Sustainable Product Design for Disassembly: Integrating Digital Thread and Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) Tools

Abstract

The transition to a Circular Economy (CE) necessitates a fundamental shift in product design from traditional end-of-life disposal to strategies that facilitate reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling. Design for Disassembly (DfD) is a critical enabler of this transition ^{[1, 2]}. However, its effective implementation is often hindered by fragmented information flows across the product lifecycle and a lack of integrated sustainability assessment during early design stages [3,4]. This paper proposes a novel, integrated framework that merges the Digital Thread-a seamless, data-driven continuum of information from design to end-of-life [5] with Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) tools to empower Sustainable Product Design for Disassembly. The Digital Thread ensures real-time access to critical data such as material specifications, joinery methods, assembly sequences, and bill of materials, feeding directly into LCA software for dynamic environmental impact evaluation ^[6]. This integration allows designers to conduct instantaneous “what-if” analyses, quantifying the environmental and economic trade-offs of different disassembly strategies. A conceptual case study of an electric motor is presented to illustrate the framework’s application. The study demonstrates how the system can optimize design choices such as selecting snap-fits over chemical adhesives or standardizing fasteners by visualizing their impact on disassembly time, component purity for recycling, and overall carbon footprint [7, 8]. The proposed framework addresses significant sub-themes of the conference, including Technology, AI & Sustainability through data integration, Sustainable Management Practices via improved decision-making, and Future Challenges & Innovations in circular economy implementation. This research concludes that the synergy of Digital Thread and LCA is pivotal for transitioning DfD from a qualitative guideline to a quantifiable, optimized, and digitally-enabled standard practice in 21^st-century sustainable manufacturing [9, 10].