Ambiguities in Decision-oriented Life Cycle Inventories: The Role of Mental Models and Values
Shows for the first time how mental models and values influence this attribution in the life cycle inventory step of LCA. One of the key findings is that the different management rules for a sustainable use of materials must be taken into account for the attribution of material and energy flows to a product. Otherwise, improvement options recommended by an LCA might turn out to even worsen the environmental situation if reassessed from a meta-perspective. As a consequence of this book, the claim of unambiguitiy (‘objectivity’) of the life cycle inventory must be abandoned. A group-model building process for LCA is developed that allows one to grasp the decision makers' mental models and values in the inventory analysis on a case- and situation-specific basis. Only by this, LCA results will become relevant in a decision-making process. Two case studies on the modelling of recycling and other end-of-life options of aluminium windows and beech wood railway sleepers in LCA complement the methodological part.
Advanced Methods in Material Forming
The book contains the most relevant papers presented in the International Conference on Materials Forming, ESAFORM 2005. The list below presents some of the most successful minisymposia of the conference: - New and advanced numerical strategies in forming process simulation; - Sheet metal forming technologies and modeling; - Anisotropy and formability of materials; - Polymer processing and modeling; - Composite forming technologies and modeling; - Superplastic forming. This volume gathers selected plenary and keynote papers presented in the conference, offering an up-to-date synthesis of the academic and industrial research in the fields of physical and numerical modeling of materials forming processes. The book is useful for the doctoral fellows, scientists and engineers involved in various domains of materials processing technology.

