A total life cycle approach for developing predictive design methodologies to optimize product performance

Sustainable products must be designed by considering how design decisions impact their total life cycle (TLC) sustainability content. Even more so important when designing products to incorporate the technological elements of sustainable manufacturing, the 6Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover, Redesign and Remanufacture), to achieve Circular Economy (CE). This paper presents the preliminary work of an ongoing research project on developing a novel framework incorporating predictive models with TLC considerations. This unique approach develops and integrates models with associated risks, and optimizes for maximizing the sustainability benefits due to design decisions. Such predictive capability is extremely useful for process planning, where careful planning and optimization of process conditions would allow inducing favorable product performance and improved sustainability. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.