Research on sustainability assessment of manufacturing processes and product design

制造工艺和产品设计的可持续性评估研究

• 批准号: 436055-2013
• 负责人: Zhao, Yaoyao
• 金额: $ 1.75万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=638359
• 关键词: Research; sustainability; assessment; manufacturing; processes

Manufacturing industries are mandated by governments and society to reduce the environmental impact of their operations and products. Sustainable manufacturing processes offer the potential to reduce resource consumption and waste generation while remaining economic and efficient. Current sustainability research mostly focuses on product Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). However, LCA is a static analysis process performed after a product is manufactured, by which time the environmental impacts have already been generated. LCA tools are typically not yet integrated with other design analysis and process optimization methods. Also, LCA is a one-direction sustainability analysis tool. There is no closed-loop for material flow to support material reuse for product (re-)design or for (re-)manufacturing. For Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs), LCA tools are very expensive and knowledge-intensive. This cost hinders the ability of SMEs to acquire sustainability data about their products; it impedes SMEs to enter potential markets such as the European Union, which has very demanding standards for product sustainability. Alternative approaches are needed to assess the sustainability of manufacturing processes and product design in a dynamic manner in order to supplement product life cycle. The proposed research will categorize and identify sustainability factors associated with different types of manufacturing processes. Accurate metrics will be developed to measure the sustainability of different manufacturing processes with a focus on energy consumption, material efficiency, end-of-life recycle efficiency, and material recovery rate. Dynamic measurement methodologies will be developed to aggregate real-time sustainability data from the shop floor. Sustainability information models will be created to track the history of key factors and associate closed-loop material flow during product design and manufacturing processes. An online simulation and optimization platform for sustainable product design will be developed to provide SMEs with easily accessible software tools to assess the sustainability of their manufacturing processes, and to provide on-line product design suggestions to improve the sustainability of their product.

政府和社会要求制造业减少其运营和产品对环境的影响。可持续的制造工艺提供了减少资源消耗和废物产生的潜力，同时保持经济和高效。目前可持续发展研究主要集中在产品生命周期分析（LCA）。然而，LCA是在产品制造后进行的静态分析过程，此时环境影响已经产生。LCA工具通常尚未与其他设计分析和工艺优化方法集成。LCA是一种单向的可持续性分析工具。材料流没有闭环来支持产品（再）设计或（再）制造的材料重复使用。对于中小型企业（SME）来说，LCA工具非常昂贵且知识密集。这一费用妨碍了中小企业获得关于其产品的可持续性数据的能力;妨碍了中小企业进入欧洲联盟等潜在市场，因为欧洲联盟对产品的可持续性有非常严格的标准。需要采用替代方法，以动态方式评估制造工艺和产品设计的可持续性，以补充产品生命周期。拟议的研究将分类和确定与不同类型的制造过程相关的可持续性因素。将制定准确的指标来衡量不同制造流程的可持续性，重点关注能源消耗、材料效率、报废回收效率和材料回收率。将开发动态测量方法，以汇总来自车间的实时可持续性数据。将创建可持续性信息模型，以跟踪关键因素的历史，并在产品设计和制造过程中关联闭环物料流。我们会发展一个可持续产品设计的网上仿真及优化平台，为中小企提供容易取得的软件工具，以评估其生产工序的可持续性，并提供网上产品设计建议，以改善其产品的可持续性。