Manufacturing and the Science of Sustainability

A new area, called Sustainability Science, is engaging large system scientists to address the challenges that face the future of human society on planet earth. In this paper, the methods and frameworks of diverse disciplines are reviewed and compared with those of the manufacturing community. The results show significant differences between disciplines, including the level of urgency expressed. Synthesizing these divergent viewpoints, this paper makes suggestions for needed research on “sustainable manufacturing”. The main message is that manufacturing needs to significantly increase the boundaries of its analysis to be able to understand its effect at the global scale

Prospective Environmental Analyses of Emerging Technology: A Critique, a Proposed Methodology, and a Case Study on Incremental Sheet Forming

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154436/1/jiec12748-sup-0001-SuppMat.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154436/2/jiec12748_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154436/3/jiec12748.pd

An Environmental and Cost Analysis of Stamping Sheet Metal Parts

Little work has been done on quantifying the environmental impacts and costs of sheet metal stamping. In this work, we present models that can be used to predict the energy requirements, global warming potential, human health impacts, and costs of making drawn parts using zinc (kirksite) die-sets and hydraulic or mechanical presses. The methodology presented can also be used to produce models of stamping using other die materials, such as iron, for which casting data already exists. An unprecedented study on the environmental impacts and costs of zinc die-set production was conducted at a leading Michigan die-maker. This analysis was used in conjunction with electrical energy measurements on forming presses to complete cradle-to-gate impact and cost analyses on producing small batch size hood and tailgate parts. These case studies were used to inform a generalized model that allows engineers to predict the impacts and costs of forming based on as little information as the final part material, surface area, thickness, and batch size (number of units produced). The case studies show that the press electricity is an insignificant contributor to the overall impacts and costs. The generalized models highlight that while costs for small batch production are dominated by the die-set, the environmental impacts are often dominated by the sheet metal. These findings explain the motivation behind the research into die-less forming processes such as incremental sheet forming, and emphasize the need to minimize the sheet metal scrap generation in order to reduce environmental impacts.United States. Department of Energy (Grant DOE/EE-0998

Turbsim: Reliability-based wind turbine simulator,

Abstract-Wind turbine farms are an effective generator of electricity in windy parts of the world, with prices progressing to levels competitive with other sources. Choosing the correct turbine for a given installation requires significant engineering and the current trend leads towards groups of large horizontal axis turbines. Unfortunately, large wind turbines have to contend with large forces and other sources of failure. With the new push to move generation farms offshore where they are less accessible, the issue of reliability becomes more critical. This work investigates the impact of reliability in a life-cycle analysis simulation of a theoretical wind farm in Massachusetts based upon reliability information from a number of academic sources. The simulator, TurbSim, is designed with significant modularity to enable reliability simulation of any turbine with available wind information. Our simulation of a turbine indicated that reliability makes a small but noticeable impact of 1.24% in its output

The efficiency and eco-efficiency of manufacturing

In this paper, we review the efficiency of both manufacturing processes and systems over recent decades and compare nano-materials technologies in this context. To a first approximation, nano-materials processes appear to be about as efficient as semi-conductor processes. That is, their second law efficiencies are of the order 10(superscript −5), while conventional processes are of order 10(superscript −2). However, many of these processes are early in their development and some opportunities do exist for improvement. At the same time, many aspects of these processes (the need for high purity materials, low yields, and operating conditions far from equilibrium) may make these materials vulnerable to high energy prices

359 to 363 Special Issue on Environmentally Benign Manufacturing and Material Processing Toward Dematerialization

In this paper we examine the product induced material flows through the product manufacturing system. Research strategies to reduce materials related environmental loads based upon this examination are suggested

A Critique of Life Cycle Assessment; Where Are the People?

In this article, we provide a framework and examples to illustrate how human behavior can disrupt the expected environmental outcomes suggested by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The biggest problems are when LCA results are scaled up to make claims about possible future outcomes within a narrowly crafted scenario that ignores real human behavior. There are however, many examples at smaller scales too, where (often) engineers using LCA appear to ignore the behavior of other engineers involved in the development scenario. We argue for the inclusion of more social science in the development of environmental LCA, and the use of a wider array of scenarios (grounded in real behaviors) to portray the possible future development of a product or service at large scale. Ultimately people, not products, need to be at the center of this discussion. Keywords: human behavior, Life Cycle Assessments, social scienc

3D chirp sub-bottom imaging system: design and first 3D volume

Chirp sub-bottom profilers are marine acoustic devices that use a known and repeatable source signature (1 – 24 kHz) to produce decimetre vertical resolution crosssections of the sub-seabed. Here the design and development of the first true 3D Chirp system is described. When developing the design, critical factors that had to be considered included spatial aliasing, and precise positioning of sources and receivers. The design incorporates 4 source transducers (1.5 – 13 kHz) that can be arranged into different configurations, including Maltese Cross, a square and two separated pairs. The receive array comprises 240 hydrophones in 60 groups whose group-centres are separated by 25 cm in both horizontal directions, with each hydrophone group containing four individual elements and a preamplifier.It was concluded that the only way to determine with sufficient accuracy the source-receiver geometry, was to fix the sources and receivers within a rigid array. Positional information for the array is given by a Real Time Kinematic GPS and attitude system incorporating four antennas to give position, heading, pitch and roll. The complete system is described and initial navigational and seismic data results are presented for a 3D seismic volume over folded geological events within the West Solent (UK). These data demonstrate that the approach of using a fixed source-receiver geometry combined with RTK navigation will provide complete 3D imaging of the sub-surface

Separation and Energy Use Performance of Material Recycling Systems

URL to conference websiteThis paper outlines current research on the performance of recycling processes and systems. Several aspects of performance are explored, including the separation performance and energy use of recycling processes. Descriptive terminology for separation performance is presented. The goal of this project is to develop a basic understanding of the factors affecting the separation and energy performance of recycling systems, with the eventual ambition of developing techniques for predictive analysis of these systems. These analysis techniques will allow us to evaluate the economic, ecological, and energy impact of recycling systems. This increased understanding will help guide the design of products and recycling systems.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (# 0423484

Propagation of Ground Vibration: A Review

A review of the current state of the art of ground vibration propagation is presented herein. First the theoretical models of vibration attenuation are reviewed and then measurement techniques are discussed. Finally, measurement and theory are combined into predictive models, whose validity is discussed