Disassembly matrix for disassembly processes of products

The study proposes a feasible and effective method that improves existing methods for computer-aided disassembly planning. The elements of three interference matrices of components in an assembly in the directions of the x , y and z -axes are considered as the right digit, middle digit and left digit, respectively, for the elements of the proposed disassembly matrix in a binary system. By using a Boolean operation or an arithmetic operator with the depth-first-search method, the algorithm is developed and a software program is generated to create all of the possible disassembly sequences and directions for components in a tree diagram. The proposed disassembly matrix provides more possible disassembly processes than the existing disassembly methods to determine preferred disassembly processes. The software program is especially useful for determining preferred disassembly processes for complex devices. This disassembly matrix not only can help disassemble disposable devices, but also can evaluate potential products for ease of disassembly during design.