Product modularization for life cycle engineering

Modular products consist of detachable modules, which can be manufactured, assembled, and serviced separately. Some of the modules may be reusable, re cyclable or re-manufacturable upon product retirement. Thus, modular design can provide benefits to many aspects of product life cycle. This paper pre sents an integrated modular design methodology for life cycle engineering. The methodology consists of three phases: problem definition, interaction a nalysis and module formation. The methodology identifies the factors relate d to the design objectives, relates these factors to design components thro ugh interaction analysis, and clusters components into modules. Two case st udies along with detailed analysis are provided to illustrate the methodolo gy and the algorithms. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.