ABSTRACT
Over the last decade, significant research has been focused on demanufacturing to incorporate end-of-life considerations into the early product design stages and to develop optimal disassembly process planning algorithms (Johnson and Wang 1995; Penev and de Ron 1996; Tang et al. 2000). Case studies for recycling of computer monitors and television sets were presented (Boks et al. 1996; McGlothlin and Kroll 1995). The actions being taken by the electronics industry to automate and use robots for disassembly processes were also presented (Aqua and Dillon 1996). Group technology is used to classify products for cellular disassembly according to product use characteristics (Hentschel et al. 1995). A disassembly tool that supports environmentally conscious product design is reported (Srinivasan et al. 1997). The tool offers recommendations to product design based on four steps: product analysis, disassemblability analysis, computation of dis-assembly sequence and directions, and design rating. Demanufacturing complexity metrics and a design chart are developed to enhance the recyclability at the early design stage of a product (Lee and Ishii 1997). Disassembly sequence planning has also been addressed through time and cost indices (Li et al. 1995; Navin-Chandra 1993; Subramani and Dewhurst 1991; Suzuki et al. 1993; Tang et al. 2000). Relational structures of parts within the assembly, time, material, and regulatory database are combined with geometric CAD information for prescribed disassembly sequences (Miyamoto et al. 1996) and three-dimensional disassembly motion planning for extraction of selected components reversibly (Woo 1987; Zussman et al. 1993) and irreversibly (Lee and Gadh 1996). Gaucheron et al. (1998) proposed the global and local planning concept. Disassembly planning at the global level involves the planning of resource, reversible and irreversible methods, workflow, and tooling. The baseline estimate of dismantling time, energy, and waste flows is obtained and passed to the local planning level where the mating relationships between parts, precedence of part removal, and so on can be accounted for in terms of variation of disassembly task sequence, time, and energy. Heuristic approaches are developed and illustrated through car disassembly. Fastener planning in relation to disassembly has become a critical aspect of design for recycling and was addressed previously (VerGow and Bras 1994; Shu and Flowers 1995).
