Sustainable and green manufacturing options of fiber reinforce composites
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Because of the major benefits of carbon fiber reinforced composites (CFRC), including strength-to-weight ratio (light weight), superior mechanical properties, prolonged service life, low maintenance, and high corrosion, creep and fatigue resistance, these materials have been extensively studied worldwide for over three decades. Nevertheless, sustainability and green manufacturing possibilities of the CFRCs have not been investigated much in different manufacturing industries (e.g., aerospace, wind energy, defense, automotive and ship). Carbon fibers are highly expensive materials owing to the production costs, and lack of easy manufacturing options. These issues mainly force several manufacturing companies to recycle and reuse the CFRCs in the same or different manufacturing industries. Green manufacturing is also important manufacturing option for those companies to reduce the amount of waste and pollution from carbon fibers and their manufacturing by minimizing the available sources, as well as gas, liquid and solid emissions. This study deals with the sustainable, green manufacturing and re-manufacturing options of composite materials, and their environmental and health benefits and impacts. The sustainability and green manufacturing issues on laminate and honeycomb composites, new product design and developments and potential solutions for the manufacturing industries were also addressed.