Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Comparative job production based life cycle assessment of

conventional and additive manufacturing assisted investment casting
of aluminium: A case study
Chander Prakash a, Sunpreet Singh b, *, Harishankar Kopperi c, Seeram Ramakrihna b,
S. Venkata Mohan c, d
a
School of Mechanical Engineering, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, India
b
Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore
c
Bioengineering and Environmental Sciences Lab, Department of Energy and Environmental Engineering, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology,
Hyderabad, India
d
Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology Campus, Hyderabad, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Conventional investment casting (IC) process, despite being one of the highly precise manufacturing
Received 2 June 2020 processes, is suffering from key intrinsic problems, including acquisitions of the enormous resources and
Received in revised form specialized machine tools, long production runs, and dedicated workforce. However, additive
14 September 2020
manufacturing (AM) could be a viable solution to assist the IC process in dealing with the aforemen-
Accepted 14 November 2020
tioned issues as well as to refurbish its environmental sustainability. The present research work aims to
Available online xxx
compare the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of conventional and AM assisted IC processes for producing
Handling editor: Yutao Wang aluminium castings. Particularly, the emphases have been made on comparing the production cycle
times, cost, specific energy consumption, and carbon footprints. Along with this, the quality character-
Keywords: istics of as-cast aluminium specimens have been compared for conceptual validity. The results of the
Additive manufacturing study indicated that the use of AM technology has not only curbed the acquisition of the resources and
Investment casting eliminated the necessity of specialized machine tools, but also has reduced the production cycle time,
Life cycle assessment processing cost, specific energy consumption, and carbon emissions by about 19%, 93%, 70%, and 71%,
Production cost
respectively. Overall, the AM assisted IC process has been observed as a rapid, cost-effective, environ-
Production time
mentally sustainable process for the job production run.
Sustainability
Specific energy-consumption © 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction enormous engineering innovations, the conventional IC process is

In this globalized manufacturing, the provision of goods to meet
customer needs is one of the most important driving factors and
through the commercial manufacturing practices, the raw material
is transformed into useable products (Cerdas et al., 2017),
contributing a large portion of global employment. The conven-
tional investment casting (IC) process has been regarded as a
primary-manufacturing process whose roots could be traced back
to 5000 BCE. It was the era of the 2nd World War when the IC had
been firstly employed for producing aerospace and subsequently
engineering components (Jones and Yuan, 2003). Despite the
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: snprt.singh@gmail.com (S. Singh).
still suffering from several intrinsic problems, including high tool-
ing costs for producing moulding dies and wax patterns and un-
suitability for the batch and job production, runs. Furthermore,
the lead-time associated at the different stages can vary between
several weeks to months depending on availability, scheduling, and
capacity of the machine shop (Di Foggia and D’Addona, 2013). In
such circumstances, the toolmaker evaluates different mould de-
signs before committing to manufacturing as a minute error in the
design or iterations can impart a huge loss to the manufacturing
enterprise as well as unaccommodating time-consumptions
(Pattnaik et al., 2012). In (Stephens et al., 2001a), the authors
assessed the environmental burdens associated with raw material
and energy-consumption, gaseous emissions, and waste generation
of the IC process. However, the comparative analysis made with
conventional sand casting, as an alternative, didn’t provide valuable

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125164
0959-6526/© 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Please cite this article as: C. Prakash, S. Singh, H. Kopperi et al., Comparative job production based life cycle assessment of conventional and
additive manufacturing assisted investment casting of aluminium: A case study, Journal of Cleaner Production, https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.jclepro.2020.125164
C. Prakash, S. Singh, H. Kopperi et al. Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx

Nomenclature N Revolutions per minute

TAM Time for AM
AM Additive manufacturing Cm Capital cost CNC milling and wire-cut machine
CAD Computer-aided design U Unit cost of power
FDM Fused deposition modelling L: Manpower cost
GHG Greenhouse gases Fc Fuel cost
IC Investment casting C Capital cost of AM
LCA Life cycle assessment TD Time for designing
USD: United States dollar CAM Cost of AM
Ts Standard Time Mc-AM Material cost of AM
Pr Performance rating EIC Specific energy-consumption of IC in joule
Tm Time for producing metallic die Pm Power consumed in designing and developing
Tp: Time for producing injection moulding of wax metallic die
pattern Pp: Power consumed in moulding of was a pattern
Tt Time for tree formation Pt Power consumed in IC tree making
Tmd Time for ceramic moulding Pmd Power consumed in IC moulding
Tdw Time for dewaxing Pdw Power consumed in de-waxing
Tb Time for baking Pb Power consumed in baking
Tc Time for IC Pc Power consumed in metal casting
A Allowance EAM-IC Specific energy consumed in AM assisted IC in joule
Tw-edm Time for wire-arc electric discharge operations P3DP Power consumed in designing and printing of IC tree
Lw Length of the workpiece T3DP Time consumed in designing and printing of IC tree
Fz Feed rate/teeth CEIC Carbon emission during IC
Z Number of teeth Ef Emission factor of the Northern India power grid

outcomes as both classes deal with almost similar methodologies.
Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies not only enables the
manufacturing of the functional products with added value (Le
Bourhis et al., 2014); but also assist numerous conventional
manufacturing practices to strengthen the sustainability aspects of
the commercial practices. In such practices, the exact amount of
raw material to build functional parts limits the scarps production
along with lesser energy-consumption (Serres et al., 2011).
Furthermore, the parts could be directly fabricated from the
computer-aided design model, reducing the manufacturing process
durations. Along with this, studies have shown that by following
the defined rules (Adam and Zimmer, 2014), new AM methodolo-
gies are taking topological optimizations coupled with both design
requirements and manufacturing constraints to anticipate the idea
of the final part (Ponche et al., 2012). In (Kafara et al., 2017), authors
compared conventional and AM of mould cores for carbon fiber
reinforced products. The results of the study showed that the use of
the AM process has a lower environmental impact than conven-
tional manufacturing processes. The AM enables redesigning to
produce lightweight components that enhance the overall effi-
ciency and performance standards of the end-user products (Lifset,
2017). Further, this feature of the AM allows the integration of
numerous products and manufacturing processes to potentially
facilitate the ease of assembly and dismantling (Kellens et al., 2017).
Particularly, in the case of an intricate and highly complex product,
AM reduces the cost and energy consumption (Quinlan et al., 2017).
In addition to this, developing on-demand spare parts can
streamline the inventory and supply chain problems.
The AM of goods, being similar to conventional manufacturing,
consumes materials, and energy and, therefore, generates emissions
(Rejeski et al., 2018). Noticeably, AM may herald the apotheosis of
consumerism, instant gratification, and the throwaway society
instead (Olson, 2017). The assessments of AM’s environmental im-
plications are neither simple nor inexpensive due to the increasing
variety of available material, process, and location options as well as
required post-processing options. Furthermore, the inherent dis-
advantages of AM, such as high energy consumption, a slow printing
process, and limitation on the part of materials and sizes (Gutowski
et al., 2017), can be severely problematic for potential mass pro-
duction (Kellens et al., 2017). Reportedly, due to the existence of
intrinsic opportunities and challenges of AM, the appropriate
employment of this technology should be precisely brought into
practice (Ford and Despeisse, 2016). As per the available volume of
the literature on the sustainability analysis of the AM, most of the
studies focused on the electrical consumptions. As per the LCA
protocol suggested by (Le Bourhis et al., 2013), it has been found that
the studies must have designed a set of steps clearing mentioning
the goal/scope, constraints of the study, observable factors, and
finally the impact assessment. However, for any integrated AM
process, wherein the facilities are being used to subsist the con-
ventional practices must elaborate on the key insights using a
comparative analysis so that the actual worth and impact of the AM
system could be underlined.
The efficacy of manufacturing practices in terms of environ-
mental competitiveness, use of valuable resources, and production
yield have attained huge attention in recent years (Finnveden et al.,
2009). To establish a manufacturing practice, the environmental
and energy considerations need to be integrated into decisions
made by businesses, individuals, public administrations, and poli-
cymakers (Eckerberg, 2009a). Further, the knowledge database on
these aspects of different systems is needed and numerous tools for
assessing and benchmarking have been developed (Ness et al.,
2007). Amongst various tools, including life cycle assessment
(LCA), strategic environmental assessment, environmental impact
assessment, environmental risk assessment, cost-benefit analysis,
material flow analysis, and ecological footprint, the LCA is the most
widely used tool to assess the potential environmental impacts and
resources used in the product lifecycle (Klo € pffer, 2012a). Further,
the inclusive scope of LCA is useful to avoid the shifting of the is-
sues, for example from one problem/hazard to another. It has been
found that the sustainability assessment of manufactured goods or
adopted manufacturing technologies is normally possessed of
three-dimensions, including social, environmental, and economic
(Elkington and Rowlands, 1999). Therefore, the sustainability

2
C. Prakash, S. Singh, H. Kopperi et al.
assessments should be made considering all the aforementioned
life cycle perspectives to avoid shifting problems.
There have been many studies available on the systematic
integration of AM and IC process (Singh et al., 2019; Chohan et al.,
2020; Wang et al., 2019; Mustafa et al., 2020). Indeed, the AM has
not only reduced the process cycle duration, eliminating the
expensive tooling, and aid to fabricate highly complex and intricate
castings. However, there exists no study indicating the sustain-
ability of hybridizing the AM and IC process (Kakde and Tumane,
2012). The followings are the identified research gaps which have
been addressed in the present study:

Most of the available literature considered the development of
the intricate and specialized mechanical components through
the IC process by using AM technologies.

The studied LCA analysis is only limited to either AM technol-
ogies or conventional IC processes.

Further, the use of the AM technology in IC process has been
extensively studied; however, the impact of such hybridization
in-terms of production costs and production times have been
very rarely discussed in the literature.

A scant work has been reported related to investigations on
energy-consumptions and carbon emissions by using AM
assisted IC process.
2. Technical description
The IC can produce highly accurate, intricate shapes, fine im-
pressions, and tight geometrical tolerance castings of almost all
types of ferrous, non-ferrous metals, and their alloys. Generally, this
is an alternative approach to produce parts that are hard to ma-
chine. The term IC is derived from the characteristic use of mobile
ceramic slurry or investments, to form a mould with an extremely
smooth surface inside (Jones and Marquis, 1995). As compared to
forging and machining, the IC process is the best method to achieve
better dimensional accuracy of the components which benefits
ease in assembly (Barnett, 1988). The IC process starts with the
injection of the molten wax into a finely machined metal die with
the help of a wax injection machine or moulding machine. After
setting inside the die, the pattern is taken out and assembled with a
riser having pouring sprue, runner, and gate as integral parts to
form a tree-like shape. The tree is called ‘IC tree’ which is dipped
into clay and stucco/refractory coatings are performed again and
again until the desired mould thickness is attained. After this, the
ceramic mould is de-waxed to create a hollow cavity inside and
baked at 900e1000  C to increase its hot strength. Molten metal is
poured into the cavity quickly after baking and the casted part is
separated from the tree after solidification (Kalpakjian and Schmid,
2008). Complex shapes such as turbine blades, airplane parts, and
modern weapons are easy to produce by this route with additional
benefits like reliability, amortization lower tooling, safe for the
environment and design & casting versatility, etc. Despite the
benefits of IC, it is prohibitively very expensive for a job or low
volume production tasks involving: prototyping, function testing,
and customized or specialized medical implants, etc.
Till the inventions of AM techniques, the scope of IC among low
volume runs was a big question that how it is possible to lower the
cost of tooling and make this process adaptable. AM technologies
could be used to assist the IC process by making moulds and pat-
terns (Rooks, 2002). The use of AM techniques provides a unique
opportunity for cost-effective methods of IC to create new indus-
trial products, of particular importance is the cost and speed of
production. For non-wax AM patterns, two significant advantages
were identified. Firstly, the durability and strength of non-wax
3
Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx
patterns will allow the casting of thin-wall structures, which
were previously difficult due to the fragility of wax structures.
Secondly, the relatively tough non-wax patterns allow finishing
operations to be conducted to improve surface quality, which was
then transferred onto the castings. The AM process is entirely based
on 3D models generated with the help of CAD and modelling
software packages. Then the geometric information from the CAD is
split into layer/slice information and the layers or slices are grad-
ually built directly with the aid of the computer (Budzik et al.,
2010). The AM process has significantly reduced product develop-
ment time and cost reduction, human interaction, and conse-
quently the product development cycle. The AM offers several
advantages, such as:

It enables the manufacturer to create multiple, different geom-
etries in a single build.

It doesn’t require a change in tooling for the creation of different
geometries.

It doesn’t require extra skilled operator input.
Further, as regards the sustainability point of vision, Table 1
shows the comprehensive detail of various research studies dedi-
cated to LCA analyses.
2.1. Problem statement
Fig. 1 illustrates the conventional IC route, along with the
description of the various valuable resources utilization. As can be
seen from Fig. 1, the process demands a large number of resources
to turn the raw metal into a near-net shape of the final products. For
some industries, such as commercial aircraft, biomedical, and de-
fense, the requirement of the unique products is one of the major
driving forces behind exploring the alternative methods for
reducing the material and energy acquisitions, as well as to
manufacture a near-net-shape product with quality characteristics
at par with the conventional IC process. Therefore, it is believed
that the hybridization of the AM processes with conventional IC can
lead to a significant reduction in the costs, production times,
energy-consumptions, and carbon emissions. The resulting hybrid
IC process will push toward the development of unique products
that otherwise might not be cost-efficient to produce with con-
ventional IC. Further, it will be in the best interest of foundries to
develop the capability to handle hybrid IC in production quantities,
not just prototype.
However, the use of AM technologies, especially polymer-based
can help to significantly reduce the consumption of valuable re-
sources, including man-hours as well as energy-consumptions and
carbon emissions. In particular, the involvement of the AM tech-
nology eliminates the use of expensive mould making facilities, for
instance, electric discharge machining and computer numerical
control (CNC) milling machine. Apart from this, it is worth noting
that the production of a specially designed mould cavity, to start
the conventional IC process, consumes significant labor and pro-
duction times that usually delay the production schedules. How-
ever, with the use of AM technology, the requirements of such
mould making facilities will be eliminated, therefore, expedite the
production process. Not only has this, but the use of AM technology
saved the consumption of overall energy-consumption value that is
often considered as a key source of carbon emission. The observable
changes brought by the AM technology in the IC process are given
in Table 2. It can be observed that the integration of AM with IC
process can bring significantly reduced certain stages of the con-
ventional IC process. This in-turn will reduce the energy-
consumption values as well as the quantity of hazardous GHG
emissions.
C. Prakash, S. Singh, H. Kopperi et al. Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 1
A comprehensive report of the literature on LCA studies on AM.

Industry AM Technology Application Key Outcomes Ref.

Automotive Powder Bed Fusion Flywheel and Connecting Rod The application of AM showed environmental 34
improvements.
Power Electron Beam Melting Turbine It has been found that the energy consumed by the AM 21
and conventional manufacturing technology were
similar. However, the AM process has shown more
compatibility with the environmental aspects, including
a reduction in the process of waste.
Aerospace Electron Beam Melting, Fused e It has been reported that the use of AM technologies 35
Deposition Modelling, Selective helped in saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas
Beam Melting, and Direct Metal emissions.
Laser Sintering
Aerospace/ The Whole AM Class Light Wight Products It has been highlighted that the full environmental 13
Automobile/ impact of AM should cover both direct as well as indirect
Supply chain process emissions.
e Selective Laser Sintering e It has been found that the additional energy- 26
consumption can be reduced by better thermal
management.
e Selective e The pre-process planning of AM, through 27
Laser optimization, can minimize energy consumption.
Melting
Power Laser Gas Turbine Burner It has been found that the adopted AM process is an 28
Beam effective method to manufacture parts of superalloys
Melting when compared to conventional machining/
welding.

However, at the same time, the uses of a particular type of AM
technology will add-on to the manufacturing cost. Therefore, a
particular fused deposition modelling (FDM) technology has been
explored owing to its suitability of producing efficient IC patterns in
a cost-effective mean (Stephens et al., 2001b). This computer-aided
manufacturing technology has been proved helpful in eliminating
the design iterations required at the manufacturing stages while
full-proofing the conceptual design at a very early stage of the
production. As an efficient replacement of the conventional tooling,
it has the potential to save the valuable resources of the foundries.
Furthermore, the associated supply chain issues that can result in
the idling of the manufacturing process could also be efficiently
obsoleted. However, as mentioned in previous research studies
(Gutowski et al., 2017; Ford and Despeisse, 2016), the intrinsic
limitations of the FDM must not be outweighed, right away.
However, a systematic plan and efficient utility of AM can help in
understanding the real potential of the FDM technology for the IC
process.
2.2. Set objectives and constraints
The main objective of the study is to implement a polymer-
based cost-effective FDM technology to assist the conventional IC
process. Specifically, the impact of using FDM technology on the
production times and costs, energy-consumptions, and emissions
of hazardous GHG have been analyzed using the standard calcu-
lations and SimaPro software for job production. However, as the
conventional IC process itself is very complex, therefore, following
boundary constraints have been set:

Since the use of FDM based AM technology has brought signif-
icant changes in process and eliminates the die making, pro-
duction of IC patterns, IC tree formation, de-waxing, and baking
stages, therefore only these stages have been included in the
study as for all other stages, the both conventional IC and AM
assisted IC processes to utilize similar resources.

The study focused on product development by adopting a sim-
ple cubical shaped benchmark of side 30 mm.
4

The recyclable waste metallic scraps and others have not been
considered as resources since their recycling demands addi-
tional facilities and make the calculations open-ended.

Further, the observations of the production times and produc-
tion costs have been made based on the real-time calculations.
For man-hour rates, three categories have been derived,
including skilled, semi-skilled, and un-skilled manpower. Their
respective daily wages have been defined based on the common
wage-rate system adopted by the foundry society of the
Ludhiana (India) small and medium scale enterprises (SMSE) are
13.24, 10.59, and 6.62USD.

Further, the calculations of the energy-consumptions have been
made based on power rating specifications of the machine/tool
used and the real-time duration of its use in actual part
production.

The carbon emission has been calculated through the SimaPro
software, CML-IA baseline V3.05 method, by allocating the
powder grid source to Northern India. The emission factor has
been automatically controlled by the SimaPro software.

Apart from the LCA analysis, the mechanical characteristics of
the conventional and AM assisted IC parts have also been
examined to understand the efficacy of the later in comparison
to the former.

The procurement, transportation, and installation costs have not
been included in the study.
2.3. Experimental data
This section has been divided into two sub-sections containing
the information regarding the involved procedural steps and the
observed measurable characteristics.
2.3.1. Procedural steps
In the present study, two different sets of experiments have
been performed by adopting the conventional and AM assisted IC
process. The various stages of the conventional and AM assisted IC
process have been defined to describe the key differences involved
in both processes. As can be seen from Fig. 2, in the case of
C. Prakash, S. Singh, H. Kopperi et al. Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 1. Energy-consumption and resource acquisition in the conventional IC process.

Table 2
Benefits of using AM technology in IC process.

Stages Key Changes Remarks, if any

Eliminating Expediting Reducing

Expensive Resources Production Times Production Cost

Raw material ✓ ✓ ✓ Additional cost in-terms of the AM feedstock will be incurred

Die making ✓ ✓ ✓ The expensive moulding die as well as its processing facilities will not be required as the IC
patterns can be directly produced using the AM process
Production of IC ✓ ✓ ✓ The expensive injection moulding facility will not be required as the IC patterns can be directly
patterns produced using the AM process
IC tree ✓ ✓ ✓ The whole IC tree unit will be fabricated by the AM technology in one go
formation
IC moulding    No change
De-waxing ✓ ✓ ✓ The de-waxing stage will be eliminated.
Baking    The autoclaving of the ABS tree will be carried out along with baking
This step will be common between conventional and AM assisted IC process
Casting    No change

5
C. Prakash, S. Singh, H. Kopperi et al.
Fig. 2. Procedural steps: Conventional IC vs. AM assisted IC.
conventional IC process, for producing a mould cavity to produce
the sacrificial IC wax patterns expensive capital equipment, such as
wire-cut electric discharge machine and CNC milling machine
setup have been required. Along with this, the production of the
mould die takes a lot of time as well as manufacturing cost
depending on the scheduling and availability of the facilities.
However, the actual IC sacrificial wax pattern has been produced in
the following stage where another injection moulding facility has
been utilized. However, in comparison, the use of AM technology
provided a cost-effective and rapid means for the direct production
of the sacrificial pattern and tree. Moving-on, the moulding of the
6
Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx
IC mould has followed the same procedure. However, de-waxing
stage of the conventional IC process has been eliminated in AM
assisted IC process by following the autoclaving directly along with
the baking stage. The casting of the molten metal has been carried
out in a way similar to both routes.
2.3.2. Inventory and recorded data
This section provides information regarding the various in-
ventory and recorded data at the various stages, along with the
capital costs. The man-hours have been calculated by using the
digital stop-watch, while the per task manpower costs have been
C. Prakash, S. Singh, H. Kopperi et al. Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx

calculated based on the recommended skill level of the work-force

required as well as the time incurred for completing the particular Lw
Tm ¼ (5)
activities. Table 3 shows the inventory and recorded data required Fz  Z  N
for calculating the production times and costs, energy-
consumptions, and carbon emissions. The inventory data has been where, Lw, Fz, Z, and N are the length of the workpiece, feed rate/
prepared using the quotes available at the workplace, Saini Precision teeth, number of teeth, and revolutions per minute. Further, in the
Casting Pvt. Ltd. (Punjab, India). case of AM assisted IC process, the Tpct has been given in Eq. (6):
The cost of the material and the machine tools, available in In- X
dian currency, has been converted into USD by considering the Tpct ¼ ððTAM  Pr Þ þ AÞ þ ððTmd  Pr Þ þ AÞ þ ððTb  Pr Þ þ AÞ
average conversion factor as 0.013. þ ððTc  Pr Þ þ AÞ
(6)
2.4. Calculations
where, TAM is the time taken by the AM system for preparing an IC
2.4.1. Production cycle time and cost estimation
tree and pattern. Further, this time consists of the time consumed
The total production cycle time for manufacturing a unit prod-
for designing the required models and actual printing time. Moving
uct through the conventional IC process has been calculated
on the comparative unit production cost incurred in the conven-
through the summation of per stage activity-based standard time
tional and AM assisted IC process, Eqs. (7) and (9) have been used,
(Ts), as given in Eq. (1). Further, the Ts has been calculated by
respectively, for the cost estimations:
considering the allowance factor as 10%, refer Eq. (2). The normal
time associated per activity at different stages has been calculated ði
by using Eq. (3).
CIC ¼ Cost associated in various step (7)
ði 0


Total Production cycle time Tpct ¼ Standard Time of step Eq. (7) can be further broken down to:
0
X      
(1) CIC ¼ Cm þ Tm U þ L þ Tp ðU þ LÞÞ þ Tt U þ L
         
Standard time ðTs Þ of step or process ¼ Normal time  þ Tmd  L þ Tdw U þ L þ þ Tb FC þ L þ
  
þ Allownce (2)  Tc U þ L
(8)
Normal time ¼ Actual time  Performance rating ðPr Þ (3)
In Eq. (1), ‘i’ is the number of steps included in the process. where, Cm, U, L, and Fc are the capital costs of the machine tools
While in Eq. (3), the Pr has been considered as 105, 110, and 120 for (CNC milling and wire-arc electric discharge machining) used for
unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled manpower. The Tpct in Eq. (1) the producing metallic die, unit cost of power, manpower cost, and
can be further written as the following equation: fuel cost, respectively.
X

 
Tpct ¼ ððTm  Pr Þ þ AÞ þ Tp  Pr þ A þ ððTt  Pr Þ þ AÞ þ ð ði
CAMIC ¼ CAM þ Cost associated in various step (9)
 ðTmd  Pr Þ þ AÞ þ ððTdw  Pr Þ þ AÞ þ ððTb  Pr Þ þ AÞ
0
þ ððTc  Pr Þ þ AÞ
Eq. (9) can be further broken down to:
(4)
X     
where, Tm, Tp, Tt, Tmd, Tdw, Tb, Tc, and A are the time taken for pro- CAMIC ¼ C þ TD U þ L þ McAM þ CAM U þ L þ
ducing the metallic die, injection moulding of wax pattern, tree         
 Tmd U  L þ Tb FC þ L þ Tc U þ L
formation, ceramic moulding, de-waxing, baking, IC, and allow-
ance, respectively. The Tm is the further consisting of die designing (10)
time (Td) and machining time of CNC milling (Tm) and wire-arc
electric discharge operations (Tw-edm). The Tm has been calculated where, C, TD, CAM, and Mc-AM are the capital cost of FDM printer and
using Eq. (5). CAD software, design time, and cost of AM, respectively.
Table 3
Inventory and recorded data of conventional and AM assisted IC.

Stage Cost (USD) Process time (hr) Energy (KWh)

Material Machine Tool Manpower Consumables

Conventional IC Process

Die Making 1.59 59584.34 17.88þþþ 92.69 8.5 200.3

Production of IC pattern 0.048 1324.10 0.67þ e 0.33 0.34
IC tree formation 0.30 26.48 0.45þþ e 0.33 0.021
De-waxing e 264.82 0.66þþ e 0.5 0.4
Baking 25.82 1059.28 0.66þ e 0.5 5
AM assisted IC Process
IC pattern and tree formation 6.36 3972.29 6.62þþþ e 7 2.8
Autoclaving and baking 25.82 1059.28 0.66þ e 0.5 5

Note: þ, þþ
, and þþþ
signify unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled manpower.

7
C. Prakash, S. Singh, H. Kopperi et al. Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx

2.4.2. Specific energy-consumptions
To highlight, the common steps included, such as IC moulding
and metal casting, have not been included in calculating the specific
power consumption. In the case of conventional IC process, the high
specific energy-consumption corresponds to the followings:

Machining of the metallic die:
CNC vertical milling machine V350 (make: TAL, power sup-
ply: 11.5 KW)
Wire-cut electric discharge machining ECOCUT (make:
Electronica, power supply: 8.8 KW)

Injection moulding of a wax pattern (make: SRS JEWELKON,
power supply: 1 KW)

Soldering machine (make: Auro Plus, power supply: 0.045 KW)

IC tree formation (customized, power supply: 1.02 KW)

De-waxing (customized, power supply: 0.8 KW)

Baking (customized, fuel: diesel 60lt/hr, power: 10 KW)
Further, the specific energy-consumption of AM assisted IC
process depends on the followings main sources:

Sacrificial ABS based IC pattern:
FDM i250D (make: Divide by Zero, power supply: 0.7 KW)

Baking (customized, fuel: diesel 60lt/hr, power: 10 KW)
The specific energy consumption of conventional and AM
assisted IC process has been calculated by using Eqs. (11) and (12):
Tðm Tðp Tðt
EIC ¼ Pm  dt þ Pp  dt þ Pt  dt þ
0 0 0 0
Tðb Tðc
 dt þ Pb  dt þ Pc  dt
0 0
where EIC is the specific energy-consumption in joule, Pm and Tm is
the power and time consumed in design and development of the
metallic die, respectively; Pp and Tp is the power and time
consumed in an injection of the wax pattern, respectively; Pt and Tt
is the power and time consumed in IC tree making, respectively;
Pmd and Tmd is the power and time consumed in IC mould making,
respectively; Pdw and Tdw is the power and time consumed in de-
waxing, respectively; Pb and Tb is the power and time consumed
in baking, respectively, and Pc and Tc is the power and time
consumed in metal casting, respectively.
Tð
3DP Tð
md Tðb
EAMIC ¼ P3DP  dt þ Pmd  dt þ
0 0 0 0
been calculated by using the SimaPro through allocating the power
grid of Northern India. The emission factor has been formulated by
the SimaPro, automatically, by using the software database. The
carbon emission is calculated by multiplying the emission factor to
the energy consumed by the process as per (Tan et al., 2019). The
total carbon foot emission has been calculated by using Eq. (13):
CEIC ¼ Ef  Specific power consumption (13)
where Ef is the emission factor of the Northern India power grid.
3. Results
3.1. Production cycle time and cost estimation
As a result of a drastic increase in consumers’ demands, a huge
amount of resources and energy have been consumed in a
remarkably short time. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that
the production cycle times and cost acquisition per unit product
should be maintained at a minimum possible level. In case of a
production operation consuming significantly long durations of
cycle time, the energy-consumption value as well as its potential
threat to the environmental problems will also be higher. Indeed,
through technological innovations, the environmental burden of
industrial production systems could be reduced, if not possibly
eliminated. Therefore, technological innovations play an important
role in economic growth and to maintain the long-term sustain-
ability of cleaner production (Stephens et al., 2001b). Nowadays,
Tð
md Tð
dw
the primary aim of any manufacturing enterprise is to reduce the
Pmd  dt þ Pdw number of material intakes, process consumables, the involvement
0 of the multiple machines and tools along with maintaining the
hazardous emissions at minimum possible levels (Moors et al.,
2005). Furthermore, an increase in the cost and scarcity of energy
resources, saving valuable resources has attained more attention
from the policy planners (Huntzinger and Eatmon, 2009; Madan
(11) et al., 2015; Liu et al., 2019). Table 4 and Table 5 show the
comparative production time and cost estimations of the conven-
tional and AM assisted IC process, respectively.
3.2. Specific energy consumption
In the present case study, the energy-consumptions of con-
ventional and AM assisted IC processes have been presented in
Fig. 3. Manufacturing companies use a large amount of energy
through various processes (Thomas and Gilbert, 2014; Dahmus and
Gutowski, 2004). The conventional IC process is often preferred as
the only manufacturing process capable of producing components
Tðc requiring fine surface finish, complex geometries, and tight
Pb  dt þ Pc  dt dimensional tolerances. Further, the key elements which influence
the energy-consumptions in the foundry shops include the pro-
duction of the metallic die, sacrificial IC wax patterns, ceramic
(12)

where, EAM-IC is the specific energy consumed in joule, P3DP and T3DP Table 4
is power and time consumed in designing and printing of IC tree Comparative production times of conventional and AM assisted IC process.
pattern, respectively. Stages Symbol Production Cycle Times (hr)

Conventional IC AM assisted IC

2.4.3. Carbon emission and environmental impact Die Making Tm 8.5 e

Production of IC pattern Tp 0.33 7.7
In the present case study, the carbon footprints have been
IC tree formation Tt 0.33 e
calculated based on specific energy-consumptions of both con- IC moulding Tmd
ventional and AM assisted IC processes. For this, the LCA software De-waxing Tdw 0.5 e
package, SimaPro, has been used. The specific energy- Baking Tb 0.5 0.5
consumptions of both the processes have been used as the in- Casting Tc
Total Time 10.16 þ Tmd þ Tc 8.2 þ Tmd þ Tc
ventory data and the emissions of the carbon dioxide (CO2) have
8
C. Prakash, S. Singh, H. Kopperi et al. Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 5 die manufacturing and injection moulding processes consume a

Comparative production costs of conventional and AM assisted IC process. substantial amount of energy (Puffer). Within IC environment, the
Stages Cost (USD) specific energy efficiency importance has grown and now being
Conventional IC AM assisted IC
considered among other decision-making factors, including pro-
ductivity, cost, and flexibility (Lawrence Livermore National
Die Making 59696.5 e
Laboratory, 2012).
Production of IC pattern 1324.818 3985.27
IC tree formation 27.23 e Table 6 shows the comparative specific energy-consumptions of
IC moulding Cmd conventional and AM assisted IC processes. From Table 6, it has been
De-waxing 265.48 e found that the specific energy-consumption value has been reduced
Baking 185.76 185.76
by 70.07% through incorporating the AM technology in the con-
Casting Cc
Total Cost 61499.8 þ Cmd þ Cc 4171.03 þ Cmd þ Cc ventional IC process. Indeed, the substantial amount of energy-
saving corresponded to the elimination of the machine tool facil-
Note: Cmd and Cc are the cost incurred in the moulding and casting, respectively.
ities, such as CNC milling and wire-arc electric discharge machining.
Admittedly, the saving of energy consumption can be achieved in
moulding, baking, and metal casting (International Energy Agency, two ways: direct savings through lower fuel consumption and in-
2018a). The IC industry is a very energy-intensive industry and direct savings through lower material consumption.
presents more than 10% of all casting operations. Due to improper
die design, the resulting scarp could be estimated at around 15%. 3.3. Carbon emission and environmental impact
Indeed, the ceramic moulding, baking, and metal casting processes
are unavoidable. However, others can be potentially eliminated by One of the biggest side effects of the higher energy-
incorporating the benefits of AM. Following such initiatives, the AM consumptions by the manufacturing enterprises is the emission
presents an innovative manufacturing technology that can shorten of hazardous gases which put a potential threat to living beings as
the lead time, enable mass customization, and lower lifecycle en- well as noticeable natural disasters, such as global warming.
ergy. Underlining the environmental aspects, the electricity con- Particularly, in global warming, the manufacturing industries play a
sumption during IC process is the main consideration (Puffer). The significant contribution of about 30% (UNEP.Net ©, 2007). Hence,

Fig. 3. Energy acquisitions in conventional and AM assisted IC process.

9
C. Prakash, S. Singh, H. Kopperi et al. Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 6 (make: Mitutoyo, Japan; accuracy: 0.001 mm) and the deviation
Specific energy-consumption: conventional vs. AM assisted IC process. relative to the mean dimension (30 mm) has been calculated.
Stages Specific Energy-consumption (KJ) Further, the surface roughness has been measured by using Talysurf
Conventional IC AM assisted IC
Roughness Tester SJ-210 (make: Mitutoyo, Japan; accuracy:
0.01 mm). The surface hardness has been tested by using comput-
Die Making 73080 e
erized Vickers Hardness Tester (make: Quality Tech., Ludhiana, In-
Production of IC pattern 1224 10080
IC tree formation 75.6 e dia). For each test, a total of five observations have been made and
IC moulding Emd the average value has been presented in Table 8.
De-waxing 1440 e The dimensional accuracy is concerning the mean geometric
Baking 18000 18000
dimension e 30 mm.
Casting Ec
Total Specific Energy 93819.6 þ Emd þ Ec 28080 þ Emd þ Ec

Note: Emd and Ec are the specific energy-consumption in IC moulding and metal casting,
respectively.
the scientific community has suggested a measure to evaluate and
control the sustainability of the manufacturing process and to
reduce the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG), for instance, car-
bon dioxide (International Energy Agency, 2018b). Owing to this,
the research community has started analyzing the emissions of
GHG from various production processes to control these. The
analysis of carbon footprints in the hybrid manufacturing processes
is a very important issue and necessary (Khanna et al., 2020; Zheng
et al., 2018, 2020; Sivarupan et al., 2019). The quantitative input of
each studied environmental prospective has been providing in
Table 7. Further, the case study has been extended to observing the
possible threats of the both conventional and AM assisted IC pro-
cess on different environmental prospective, which include fresh
and marine water eutrophication, global warming, ozone deple-
tion, fine particulate matter formation, terrestrial acidification,
human toxicity, and fossil fuel scarcity, have relatively been studied
using the CML-IA baseline V3.05 method of SimaPro LCA tool
(Katakojwala and Mohan, 2020). On comparing both processes, it
has been found that the conventional IC process has more server
impact on all the observed categories. However, the maximum
impact of the AM assisted IC process has been observed in the case
of fossil fuel scarcity. This is mainly because the synthetic ABS
filament material used for producing sacrificial IC patterns con-
sumes a noticeable quantity of fossil fuel resources.
3.4. Mechanical characterization
To fully validate the beneficial AM technology for its potential
application in IC, the various quality characteristics of the compo-
nent produced via both the studied approaches have been
observed. Since the conventional IC process is known for producing
tight dimensional tolerance and superior surface finish, hence, it is
important to compare the dimensional accuracy and surface
roughness. Apart from this, the surface hardness of the casted
aluminium (Al-6063) sample has also been studied. The dimen-
sional accuracy has been identified with digital Vernier Calliper
4. Discussion
The conventional IC process being extremely intensive manual,
calls for a huge amount of resources. However, the statistical data
indicates that the global IC market is segregated into Europe, North
America, Asia Pacific, South America, and Middle East & Africa.
However, the North America region is projected to be the major
revenue contributor for the IC process, primarily for civil aviation
and industrial gas turbines. Further, the market in the Asia Pacific is
estimated to expand at a considerable pace during the forecast
period due to increasing government investment in the aerospace
& defense sector. The increase of the demand for IC in aerospace,
defense, automotive, industrial gas turbines, medical, engineering
machinery has driven the market in developing Asian countries.
This is expected to augment the demand for IC in these countries
from 2018 to 2026. The conventional IC process is slow and not
ideal for unit production due to the high labor, setup, and cycle
times required at various stages. Further, the process is very
manually intensive that led to inconsistent part quality. In this
section, the production cycle time and cost analysis comparison has
been made between the conventional and AM assisted IC process.
The FDM based AM process has been used therefore to reduce the
production cycle times and associated costs.
4.1. Production cycle time and cost
It can be seen that the total production cycle time, in the case of
AM assisted IC process is 19.29% lesser than the conventional IC
process. On comparing both processes, it has been found that the
total time required for the production of a metallic die for the
production of the sacrificial investment casting process is 8.5 h. It
has been found that the wire-cut electric discharge machining
operation consumed 6 h of the total time of a metallic die pro-
duction. This process is essential to convert an aluminium metallic
block into two different parts in the form of top and the bottom half
of the die. Moreover, the CNC milling operation took another 2.5 h
to produce the required cavities in the top and the bottom pieces of
the metallic die. Since the benchmark has been selected as a cubical
geometry of side 30 mm, therefore 15 mm deep square cavities
have been produced in each of the respective halves of the

Table 7
Influence of conventional and AM assisted IC process on environmental categories using CML-IA baseline V3.05/World 2000 method.

Impact category Unit AM assisted IC process Conventional IC process

Global warming kg CO2 eq. 82.2 293

Freshwater ecosystems kg 1,4-DB eq. 5.64E-11 1.52E-10
Ozone depletion kg CFC-11 eq. 4.23E-08 1.37E-07
Fine particulate matter formation Per product 4.49E-05 0.000272203
Terrestrial acidification kg 1,4-DB eq. 3.33E-08 1.37E-07
Freshwater eutrophication kg 1,4-DB eq. 5.09E-09 5.34E-08
Marine eutrophication kg 1,4-DB eq. 9.97E-13 8.46E-12
Human toxicity kg 1,4-DB eq. 0.000190107 0.001552884
Fossil resource scarcity USD2013 eq. 14.289329 18.663457

10
C. Prakash, S. Singh, H. Kopperi et al.
Table 8
Comparative properties of A;-6063 casting produced via conventional and AM-assisted IC process.
Sample Surface roughness (mm) Dimensional deviation (mm)
Conventional IC 5.53 0.25
AM assisted IC 6.02 0.84
Difference 0.49 0.59
aluminium block. On the other hand, the AM assisted IC process has
eliminated this step, therefore, saved a significant production time.
Further, the sacrificial wax patterns have been produced in 0.33hr
using the conventional tooling, whereas, in case of AM assisted
process the total time incurred to create an ABS sacrificial pattern
and IC tree is about 7.5 h, including the preparation of desired
computer-aided design models as well as printing of the same by
FDM system. Overall, the time consumed to produce physical
sacrificial patterns was 8.83 and 7.7hr for conventional and AM
assisted IC processes, respectively. Additional time-consuming
steps, such as IC tree formation and de-waxing, were eliminated
in the case of AM assisted IC process. Moving on to baking, similar
time durations have been incurred in the case of conventional and
AM assisted IC process. The baking and autoclaving of the sacrificial
ABS pattern have been carried out simultaneously. Overall, the
present case study highlighted that the use of AM is a potential
technology in cutting down the manufacturing process durations of
the IC process by expediting the production of the sacrificial pat-
terns as well as eliminating several stages which otherwise are
unavoidable (Madan et al., 2015). From Table 4, It can be seen that
the total production cost incurred in the case of AM assisted IC
process is 93.229% lesser than the conventional IC process. As
observed, the use of AM technology has brought a drastic reduction
in the production cost of a unit. It is already a fact that the hy-
bridization of the AM systems with conventional manufacturing
processes has a positive repercussion on cost-saving (Liu et al.,
2019). Further, exploiting the technology for creating sacrificial IC
patterns can make a remarkable cost reduction without compro-
mising with the quality of the end-user products. Apart from
eliminating the expensive machine tools, the use of AM technology
for creating sacrificial IC patterns also cut-down the required
manpower and other valuable resources, for instance, consumables
like electric power could also be saved.
As it has been observed that the procurement costs associated
with the AM technology and CAD software package 4000USD, only.
Apart from this, the acquisition of power and material has also been
reduced by a substantial amount. Certainly, by using the AM
technology, the supply chain and production scheduled can be
streamlines with the reduction in the input variables. The amount
of waste produced during the casting process is also believed to be
reduced drastically as the versatile AM system strengthens the
designers to produce and iterate the immature designs for several
times. However, in the case of the conventional process, no such
provision is generally available. Unlike, AM based sacrificial pat-
terns that can be used for the design analysis and verification, the
physical model in the conventional process is availed through the
metallic die. Therefore, the foundry-men have no provision of
verified the design at the early stages of the casting. In a situation
where the metallic die imperfections exist, the same undergoes
repairing work that normally includes welding, grinding, and/or
machining. Indeed, it is never beneficial as it can delay the pro-
duction schedules and impart unsustainable financial losses. Being
technical support, the AM has favored the production of the unit
production by saving the production budgets as well as reducing
the market cost. In the case of implant manufacturing, the use of
AM system with IC will not only help to maintain the specific
11
Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx
Rockwell hardness (HRB) Compression Strength (MPa)
53.3 26.1
54.2 25.8
0.9 0.3
dimensional requisites of the patient but also make the process
affordable for the general public, especially in the developing
countries.
4.2. Energy consumption
In the present case study, the specific energy consumption of the
conventional IC process has been drastically reduced by obsoleting
the various energy-consumptions involved in subtractive
manufacturing operations. Along with this, the energy consumed in
the injection moulding and de-waxing operations has also been
eliminated. Therefore, 70% of energy consumption has been saved,
directly. This energy-saving is further linked to the energy effi-
ciency of the AM assisted IC process. Therefore, it is highly rec-
ommended for the foundry industries to adopt the potential AM
technologies in solving the complex manufacturing supply chain
and production cycle of the conventional IC process. Indeed, for the
conventional IC processes, the analysis relies on the energy audit of
the machine tools during the processing. However, the energy ef-
ficiencies of the conventional facilities associated with the manu-
facture of the metallic die can further affect the specific energy-
consumption values. On the other side, the AM technology used
in the present case study is energy efficient that doesn’t only in-
crease the direct energy saving, but also contribute towards the
indirect savings by eliminating the non-essential material con-
sumptions (Salonitis and Ball, 2013).
4.3. Carbon emission and environmental impact
It has been found that the amount of CO2 emission can be
potentially reduced by 71.87% by using AM technology to obtain
sacrificial IC patterns. This observation has been made only by using
the direct energy inputs, where the in-process consumables of CNC
milling, wire-arc electric discharge machining, injection moulding,
and IC tree formation have not been considered. It is a well-known
fact that the subtractive machining operations demand various
process consumables in the form of coolants and lubrication that
also emits hazardous gases while operations. Apart from this, the
waste cutting fluids as well as scraps produced often require post-
treatment processes to recover the valuable resources also pro-
duced hazardous gaseous emission. However, in the case of AM
assisted IC process, the requirements of such process utilities and
consumables have been eliminated, therefore enhanced the envi-
ronmental sustainability of the IC process. The AM assisted process
is highly safe in-terms of all the observed environmental, therefore
increased sustainability. Regarding the observations, the major
indefensible contributor to environmental sustainability has been
identified as the power consumption and the AM assisted IC pro-
cess denoted minimal impact as the energy input in the form of
electricity was significantly lesser than conventional IC process.
The United Nation’s sustainable development goals are
encouraging the industries to undergo significant transformations
to develop and implement much appreciated environmentally
friendly practices. Although, the 21st century has witnessed
numerous such transformations, yet several existing challenges,
including globalized competition and limited resources, are
C. Prakash, S. Singh, H. Kopperi et al.
slowing down the pace of such transformations. These challenges
have motivated a transition towards a new sustainable trajectory of
AM. The AM is one of the megatrends which are shaping the sus-
tainable manufacturing transformation. The AM is one of the in-
dustrial revolutions aiming at enhancing the production
flexibilities while maintaining the material and energy acquisitions
at the minimum possible levels. Apart from this, unlike subtractive
manufacturing, the products developed through AM technologies
are associated with an almost negligible amount of manufacturing
waste. Indeed, several conceptual frameworks to explain the ben-
efits, outcomes, and effectiveness of AM processes have already
been developed, however, there exists partial evidence drawing
together such conceptual approaches to identify various attributes
essential to general, applied, and extended transitions within
established manufacturing practices, for instance, foundries. In the
present case study, the different attributes of a conventional IC
process have been studied to avail of the socio-economic benefits
through the implementation of AM technology. However, it would
not be the only sector reaping some of the possible benefits as the
exploration of the real potential of AM technology demands more
critical studies under different boundary conditions. It is believed
that the current production systems will become more sustainable,
responsive, and digitized through the proper utilization of AM.
Admittedly, the resulting new hybrid manufacturing technologies
will be geared towards the adoption of conceptual knowledge of
sustainable development, circular economy, and considerable
reduction of GHG emissions. Such a transformation will lead to
optimized and responsible operations to create supplementary
value-additions for the consumers and stakeholders. Furthermore,
AM technology will reduce the time to customers by allowing
faster, more customizable, and cost-effective operations. The in-
dustrial revolution through the emergence of digitized AM will not
only re-define the demand for products but also the way materials
and products are used. Further, on-demand and customized
manufacturing will provide avenues to alleviate supply chain
constraints, limit warehouse space, and reduce overhead costs.
Even though the disruptive trends can vary in the different
manufacturing ecosystem, however, no value chain will remain
unaffected (Westka €mper, 2008).
4.4. Mechanical properties and surface characterization
Apart from the sustainability aspects, it can be seen that the
observed surface roughness, dimensional deviation, and surface
hardness of Al-6063 obtained by using AM assisted IC process is at
par with the conventional process. This indicates that the imple-
mentation of the AM process in conventional IC has not impacted
its excellence in producing precise and tight geometrical tolerances.
As observed, there is a slight difference in the observed quality
features, but it is considered marginal.
5. Conclusions
In the present case study, an effort has been made on studying
the potential benefits of using AM technology in the IC process. In
particular, the production cycle times and costs, specific energy
consumption, and environmental impact of conventional and AM
assisted IC process has been studied for unit product
manufacturing. Based on the observations made, the following
conclusions can be drawn:
The biggest benefit of implementing AM technology in the IC
process has been observed in terms of the elimination of the various
machine tool facilities required for producing a metallic die as well
as IC sacrificial pattern. The FDM based AM technology used as an
alternative has eliminated such requirements as the sacrificial IC
12
Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx
patterns could directly be produced. This in turn has directly cut
down the production cycle duration, expensive resources, and
manpower. Whereas, the supply chain problems associated with the
production stages have been streamlined, indirectly. In quantitative
terms, the use of AM has substantially reduced the production cycle
times and associated manufacturing cost by 19.29 and 93.229%,
respectively. Further, the specific energy-consumption for unit
production has also been saved by 70.07%. Moving on to environ-
mental sustainability, it has been observed that the CO2 emission has
been reduced by 71.87% through the AM assisted IC process. More-
over, being environmentally sustainable, the various environmental
impacts studied presently have also favored the use of AM tech-
nology for the IC process. Lastly, the mechanical observations indi-
cated that the quality features of the casted component through AM
assisted IC process is at par with the conventional IC process.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Chander Prakash: Data curation, Formal analysis, Data curation,
Writing - original draft, Performed the experimentations, per-
formed the data analysis, conducted the LCA, wrote the draft of the
manuscript. Sunpreet Singh: Formal analysis, Data curation,
Writing - original draft, Performed the experimentations, per-
formed the data analysis, conducted the LCA, wrote the draft of the
manuscript, revised the manuscript. Harishankar Kopperia:
Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing - original draft, performed
the data analysis, conducted the LCA, wrote the draft of the
manuscript. Seeram Ramakrihna: Writing - review & editing,
conducted the LCA. S. Venkata Mohan: Writing - review & editing,
Writing - original draft, conducted the LCA, reviewed the draft and
pointed out the shortcomings, All authors have read and agreed to
the published version of the manuscript.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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