A Parallel Disassembly Method Based on Atomic Theory and Recursive Rules

To conserve the environment, green product design has become a major focus of the current and future market. Product end-of-life objectives, such as component reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling, have also drawn much attention. Related research shows that the disassembly process constitutes a major part of product end-of-life cost. Therefore, a product must be easy to disassemble, to be successfully and economically reused, remanufactured, or recycled. Traditional disassembly sequence planning methods focus on disassembling a product sequentially. However, moving parts sequentially can be time consuming. In addition, a sequential approach cannot handle structures with inaccessible or interlocked parts. This thesis presents an innovative method to improve the product disassembly sequence planning process using parallel disassembly. The method uses atomic theory to form part clusters and then removes part clusters in parallel. Case studies are presented to show the capabilities of the parallel disassembly method. Product designers can use the approach to create modular products that are easy to disassemble, using parallel techniques. The results can help meet market needs and reduce environmental impact.