Customized disassembly and processing of waste electrical and electronic equipment

A new customized disassembly and processing approach for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithms is presented. The merits of the approach include the flexibility to handle WEEE to meet various requirements of stakeholders, and the capability to optimize WEEE processing selectively. The feasibility of the approach has been verified through an industrial case of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) television WEEE processing. The case study shows that with the selective optimized plan, the potential recovery values during the disassembly process can be improved at least two times.NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Manufacturing letters. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Manufacturing letters, [9, (2016)] DOI: 10.1016/j.mfglet.2016.07.001© 2016, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/<br/

Energy consumption analysis of robot based SPIF

Part of: Seliger, Günther (Ed.): Innovative solutions : proceedings / 11th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing, Berlin, Germany, 23rd - 25th September, 2013. - Berlin: Universitätsverlag der TU Berlin, 2013. - ISBN 978-3-7983-2609-5 (online). - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:83-opus4-40276. - pp. 131–136.Production processes, as used for discrete part manufacturing, are responsible for a substantial part of the environmental impact of products, but are still poorly documented in terms of environmental impact. A thorough analysis of the causes affecting the environmental impact in metal forming processes is mandatory. The present study presents an energy consumption analysis, including a power study of Single Point Incremental Forming (SPIF) processes using a 6-axes robot platform. The present paper aims to investigate whether the fixed energy consumption is predominant or negligible in comparison to the actual forming operation. Power studies are performed in order to understand the contribution of each sub-unit towards the total energy demand. The influence of the most relevant process parameters, as well as the material being processed and the sheet positioning, with respect to the power demand are analysed

eDIM: further development of the method to assess the ease of disassembly and reassembly of products: Application to notebook computers

The goal of this research is to further develop the eDIM method based on a new application to some exemplary laptops, also referred to as notebooks, which is a product group that is under review for the Eco-design Directive. This study aims at evaluating the applicability of the eDIM method as a standardised method for the assessment of the ability to access or non-destructively remove and reassemble certain components/assemblies from products. The scope of this study is limited to non-destructive, also refered to as reversible, disassembly and reassembly for the purpose of repair, remanufacture and reuse. In addition, the method has been further revised to address comments received from different stakeholders on the technical report outlining the eDIM method and during the presentation of the “Study for a method to assess the ease of disassembly of electrical and electronic equipment”. All comments received, which will be addressed in the presented study, relate to the following main topics: - Applicability of the eDIM method to a broader range of products including small, portable electronics. - Applicability of the eDIM method for other types of connectors, such as glues requiring wedge/pry and peel actions to be released - Applicability of the eDIM method for partial disassembly, different levels of disassembly, reassembly and how to deal with the allocation of the (re)disassembly time for components that need to be disassembled sequentially. - Applicability of the eDIM method to identify potential improvements for product’s designs.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

Towards Feature-based Human-robot Assembly Process Planning

The paper proposes a generic approach to automated robotic assembly process planning. Such a novel feature-based model of the assembly process is presented which can be synthesized from the standard CAD model of the product and the description of the applicable resources. As a first step towards automated planning, the paper focuses on generating constraints that ensure plan feasibility, as well as on the formal verification of fully specified plans. Examples are given from the domains of robotic remote laser welding as well as collaborative human-robot mechanical assembly

A cloud-based approach for WEEE remanufacturing

The modern manufacturing industry calls for a new generation of integration models that are more interoperable, intelligent, adaptable and distributed. Evolved from service-oriented architecture, web-based manufacturing and cloud computing, cloud manufacturing is considered worldwide a new enabling technology for manufacturing enterprises to respond quickly and effectively to the changing global market. For Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in particular, it is a critical necessity to recycle, reuse and remanufacture WEEE products by setting up a cloud-based information system. In this paper, a novel service-oriented remanufacturing platform is proposed based on the cloud manufacturing concept.</p

An analytical study of new material test method for tension under bending and compression in double side incremental forming

Incremental sheet forming (ISF) has attracted considerable research interests owing to its unique advantages. Double side incremental forming (DSIF) was proposed to further improve the forming accuracy and material formability. Compared with conventional sheet forming technologies, ISF provides greater process flexibility and achieves an enhanced formability. At the same time, however, ISF has exhibited a far more complicated material deformation behavior for formability enhancement. It is now widely acknowledged that the material deformation during ISF consists of stretching, bending, and shearing with cyclic effects. Continuous bending under tension (CBT) testing method was proposed by Emmens et al. [1], which proved the cyclic stretch-bending effect for formability enhancement in single point incremental forming (SPIF). However, limited research had been reported to investigate the material deformation mechanism leading to the formability improvement in DSIF. An analytical model of a new material test method, Tension Under Bending and Compression (TUBC), is proposed in this study to investigate the material deformation leading to the formability enhancement in DSIF. Under TUBC condition, a specimen is stretched by the pulling force on both ends, while multiple rollers, in contact with the strip on both sides, move backward and forward continuously to create both cyclic bending and compression loading at a localized area. The analytical model is used to investigate the maximum stable elongations under TUBC condition. Key test variables, bending depth and compressive force, imposed by the rollers, are introduced to consider the effects of continuous bending, compression, and contact between rollers and workpiece. From the results obtained, it is clear that bending and compression have determinant effects on the formability enhancement of DSIF. However, the results show varied degrees of sensitivity of formability to different test variables. The findings correlate well with experimental observations and help to explain the formability enhancement of DSIF

Effect of stress relieving heat treatment on surface topography and dimensional accuracy of incrementally formed grade 1 titanium sheet parts

The forming of parts with an optimized surface roughness and high dimensional accuracy is important in many applications of incremental sheet forming (ISF). To realize this, the effect of stress relieving heat treatment of grade-1 Ti parts performed before and after forming on the surface finish and dimensional accuracy was studied. It was found that heat treatment at a temperature of 540 °C for 2 h improves the surface finish of formed parts resulting in a surface with little or no visible tool marks. Additionally, it improves the dimensional accuracy of parts after unclamping from the rig used for forming, in particular, that of parts with shallow wall angles (typically <25°). It was also noted that post-forming heat treatment improves the surface finish of parts. The surface topography of formed parts was studied using interferometry to yield areal surface roughness parameters and subsequently using secondary electron imaging. Back-scatter electron microscopy imaging results coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis showed that heat treatment prior to forming leads to tool wear as indicated by the presence of Fe in samples. Furthermore, post-forming heat treatment prevents curling up of formed parts due to compressive stresses if the formed part is trimmed