An Evaluation Method Based on Mechanical Parts Structural Characteristics for Proactive Remanufacturing

Abstract Currently, due to the uncertainty of operation loading and service time, sometimes the mechanical parts are difficultly or hardly to be remanufactured. On the otherwise, it is also wasteful to remanufacture these parts too early. In remanufacturing, a large number of inspections and evaluations of failure condition in the parts have to be done, which are uneconomical and inefficient. In this paper, the concept of proactive remanufacturing is given, with considering remanufacturability in the initial design stage of parts. Analyzing the performance deteriorating law, one main characteristic of proactive remanufacturing is the best timing point to be remanufactured. Informed by modular design theory, structural characteristics are extracted, and the mapping relationship of design parameters and remanufacturability of parts is established. Moreover, the proactive remanufacturing factor is hierarchically and qualitatively expressed as a comprehensive index to measure parts overall remanufacturability, which can implement the design parameters feedback to adjust the best timing point to avoid one-sided optimization of design parameters. Finally, an engine crankshaft is given as an instance to validate this method.