Eco-Design And Computerized Material-Shape Selection: An Integrated Approach Applied In The Case Of Some Structural Elements

Abstract:

This paper presents a methodological approach of Eco-Design that combines the selection of material and shape with the enviromental impact implemented in the CES software. The target is to choose among the vast range of materials and section shapes available with maximum performance the most ecological solution. The traditional selection process in the case of a load-bearing structure includes different stages and two of them, “screening’ and “rankining”, are developed using the Ashby method. This method consideres multiple constrains and compound objectives applied to a secondary beam. Such analysis leads to the identification of four performance indexes which relative importance is evaluated by the method of weight-factors. A short list of most appropriate candidates is generated based on the total performance index and on the databases included in the CES software: different materials (steels, aluminum, wood and composites) with different cross section forms (‘T’, ‘I’, ‘L’, ‘U’, etc). This profiles list is subject to another computer aided selection performed by Eco Audit tool. The top list records are ranked according to their energy consumption or CO2 footprint in the atmosphere during life-cycle. The main aim of the proposed approach is to consider at the concept phase of the engineering design the environmental impact of product.

Keywords:

Full Text:

Cite this article as: