methods and results of an inter- and transdisciplinary research and education strategy designed to meet the particular requirements of engineers and engineering students. It starts with a brief discussion of typical challenges regarding inter- and transdisciplinary approaches in engineering (research topics, research culture, skills, time, and barriers of lay people to involve in technology development). Secondly, it presents the methods developed to overcome those challenges within the context of the NRW Fortschrittskolleg "Light - Efficient - Mobile" (FK LEM). Founded in 2014, the FK LEM is a PhD programm focuses on lightweight construction, but with a special emphasis on how lightweight technologies are connected to different areas of society, to societal actors and technology users, and to the needs of a diversity of social groups. In order to explore these connections, we organized three workshops to bring public service, civil society, industry, practitioners and engineers together to discuss the perceived needs in those areas, and the potential of lightweight solutions. Topically, the workshops were dedicated to the fields of Rescue & Security Services; Care, Mobility & Assisted Living; and Sustainable Ressources & Climate Protection. Methodologically, we applied a pragmatic but valid approach to focus groups and discourse analysis. Results of the workshops in terms of directions for future research, epistemological and ethical dimensions of lightweight engineering are presented in the third part of our contribution. Finally, we discuss how our method and experience can be transferred into other engineering and educational contexts. With other words, how empowering students, engineers and the public to involve in inter- and transdisciplinary engineering processes can be achieved, and how this empowerment supports the development of innovative technologies as well as engineers’ skills to design technology in line with societies’ needs and challenges.}},
  author       = {{Horwath, Ilona and Dohmeier-Fischer, Silvia and Weiß-Borkowski, Nathalie and Tröster, Thomas}},
  booktitle    = {{INTED2018 Proceedings}},
  keywords     = {{Lightweight Design, Interdisciplinarity, Transdisciplinarity, Higher Education, Research Methods}},
  title        = {{{FROM EMPOWERMENT TO INNOVATION: INTER- AND TRANSDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH METHODS IN LIGHTWEIGHT ENGINEERING}}},
  doi          = {{10.21125/inted.2018.1651}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}