A selective disassembly methodology for End-of-Life products

Disassembly planning has become an important strategic issue in order to reduce the environmental impact and increase the value of end-of-life (EOL) products. However, disassembly could be costly due to the uncertainties involved in the process such as process complexities and alterations, hence, finding an optimum disassembly sequence is an important issue that needs further attention. In this paper, a selective disassembly methodology for EOL products is presented, which was developed by modifying the methodology developed by Nevins and Whitney (1989) for assembly. A Java-based computer program has been developed to carry out the disassembly sequence generations and the winnowing process. A single-hole punch was used as a case study to explain the concept and the efficiency of the methodology. The major advantage of this methodology is to provide a graphical representation of disassembly sequences at different stages of the process, which allows the user to visualise the disassembly process. As one expects, once the product under investigation becomes complex, the number of liaisons, and consequently the generation of all possible disassembly sequences becomes a tedious process. The proposed methodology will speed up this process, and in addition, an expert system is being developed to make the judgemental process of winnowing faster and easier