1,720,970 research outputs found
Disassembly and Repairability of Mechatronic Products: Insight for Engineering Design
No full textDesigning mechatronic products requires interdisciplinary skills and as products become more complex, the design of mechatronic systems plays a critical role. To minimize waste production and pollution, a shift toward a circular economy is necessary, with mechatronic products being particularly impacted by such policies. Repairing plays a key part in achieving a circular economy. Through repairability, the product lifespan can be extended, and combined with maintenance the rate of product replacement can be reduced. Within this context, the goal of this paper is to propose a design methodology (based on the EN 45554:2020 standard) for generating and implementing eco-design rules for disassembly and repair. The methodology has four phases, the first one is the identification of target components (those that are more likely to fail during the lifespan). The second phase encompasses the experimental disassembly analysis which can be manual or virtual. The third phase is the assessment of the disassemblability index which includes the analysis of parameters that affect the disassembly phase. The last phase is the implementation of the eco-design methodology for all the components that do not meet the minimum repairability requirements. A case study of electro-mechanical ovens is presented, targeting replaceable components. The results show that the use of this framework and the eco-design actions derived from it are successful in improving the repairability of the product and increasing the disassemblability index (30% on average) through a virtual analysis. A sensitivity analysis has been conducted to study the impact of parameter weight modification. This research contributes to advancing repairability and supporting the circular economy paradigm in mechatronic product design
Eco-design guidelines takeaways from the analysis of product repairability and ease of disassembly: A case study for electric ovens
Full text linkOne of the main aspects to increase the useful life of ErP and reduce waste generation is the product repairability. Key factors in assessing the ability to repair a product are the ease of disassembly, and the use of repairability indexes (i.e., eDiM, French repairability index, RSS, etc.). The goal of this paper is to retrieve eco-design guidelines analyzing the product repairability of target components belonging to four different types of electric ovens. The analysis adopts as baseline the report of the Joint Research Centre and the European standard EN 45554. Results provide interesting insights concerning the identification of disassembly issues and the mitigation of these hotspots through eco-design guidelines retrieved by the analysis of repairability
DISASSEMBLY ANALYSIS OF GAS COOKTOPS: TOWARDS ECO-DESIGN RULES FOR PRODUCT REPAIRABILITY
No full textThe ease of disassembly and the application of repairability metrics are important in determining the ability to repair industrial products and goods (e.g., ease of Disassembly Method, Repair Scoring System, French repairability index, etc.). Increasing product repairability is a key aspect to tackle during the product development process aiming at the product lifetime extension and the reduction of industrial waste. The purpose of this work is to find eco-design actions by examining the ability to disassemble key components in different types of gas hobs. After the definition of target components, several disassembly tests were performed following the method proposed by the Joint Research Centre's report (Analysis and development of a scoring system for repair and upgrade of products) and the European standard EN 45554 (General methods for the assessment of the ability to repair, reuse and upgrade energy-related products). The Disassemblability Index of each priority part has been calculated, being able to verify that one of the factors that affect the most is the number of steps needed to remove the component. The outcomes offer interesting insights into the characterization of disassembly issues as well as for the identification of possible eco-design actions making the product repairability efficient and less costly
Eco-design of cooking appliances based on food habits and diets
No full textEnergy efficiency standards in the context of cooking appliances are an important strategy to preserve electric energy consumption and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Although successful standards and labels have been launched in many countries, the implementation of eco-design directive does have not a unique structure, energy policy and consumers understanding. The aim of this study is to describe the environmental performance of cooking appliances in real use conditions derived by the analysis of food habits and diets in EU countries. The final goal is to link cooking performance and the environmental features (i.e. energy consumptions, emissions) in different cooking conditions. The work is structured in three phases: (i) definition of recipes based on food habits in EU countries, (ii) development of energy consumption tests for each recipe, and (iii) characterization of eco-design actions considering the diet specificity. The outcome of this study provides interesting insights in the development of sustainable products for different markets as well as the definition of dedicated eco-design initiatives
LCA analysis of a freestanding cooker: Environmental assessment and comparison with other cooking appliances
No full textIn this paper a detailed life cycle analysis of a freestanding cooking appliance is presented. The work provided data collection (life cycle inventory) for a specific model of a freestanding cooker manufactured and used in the US market. Impact assessment was done using a dedicated software tool (i.e., SimaPro) to identify the most impacting life cycle phases as well as critical items that characterize each phase. Environmental impact results highlighted how the most critical aspect is related to product use due to the large consumption of electric energy, especially in a market characterized by a grid mix with a low percentage of renewable energy. The large volumes of the oven cavity and the adoption of traditional technology (e.g., electric radiant resistance) are also relevant contributions to the environmental impacts of the use phase. With respect to the manufacturing phase, the use of some specific materials in all the cooking appliances was the main reason for the highest impact, on top of these materials are the electronic components followed by metallic components which can be either made from stainless steel or carbon steel. In addition, the outcome of this work allows comparing this appliance to other cooking appliances available in the market, providing interesting insights in the development of eco-design actions
Life Cycle Analysis of a Freestanding Gas Range
No full textThe environmental consciousness of energy-related products that are necessary for everyday life is increasing due to the needs and requests for these products. This paper investigates the environmental load of a freestanding gas range, using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. The work provided data collected (life cycle inventory) for this specific model of the freestanding cooker manufactured in the European market. The impact assessment specified in this paper was elaborated using a dedicated software tool (i.e., SimaPro) to evaluate the impact of the different modules of the freestanding kitchen during the life cycle phases excluding the use phase and end-of-life. The environmental impact results show that the most critical aspect is related to the use of metal materials in the production of large items such as the cavity and body of the freestanding kitchen, on top of these materials are stainless steel and carbon steel. In addition to the manufacturing process used for these modules. The outcome of this work allows to compare this cooking appliance to other cooking appliances present on the market, providing interesting data for the development of future eco-design actions
Environmental implication of personal protection equipment in the pandemic era: LCA comparison of face masks typologies
Full text linkIn the present global health emergency, face masks play a key role in limiting the diffusion of the COVID-19 pandemic, by acting as physical barriers to avoid droplets and filtrate exhalations coming from infected subjects. Since the most widespread devices are disposable products made of plastic materials, this means that relevant quantities of fossil resources will be consumed, and huge amounts of wastes will be generated. The present paper aims to compare the environmental performances of five different typologies of face masks (i.e. 3D printed reusable mask with filter, surgical mask, filtering face-piece masks-FFPs with and without valve, washable masks), considering an average Italian use scenario and the whole mask lifecycle: materials, manufacturing processes, use, sanitization, and disposal. The Life Cycle Assessment methodology has been used to assess the environmental impacts in terms of both ReCiPe midpoints and endpoints. Reusable masks and masks with interchangeable filters could potentially contribute to improve the environmental performances in all the considered impact and damage categories. Eco-design actions can be developed starting from the study results
Challenging the engineering design process for the development of facial masks in the constraint of the COVID-19 pandemic
Full text linkThe most effective ways to mitigate the diffusion of the COVID-19 pandemic are social distancing and the use of face masks as barrier to avoid droplets and to filtrate exhalations coming from infected subjects. Currently used face masks are products developed to be used by workers, both in health care and other contexts, where their use is limited in time and the disposal scenario is properly managed. Their use in a pandemic situation can be thus considered a remedial action due to the emergency. New masks or mask families are needed based on the desirable requirements retrieved by the analysis of the current worldwide situation and covering the gap observed in the market. The present paper aims to describe the complete product development process of a new facial mask (or mask family) for a daily use on a pandemic situation. It challenges the time constraint of the COVID-19 pandemic by adopting a four-step approach and concurrent development of the first phases (definition of requirements and functional derivation). The engineering design process allows to derive two different solutions able to fulfil all the requirements (demands and wishes) of final users, by assuring high ergonomic performance, as well as environmental, economic, and social sustainability
Analysis of disassembly parameters in repairability scores: limitations for engineering design and suggestions for improvement
No full textIn the last years, new standards (e.g., the EN4555X series) and indices (i.e., RSS, eDiM,) have been published to include repairability aspects in product design. These indices are very useful in the design phase to characterize the product and to understand the ability of products to be repaired, reused, upgraded, and recycled. However, the way how these indices have been developed presents some issues that can lead to a wrong assessment/evaluation and result interpretation. This work analyses the main shortcomings encountered in the assessment of the disassembly index in the RSS score providing useful guidelines to improve them. The study has been carried out based on a set of laboratory tests and results analysis performed on cooking appliances (e.g., ovens, hobs, hoods). Nine issues related to the disassembly index have been highlighted including a focus on the impacted parameters. The work provides a useful base to enhance the studies related to product disassembly for repairability as well as to update the standard related to repairability and to make use of this index in the early phase of product design
Analysis of repairability index to improve disassemblability and serviceability in cooker hoods
No full textProduct design plays a key role in supporting the principles of circular economy and sustainability by improving the repair and disassembly capabilities of products. The EN4555X standard series provides a framework and a set of indicators to evaluate these aspects for energy-related products. This paper focuses on applying the RSS (Repair Scoring System) introduced by the EN45554 standard to kitchen ventilation systems (T-shape cooker hood models). The study investigates the reliability of the repairability index by examining the impact of assumptions made during its assessment, particularly focusing on the data and parameters used for calculations. The methodology involves four key steps: identification of index parameters, experimental analysis, sensitivity analysis (SA) through data variation, and result interpretation. The experimental analysis involves computing the RSS index for the chosen range hoods, encompassing a SA developed by varying index's parameters. Results illustrate that introducing consistent parameter variations across models leads to changes in the Disassemblability Index. However, these alterations remain consistent across all cases, preserving the overall product ranking. Nonetheless, the study also indicates that altering parameter weights may lead to changes in product rankings within the repairability score. This highlights the importance of employing uniform weights within the same product category. In conclusion, this study underscores the importance of employing consistent methodologies and weights to uphold the reliability of repairability indexes when assessing product repairability
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