He, DiSoo, Vi KieKim, Hyung ChulCompston, PaulDoolan, Matthew2025-03-172025-03-17researchoutputwizard:a383154xPUB11078Scopus:85082192198WOS:WOS:000540609500011https://dspace-test.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/733719459The use of carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP) faces high energy consumption of carbon fibre production and a lack of recycling. Increasing the use of recycled carbon fibres (rCF) to substitute virgin carbon fibres (vCF) can improve the sustainability of the carbon fibre industry. Nonetheless, the most impactful area of CF recycling on the quality of recycled CFRP (rCFRP) is unclear. In this study, a life cycle energy analysis compares the Primary Energy Demand (PED) of an rCFRP automotive roof panel with different CF recycling methods in the pre-processing, processing and post-processing stage. Results indicate that retaining CF architecture during the pre-processing stage reduces the cradle-to-gate energy demand of an rCFRP roof panel by 26.3%. Fibre realignment in the post-processing stage leads to 11.4% higher cradle-to-gate energy consumption of an rCFRP roof panel, despite improvements in the stiffness of rCFRP. This study demonstrates the significant impact of the pre-processing and post-processing stages of CF recycling on the quality and production energy demand of rCFRP. Moreover, improvement in the architecture of rCF leads to a more significant conservation of energy during rCFRP component production than preserving the tensile properties of rCF.This study is supported by the ARC Training Centre in Lightweight Automotive Structures (project number IC160100032 ), the Australian National University and is funded by the Australian Government. The authors would like to thank Timothy Wallington and Robert De Kleine at Ford Motor Company for their comments. This study is supported by the ARC Training Centre in Lightweight Automotive Structures (project number IC160100032), the Australian National University and is funded by the Australian Government. The authors would like to thank Timothy Wallington and Robert De Kleine at Ford Motor Company for their comments.EnglishPublisher Copyright: © 2020 Elsevier B.V.Carbon fibresLife cycle energy analysisPolymer-matrix composites (PMCs)Primary energy demandRecyclingVehicle lightweighting202010.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104794http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85082192198&partnerID=8YFLogxK