Computer aided design for disassembly: a destructive approach

Abstract

Re-using manufactured goods by recycling material and parts is becoming increasingly important, especially in industrialized societies where natural resources needed to manufacture goods are becoming scarcer. As a result, significant efforts are made to design goods for easy recycling after their intended lives. This broad design paradigm, often called design-for-environment (DFE), has been approached in a variety of ways; design-for-recycling (DFR), life-cycle analysis, and design-for-disassembly (DFD) are a few examples. The current research concerns the DFD approach as applied to DFE. This paper presents an overview of a detailed DFD method. An algorithm that can be readily tied into a CAD system. Some implementation issues and an evaluation of the effectiveness of the DFD method currently employed are explained. Even though this research is still in its early stages, the paper presents a general framework of DFD methodology which may be utilized as an effective tool for DFE.