Circularity in Automotive Electronics Design: A Comparative Evaluation of Headlight Control Units
Research output: Journal contributions › Conference article in journal › Research › peer-review
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In: Procedia CIRP, Vol. 135, 2025, p. 900-905.
Research output: Journal contributions › Conference article in journal › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Circularity in Automotive Electronics Design
T2 - 32nd CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering, LCE 2025
AU - Peitzmeier, Henning
AU - Tebruegge, Claas
AU - Bouattour, Ghada
AU - Seibel, Arthur
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 Elsevier B.V.. All rights reserved.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - The increasing integration of electronics in vehicles intensifies the problem of electronic waste and requires more sustainable design practices. To assess the current state of design, in this paper, a comprehensive analysis of 113 vehicle headlight Electronic Control Units (ECUs) from various manufacturers and vehicle classes based on the data from the A2Mac1 benchmarking platform is investigated. The basic product structure is summarized in a generic ECU model with averaged design properties, which can serve as a baseline for sustainability studies. In addition, the examination of the ECUs reveals advantageous and hindering design choices for circular design strategies, which are evaluated with a comparative circularity assessment. Joining methods such as rivet joints and adhesives are currently widespread, resulting in damage-free disassembly rates of 29.2 % for the housing and 25.7 % for the printed circuit board assembly. Finally, the suggestions from the 2023 proposal for the renewal of the European end-of-life vehicle regulation were applied to the ECUs examined. It was found that if the proposal is accepted, there is acute potential for action in accessibility to the printed circuit boards as all ECUs exceed the surface area limit of 10 cm2and must therefore be dismantled for recycling.
AB - The increasing integration of electronics in vehicles intensifies the problem of electronic waste and requires more sustainable design practices. To assess the current state of design, in this paper, a comprehensive analysis of 113 vehicle headlight Electronic Control Units (ECUs) from various manufacturers and vehicle classes based on the data from the A2Mac1 benchmarking platform is investigated. The basic product structure is summarized in a generic ECU model with averaged design properties, which can serve as a baseline for sustainability studies. In addition, the examination of the ECUs reveals advantageous and hindering design choices for circular design strategies, which are evaluated with a comparative circularity assessment. Joining methods such as rivet joints and adhesives are currently widespread, resulting in damage-free disassembly rates of 29.2 % for the housing and 25.7 % for the printed circuit board assembly. Finally, the suggestions from the 2023 proposal for the renewal of the European end-of-life vehicle regulation were applied to the ECUs examined. It was found that if the proposal is accepted, there is acute potential for action in accessibility to the printed circuit boards as all ECUs exceed the surface area limit of 10 cm2and must therefore be dismantled for recycling.
KW - Automotive electronics
KW - Circular design
KW - Design for Sustainability
KW - Electronic control unit
KW - Headlight control unit
KW - Engineering
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105011592444&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.procir.2024.12.096
DO - 10.1016/j.procir.2024.12.096
M3 - Conference article in journal
AN - SCOPUS:105011592444
VL - 135
SP - 900
EP - 905
JO - Procedia CIRP
JF - Procedia CIRP
SN - 2212-8271
Y2 - 7 April 2025 through 9 April 2025
ER -