The interest in the environmental impacts as well in the ecological footprint (e. g. CO2) of materials is not only becoming more and more prevalent but also more urgent from the political and social spheres. In contradiction to this, so far there have been only few to no studies or life cycle assessment (LCA) for the Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMC) which are energy- and resource-intensive in the manufacturing process.

This presentation deals with the determination of the ecological optimization potential of the CMC manufacturing process considering the correlation of process and properties (Life Cycle Inventory). The combination of classical LCA and multi-criteria analysis is used to identify and illustrate the impact of process parameter changes on environmental impact indicators and material performance. To be able to effect changes in the process parameters regarding the reduction of resource and energy consumption, the process steps – including the material behavior – must be understood in detail. For this purpose, in-situ experiments are carried out using a heating stage in an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). In this way, CMC processing can be evaluated at the microscopic level and starting points for saving resources can be identified. Furthermore, the in-situ characterization provides additional data for the development of digital models of CMC processing. Digital process models are used in this case to enable resource and energy savings with the help of digital optimization.

To summarize, the combination of LCA, multi-criteria analysis and the digitalization of CMC manufacturing makes it possible to identify system correlations and synergy effects along the whole CMC manufacturing process which can lead to a more sustainable CMC production.