A Disassembly Planning and Optimisation Methodology for Design

This research began as a result of the increasing concern regarding the growing quantities of waste which arise from both white and brown goods as well as computer and office equipment. It was felt that ways needed to be found to deal with these types of products when they reached their end of life in order that the quantities going to landfill could be reduced. This meant not only examining ways to recycle these products but also finding methods which could be used to influence the way the products were designed. This thesis presents the work which was carried out to devise a methodology which could be used at various stages in the product life cycle to enable the disassembly and recycling of products to be planned and optimised effectively. Much of the work behind this methodology involved physical disassembly of a variety of products as well as discussions with designers in a number of different companies. The practical nature of much of the work enabled the methodology to be tested on a variety of products ensuring that it was applicable and useful to industry. The result of this work is a number of methods which can be applied separately or as part of the whole methodology. These enable the disassembly time of a product to be calculated in order that its disassembly and recycling can be planned and optimised; assist designers by providing design guidelines for disassembly and recycling; and also enable designs to be assessed for conformance to design for disassembly criteria. The methodology acts as a useful tool to ensure that products will be made attractive in the future for recycling and so reducing the future quantities of waste arising form these product sectors. The thesis presents all the work as described above and illustrates it clearly with a number of case studies. These case studies enable an understanding to be reached on the application of the methodology in a commercial environment.

Where to find

Can obtain a copy from the British Library (UK) or from the author Dr Tracy Bhamra, School of Industrial & Manufacturing Science, Cranfield Univeristy, Cranfield, Bedford, MK43 0AL,UK. t.bhamra@cranfi