Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/267914 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 114
Publisher: 
Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute for Technology and Innovation Management (TIM), Hamburg
Abstract: 
Lightweight design is regarded as a technological approach to engineer products in a more energy and material efficient- and, therefore, resource-saving way. In this sense, high-tech multi-materials, also referred to as composites, have become very popular for many decades due to their adaptability of material characteristics as well as high specific mechanical properties. However, composites in particular have also challenging characteristics, for example in the end-of-life of a product, as they cannot be recirculated in a typical material stream, or can only be recycled to a very limited extent (also known as 'downcycling'). Alongside a common product lifecycle, we therefore describe challenges and constraints of ecological lightweight design and underpin the identified issues using semi-structured interviews with experts from the lightweight industry. We further approach the topic through the theoretical lens of frugal engineering, which critically evaluates and reduces the effective features and performances needed for an innovation thus resulting in more affordable and sustainable outcomes. Arguably, frugality might play a decisive role in ecological material transition as technology-driven innovation paradigms in search for the best material are substituted by more use case oriented engineering principles in search for the most suitable material.
Subjects: 
Lightweight
composites
sustainability
product lifecycle
frugal innovations
frugalengineering
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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