A data-driven method of selective disassembly planning at end-of-life under uncertainty

Selective disassembly is a systematic method to remove target components or high-valuable components from an EOL product for reuse, recycling and remanufacturing as quick and feasible as possible, which plays a key role for the effective application of circular economy. However, in practice, the process of selective disassembly is usually characterized by various unpredictable factors of EOL products. It is very difficult to identify a feasible disassembly sequence for getting the target components before taking actions due to the uncertainty. In this paper, a data-driven method of selective disassembly planning for EOL products under uncertainty is proposed, in which disassemblability is regarded as the degree of difficulty in removing components under uncertainty. Taxonomy of uncertainty metrics that represents uncertain characteristics of components and disassembly transitions of selective disassembly is established. Random and fuzzy assessment data of uncertainty is converted into qualitative values and aggregated to fit a prediction model based on the trapezium cloud model. The turning time of disassemblability is predicted for a given set of certainty degree. Further, the disassemblability values are applied to determine the best selective disassembly sequence in order to get target component with tradeoff between minimum number of disassembly operations and maximum feasibility. The effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated by a numerical example. Moreover, by comparing to selective disassembly planning without considering uncertainty, the proposed method turns selective disassembly of EOL products more realistic than 11% and provide insights on how to design product to facilitate disassembly operations.

Automated summary

Selective disassembly is a method for removing target components from End-of-Life (EOL) products for reuse, recycling, and remanufacturing. However, the process is often affected by unpredictable factors, making it difficult to determine a feasible disassembly sequence. In this paper, a data-driven method is proposed to address uncertainty in selective disassembly planning, where disassemblability is considered as the degree of difficulty in removing components under uncertainty. The method predicts the turning time of disassemblability and determines the best selective disassembly sequence with a tradeoff between the number of operations and feasibility.