Remanufacturing offers the potential for simultaneously recovering the economic value of manufactured components and improving the environment. Some design features make remanufacturing less expensive and/or increase the proportion of components that can be remanufactured. For example, sacrificial components can be used to protect key parts from wear. However, trade-offs are sometimes involved, and product designers need tools to support design for remanufacturing. This paper presents models for estimating the costs and environmental impacts of employing sacrificial components (cylinder liners) in engine blocks. These models are incorporated into a spreadsheet-based design decision tool. Three illustrative examples demonstrate that (1) remanufacturing lowers overall costs when two life cycles are considered, (2) sacrificial cylinder liners should be employed for small (2 L) engines, and their superiority increases with multiple remanufacturing cycles, and (3) for large engines (5.3 L) using cylinder liners is equally preferred to not using them, with respect to both overall cost and environmental impacts.

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Remanufacturing presents tremendous potential for recovering the economic value of manufactured components, and improving the environment. Some design features make remanufacturing less expensive, and/or increase the proportion of components that can be remanufactured. For example, sacrificial components can be used to protect key parts from wear. However, tradeoffs are sometimes involved, and product designers need tools to support design for remanufacturing. This paper presents models for estimating the costs and environmental impacts of employing sacrificial components (cylinder liners) in engine blocks. These models are incorporated into a spreadsheet-based design decision tool. Three illustrative examples demonstrate that 1) remanufacturing lowers overall costs when two lifecycles are considered, 2) sacrificial cylinder liners should be employed for small (2 liter) engines, and their superiority increases with multiple remanufacturing cycles, and 3) for large engines (5.3 liter) using cylinder liners is equally preferred to not using them, with respect to both overall cost and environmental impacts.

No abstract