Warm forming die design,part I: Experimental validation of a novel thermal finite element modeling code

Finite element analysis (FEA) has become an invaluable tool in the design of sheet metal stamping dies and processes. FEA has gained widespread acceptance as the best method of optimizing dies for conventional stamping processes. More recently, FEA has been shown to be an effective method of designing tooling for sheet forming processes. In this work, an FEA based approach is applied to the warm stamping (warm forming) process. This work introduces a new thermal finite element analysis software called PASSAGE®/Forming (PASSAGE) that enables the up-front design of the thermal management of warm forming dies. This thermal finite element analysis software is designed to specifically handle the forming and optimization scenarios related to the heating of a stamping die while minimizing user interface time. In this work, PASSAGE has been applied to a simple block of steel embedded with cartridge heaters to validate the prediction capability of this software under two different heating conditions. The results show that PASSAGE is capable of predicting the actual steady-state temperature distribution within the block with an acceptable level of accuracy while yielding notable information to the user with respect to specifying power requirements. A finite element software package like PASSAGE is a valuable tool that will aid greatly in the implementation of warm forming as a manufacturing process beyond the scope of the laboratory and into production.     

Ecodesign methods focused on remanufacturing

Understanding the product's ‘end-of-life’ is important to reduce the environmental impact of the products' final disposal. When the initial stages of product development consider end-of-life aspects, which can be established by ecodesign (a proactive approach of environmental management that aims to reduce the total environmental impact of products), it becomes easier to close the loop of materials. The ‘end-of-life’ ecodesign methods generally include more than one ‘end-of-life’ strategy. Since product complexity varies substantially, some components, systems or sub-systems are easier to be recycled, reused or remanufactured than others. Remanufacture is an effective way to maintain products in a closed-loop, reducing both environmental impacts and costs of the manufacturing processes. This paper presents some ecodesign methods focused on the integration of different ‘end-of-life’ strategies, with special attention to remanufacturing, given its increasing importance in the international scenario to reduce the life cycle impacts of products.     

A hierarchical end-of-life decision model for determining the economic levels of remanufacturing and disassembly under environmental regulations

Remanufacturing, in contrast to material recycling and disposal, can reduce environmental impacts by retaining the geometrical form of the product, thereby regarded as a more eco-efficient approach. In this paper, an end-of-life (EOL) decision model for remanufacturing options is presented to facilitate remanufacturing. The proposed model, in order to maximize the economic value of remanufacturing options while meeting environmental regulations, takes an integrative approach to EOL-option decision-making. Also presented in this paper is a hierarchical approach that represents both the overall hierarchical structure of a product and the interconnections among components. Illustrative examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the model.     

Development of multi-criteria decision making model for remanufacturing technology portfolio selection

Remanufacturing represents a business opportunity and in many cases a means to promote environmental sustainability. To help enterprises economically and effectively implement remanufacturing, a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) model for selecting remanufacturing technology is developed. The model considers remanufacturing technology portfolios. The enterprise benefits associated with each portfolio, including economic and environmental benefits, are evaluated using six main criteria: cost, quality, time, service, resource consumption, and environmental impact. In addition, the synergies among the different types of technologies for each remanufacturing technology portfolio are also considered. The pair-wise comparison approach of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is employed for remanufacturing technology portfolio selection. An illustrative example is provided to lend insights into the application of this methodology.     

Design and fabrication of a laminated thermoforming tool with enhanced features

Thermoforming is a popular manufacturing process for creating useful shapes out of heated thermoplastic sheets using a porous tool under differential pressure. For large, heavy-gauge parts, thermoforming tools are typically made by CNC machining a billet of material or sand casting from an inexpensive master pattern. Although these tooling methods are well established, it is difficult to incorporate enhanced tool functionality such as conformal cooling channels, embedded sensors, unimpeded vacuum channel placement, and customized thermal mass. Profiled Edge Laminas (PEL), a rapid tooling method based on profiling, assembling, and clamping an array of thick layers, is ideally suited for tools used for thermoforming large, heavy-gauge parts and requiring enhanced features. This paper describes how the PEL tooling method can be applied to the design and fabrication of a thermoforming tool and demonstrates the entire process through a case study. Tooling design guidelines and analytical models for predicting conformal channel and vacuum line performance are included. The ease with which multiple-zone conformal cooling/heating channels, vacuum lines, and temperature sensors are incorporated into the tool is also highlighted. Specifically, a 46-layer aluminum PEL tool clamped together with bolts is successfully designed, fabricated, and demonstrated for thermoforming a 0.3×0.4×0.4 m part made from a PVC/Acrylic blend based on the outlined method. The tool incorporates three independent cooling zones sealed by a polymer sealant, three embedded temperature sensors, and an elaborate matrix of vacuum channels. All tool features and the basic geometry were machined into each individual lamina in the same set-up by 2D abrasive waterjet machining, and the final tool surface was CNC-machined. The PEL tooling method is successfully applied to the manufacture of a large, heavy-gauge thermoformed part intended for production.     

A methodology for the life cycle and sustainability analysis of manufacturing processes

Life cycle assessment is emerging as a powerful tool in the evaluation of the environmental impact of manufacturing processes. This paper describes a general methodology for the life cycle analysis of manufacturing processes taking into account the flexibility and decision-making potential of knowledge base systems. Emphasis is placed on on-site waste minimisation and associated sustainability characteristics in relation to environmental impact assessment and process improvement. The ensuing software model is applied with some success to an initial study of pulp and paper manufacture.     

Integrated design of remanufacturable products based on product profiles

The mass of products at end of life becomes a real problem for the environment. Thus, industrials are turning their attention to strategies for the management of products at the end-of-life. The remanufacturing is an end-of-life strategy that reduces the use of raw materials and saves energy while preserving the value added during the design and manufacturing processes. But, in most of the cases, remanufacturing processes must be adapted to existing products because products have not been designed to be remanufacturable. However, the process adaptations increase costs and this can lead the overall benefits obtained with the remanufacturing process to be reconsidered.The aim of our research was to propose an approach for the designers to integrate remanufacturing constraints throughout the design process; mainly in the earliest phases. The eco-methodology assists designers in two steps. They are first helped in improving the reliability of a remanufacturing end-of-life strategy for that product on the bases of the analysis of the project context. Then they are guided towards a product whose properties are adapted to remanufacturing. Our approach is built upon remanufacturable product profiles (RPP) encapsulating the knowledge on both remanufacturing contexts and remanufactured product properties.For the product profile definition, eight categories of design criteria were identified based on a survey of about 30 products successfully remanufactured. A statistical analysis was made to identify clusters of products. Then, product profiles were extracted while examining the links between internal and external criteria for each group.This methodology is supported by the tool REPRO² (REmanufacturig with PROduct PROfiles) that we have developed, which should lead to a real integrated design of remanufacturable products. Indeed, designers assisted with this tool, made early design by product profiling. It gives specific information to improve the internal technical definition of the product under study from a remanufacturing point of view.     

Transitioning to sustainable production – part II: evaluation of sustainable machining technologies

This paper presents a case-study that highlights the importance of sustainable machining technologies in achieving sustainable development objectives. A technology evaluation was undertaken to understand the likely impacts of the use of technology on sustainability performance measures. The evaluation is more than an experimental method for supporting the design of technology and an instrument for supporting decision-making. It is also a tool for supporting technology policy and for encouraging its adoption and application in industry. More specifically, a sustainability evaluation of cryogenic and high pressure jet-assisted machining in comparison to conventional machining is examined. Sustainability performance measures refer to environmental impact, energy consumption, safety, personal health, waste management, and cost. The case-study refers to the machining of high-temperature Ni-alloy (Inconel 718). It is shown that tooling costs represent the major contribution to the overall production cost, which contradicts previous analyses, and that sustainable machining alternatives offer a cost-effective route to improving economic, environmental, and social performance in comparison to conventional machining.     

Eco-efficiency gains from remanufacturing: A case study of photocopier remanufacturing at Fuji Xerox Australia

Achieving eco-efficient production and consumption systems requires ‘closing the loop’ to create cyclic systems. Product systems based on remanufacturing, where used products or components are restored to ‘as new’ condition for reuse, offer the potential to create such cyclic systems. For some existing manufacturers, the economic efficiency of remanufacturing is clear and it has become a widely held assumption that such systems would also be more eco-efficient. However, this assumption has not been systematically tested. This research attempted to quantify the life cycle environmental benefits achieved by incorporating remanufacturing into a product system, based on a study of Xerox photocopiers in Australia. The study found that remanufacturing can reduce resource consumption and waste generation over the life cycle of a photocopier by up to a factor of 3, with greatest reductions if a product is designed for disassembly and remanufacturing. This research represents a first-level assessment, limited by certain estimates and assumptions. It is intended that this research will form the basis of a larger, more detailed study of Xerox remanufacturing, worldwide.     

京津冀制造业转移与环境影响实证研究

为评价京津冀产业转移的时空格局变化及其对区域环境产生的影响,建立区际产业转移测度模型和环境影响评估模型,实证分析2003—2014年京津冀制造业的转移与环境污染影响.产业转移测度模型借鉴偏离-份额法和增量分解思想,可用于分析区际产业转移的趋势和规模;环境影响评估模型采用纳入产业转移、经济发展和环境管制水平等因素的计量经济模型,利用面板数据和固定效应估计方法,可用于分析区际产业转移带来的区域环境污染格局变化.实证研究结果表明:京津冀地区1%规模的资本密集型制造业发生转移,会使转入地（转出地）的工业SO₂和工业烟（粉）尘排放量分别增长（减少）3.4%和2.6%.“十一五”以来京津冀地区间的制造业转移已经颇具规模,然而京津冀制造业的空间重构已经对区域环境污染格局产生了影响,并且产生明显不利影响的主要是资本密集型制造业的转移,而技术密集型制造业转移的环境积极效应尚不明显,京津冀环境污染在跨过EKC（环境库兹涅茨曲线）拐点后,环境污染与经济增长的反向关系可能并不能持续,更有效的环境规制或者更清洁的生产技术可以明显改善当地的环境状况.      

Environmental impact of packaging and food losses in a life cycle perspective: a comparative analysis of five food items

The environmental concern and development issues regarding packaging has for 20 years to a high extent been on packaging when it has become waste. To reduce the environmental impact from the whole food packaging system it is also important to develop the packaging’s ability to reduce food waste. In some cases it may be necessary to increase the environmental impact of packaging in order to reduce food waste. In this paper, the environmental impact of packaging and food losses and the balance between the two has been examined for five different food items. The results show that packaging’s that reduce food waste can be an important tool to reduce the total environmental impact, even if there is an increase in impact from the packaging itself. This is especially true for food items where the environmental impact of the food is high relative the packaging, for example cheese, and for food items with high losses, for example bread. It is important to analyse the risk of increasing food losses when packaging design changes, for example, when the aim is less packaging material, which is the main intention of the packaging and packaging waste directive of the European Union.     

Improvement of agility and sustainability: A case study in an Indian rotary switches manufacturing organisation

Increasing competition has been forcing the modern manufacturing organisations to adopt advanced manufacturing paradigms. Agile Manufacturing (AM) is an advanced manufacturing paradigm that enables an organisation to survive in the competitive business environment. Agility is the performance measure of AM practices. Simultaneously, modern business organisations are forced to evolve environmental friendly products. Sustainability is regarded as an important concept for survival by the modern organisations. In this context, agility and sustainability are regarded as performance measures for contemporary organisations. This paper reports a case study which has been carried out in an Indian rotary switches manufacturing organisation. The candidate product is the knob of rotary switch. Initially Computer Aided Design (CAD) has been used to digitalise the baseline model. Keeping the baseline model as reference, five new knob models have been evolved. Then the sustainability analysis has been carried out to determine the environmental impact of the knob models. The analysis results indicated that the proposed knob models possess minimal environmental impact. The conduct of case study has lead to an inference that there is a significant improvement of agility and sustainability in the design and development of knob of rotary switch.     

Hydrogen distribution network optimization: a refinery case study

One of the most critical issues in the production of low-sulphur fuels is managing the impact of the new environmental requirements on the hydrogen balance of the refinery. The combination of low-sulphur fuel specifications and reduced production of hydrogen in catalytic reformers make hydrogen management a critical issue. More efficient use of hydrogen thus becomes unavoidable. This paper addresses the problem of the actual hydrogen distribution at the Porto Refinery of the GALP ENERGIA network, and uses a new tool based on the concept of hydrogen surplus. By means of different methodologies and resorting to linear programming, an efficient network design has been achieved that reduces the hydrogen utilities usage by 30% (achieving 30% more gas to the fuel system), while also dealing with the complexity and need for flexibility so characteristic of a refinery as well as the reduction of operating costs related to the pneumatic system. In terms of hydrogen manufacturing reduction in the platformings, it is possible to reduce by 6%.     

Development of an eco-ideation tool to identify stepwise greenhouse gas emissions reduction options for consumer goods

Pressure on consumer goods manufacturers to develop new products with significantly less environmental impact is growing, through increased consumer awareness of environmental issues and governments setting ambitious emissions reductions targets. A strategic response to this pressure is to prepare a portfolio of innovative product ideas to meet a range of future emissions reductions targets. However, although extensive work exists on ideation (the generation of novel product ideas) and eco-design (design for reduced environmental impact), eco-ideation (generation of ideas that particularly aim to reduce environmental impacts) has had little attention. The challenge of eco-ideation is to release the creativity of a broad range of employees, only few of whom may be familiar with the drivers of environmental impact.This paper proposes a novel tool to facilitate the generation of radical product and process ideas giving step-change reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The features of products and processes that drive greenhouse gas emissions across the product life cycle were characterized with a set of indicators. A simple visual tool was created to show these indicators on a sliding scale between best and worst imaginable performance. A leading question associated with each slider was designed to stimulate lower impact ideas. The tool was iteratively refined and simplified through structured testing with individuals from across a range of roles and differing knowledge of environmental impacts. The final eco-ideation tool used 14 scales, with leading questions for each scale developed to stimulate idea generation.The tool’s effectiveness was evaluated through use in a series of 15 individual workshops and compared with the outcomes of an equal number of conventional 12-person group-brainstorming sessions. The comparison suggests that using the simple tool generally leads to a wider range of more radical ideas than emerge from group brainstorming.     

Is European end-of-life vehicle legislation living up to expectations? Assessing the impact of the ELV Directive on ‘green’ innovation and vehicle recovery

The end-of-life vehicle (ELV) Directive in Europe aims to generate environmental gains through increased levels of vehicle recovery and a reduction in the use of hazardous substances. This paper presents an evaluation framework based on five anticipated changes that could result from the ELV Directive. These changes relate to three areas: (a) vehicle design, (b) level of ELV recovery, and (c) information provision. We evaluate the extent to which expected outcomes have materialized since the establishment of the ELV Directive. Current information provides an emerging picture of the impact of ELV legislation. We show that legislative factors and market forces have led to innovation in recycling, increased hazardous substance removal and improved information dissemination. Such actions may be sufficient to reach ELV Directive targets and could have spill-over benefits to other industries. Carmakers are also taking steps to design for recycling and for disassembly. However, movement toward design for re-use and remanufacturing seems limited. Increasing the level of re-use and remanufacturing will be a key part of moving toward sustainable vehicle production.     

Implementing extended producer responsibility: vehicle remanufacturing in China

With the rapid growth of vehicle population in China and subsequent environmental problems, remanufacturing has become the development direction of the vehicle industry for its huge environmental benefit. However, the current vehicle remanufacturing industry is still in its infancy, which makes the introduction of extended producer responsibility inevitable. This paper describes the development of China’s remanufacturing policies based on EPR and discusses the recycling system in line with the country’s actual conditions. This then can provide some ideas on EPR application to other developing countries.     

磷酸铁锂电池不同应用场景的生命周期评价

为评估磷酸铁锂(LFP)电池梯次应用的生命周期环境影响,设定直接应用和梯次应用2个应用场景,采用生命周期评价(LCA)方法,对应用场景生命周期各阶段的环境影响及其贡献进行分析.功能单位设定为应用总容量1GWh的LFP电池作为通讯基站(CBS)储能电池,循环寿命为800次.结果表明,2个应用场景的环境影响热点均为储能应用...     

Environmental assessment of laser assisted manufacturing: case studies on laser shock peening and laser assisted turning

Laser assisted manufacturing processes, when compared with traditional manufacturing processes, have the potential to reduce cost, increase surface resistance to wear and fatigue, extend part/tool life, and expand the range of manufacturable materials. These processes have found niche applications in automotive, aerospace, and defense industries. However, very limited research has been conducted to evaluate and compare the environmental performance of laser assisted processes with traditional methods. This paper conducts case studies on two representative laser based processes, i.e. laser shock peening of 7075-T7351 Aluminum and laser assisted turning of compacted graphite iron. Life cycle assessment is used to benchmark the environmental performance of these two processes to conventional processes, i.e. shot peening and turning, respectively. The life cycle inventory of both the laser based processes and conventional processes are developed using SimaPro 7.1 and the Ecoinvent 2.0 database and life cycle impact assessment is performed using US EPA TRACI. The results of this study show that the environmental performance of the two laser based processes is significantly better than conventional processes. For laser shock peening of aluminum, contribution analysis indicates that this is mainly due to the significant extension of fatigue life of the workpiece being treated. For laser assisted turning of compacted graphite iron, the improved performance is mainly due to the extended tool life since cutting tool manufacturing is an energy intensive process. Development of high-power laser with a lower wavelength (e.g. direct diode system) could eliminate the use of paint in laser assisted turning. This, along with improved wall plug efficiency, makes laser assisted turning even more environmentally benign compared to conventional process. A brief cost analysis suggests that both laser shock peening and laser assisted turning can be economically viable with payback period less than three years for niche applications.     

Designing a sustainable reverse logistics channel: the 18 generic structures framework

Remanufacturing end-of-life products requires setting up an economically and environmentally viable reverse logistics channel for supplying reusable used modules to the production chain. This paper introduces a framework to allow generating and assessing different reverse logistics channel structures. The framework is then applied to a product remanufacturing case. We analyze the current reverse logistics channel structure and propose alternative structures with less environmental impact and higher economic benefits.