Disassemblability evaluation methods for supporting easy disassembly design

Abstract

This paper advocates promoting not only for material recycling through destructive dismantling but also for encouraging part and component reuse by disassembly to establish an environmentally friendly circular economy. Addressing the challenge of high disassembly costs impeding economic efficiency, an evaluation method considering economic feasibility is proposed. The concept of “Disassembly” Design Structure Matrix (DSM) is introduced as an integration of Product Architecture DSM and Process Architecture DSM. This approach aims to maximize the disassembly profits by subtracting the process costs from the removed value of parts while satisfying the constraints of the disassembly sequence. Through a case study of a coffee maker, the cost-effectiveness of reusing parts and components is examined, and a feasible disassembly order beneficial to a company is presented. Additionally, areas requiring essential design changes are identified to achieve an easy disassembly design. The Disassembly DSM framework not only provides insights into sustainable structure alternations but also serves as a guide to identify violations of the desired disassembly order that require design modifications. In this study, the cost-effectiveness of disassembly work is derived by using the proposed Disassembly DSM framework for a simplified coffee maker. It is also confirmed that this method is effective for engineering designers as it can highlight design modification points for the early removal of high value parts.