Product Remanufacturability Assessment based on Design Information

Existing studies on CAD-based remanufacturability assessment are either based on design charts or consideration of simple embodiment design features only. This paper presents a remanufacturability assessment model based on design information in CAD models, e.g., bill of material, assembly and mating features, dimensional and tolerance features, etc. A set of design feature-based metrics is proposed for product remanufacturability assessment, namely, disassembly complexity, fastener accessibility, disassemblability, and recoverability. The metrics are integrated into a generic model to analyse the feasibility of a product for remanufacturing. A case study using an automotive part is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the model.