The aim of the work was to demonstrate an alternative to conventional end-o
f-life (EOL) disassembly strategies such as robotic or hand dismantling. Th
is initial investigation reports the disassembly of consumer electronic pro
ducts using smart materials in the design of embedded releasable fasteners.
A series of products was tested in a variety of different ways using shape
memory polymers (SMPs). Tests were run on macroassemblies and subassemblie
s of telecommunications goods. The devices designed with SMP used two disti
nct properties of the material suited to active disassembly:
(a) the mechanical property loss (MPL), in this case a loss of rigidity in
the thread of the SMP screws;
(b) the shape memory effect (SME), a change in form, resulting in this case
in the loss of moulded thread from SMP shape memory effect screws.
Once SMP components were developed and embedded into the candidate products
, timed disassembly experiments were conducted. These tests used infrared,
air jet and water bath methods for applying heat to trigger the SMP devices
. Once the trigger temperature was reached, shape change and property loss
occurred in the screws and brackets, allowing assembly release.