Selective disassembly for virtual prototyping as applied to de-manufacturing

Selective disassembly involves separating a selected set of components from an assembly. Applications for selective disassembly include de-manufacturi ng (maintenance and recycling), and assembling. This paper presents a new m ethodology for performing design for selective disassembly analysis on the CAD model of an assembly. The methodology involves the following three step s: (i) identifying the components to be selectively disassembled for de-man ufacturing by a software program or designer, (ii) determining an optimal ( e.g. minimal cost) disassembly sequence for the selected components that in volves a computationally efficient two-level reduction procedure: (a) the d etermination of a set of sequences with an objective of minimal component r emovals via a wave propagation approach that topologically order components in an assembly for selective disassembly, and (b) the evaluation of result ing sequences based on an objective function (e.g. minimal cost) to identif y an optimal sequence, and (iii) Performing disassembly design decisions ba sed on the evaluated optimal sequence. Preliminary implementation results o f the selective disassembly methodology in sequencing and disassembly cost evaluation, and application of the selective disassembly technique for de-m anufacturing assessment are presented. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All r ights reserved.