HopkinsonDfE.pdf (585.56 kB)
Design for environment analyses applied to rapid manufacturing
journal contribution
posted on 2008-08-13, 10:16 authored by Neil Hopkinson, Y. Gao, D.J. McAfeeThis paper explores the potential to combine rapid manufacturing (RM) technologies
and design for environment (DFE) software with an automotive application. The work
focuses on the redesign of a door handle assembly for the Jaguar XJ Saloon. The original
11-piece assembly, comprising eight different materials, was subject to a redesign with an RM
technology in mind as the method for final manufacture. In this case the suggested method
for manufacture was selective laser sintering (SLS). The design freedoms afforded by the SLS
process had a profound effect on the potential to redesign the product. Two different redesigns
were proposed, and these, along with the original design, were subjected to analyses of environmental
burden and financial profits/costs for end-of-life recycling and reuse using Boothroyd
Dewhurst DFE software. The first redesign incorporated the entire assembly as a single prefabricated
unit and consequently rendered a DFE analysis impossible. The second redesign
was a four-piece assembly retaining three metallic components from the original product and,
when subjected to the DFE analysis, showed a significant reduction in environmental burden
and cost for disassembly. The surface finish of the SLS parts proved to be inadequate for visual
components on a luxury car, but the potential to apply RM for applications with less stringent
aesthetic requirements remains.
History
School
- Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering
Citation
HOPKINSON, N., GAO, Y. and McAFEE, D.J., 2006. Design for environment analyses applied to rapid manufacturing. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D : Journal of Automobile Engineering, 220 (10), pp. 1363-1372 [DOI:10.1243/09544070JAUTO309]Publisher
© Professional Engineering PublishingPublication date
2006Notes
This is a journal article. It was published in the journal , Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering [© Professional Engineering Publishing] and is available at: http://www.swetswise.com/link/access_db?issn=0954-4070ISSN
0954-4070Language
- en