• International Journal of CAD/CAM
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• 제3권1_2호
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• pp.19-29
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• 2003

Disassembly is a fundamental process needed for component reuse and material recycling in all assembled products. Integral attachments, also known as 'snap' fits, are favored fastening means in design for assembly (DFA) methodologies, but not necessarily a favored choice for design for disassembly. In this paper, design methods of a new class of integral attachments are proposed, where the snapped joints can be disengaged by the application of localized heat sources. The design problem of reversible integral attachments is posed as the design of compliant mechanisms actuated with localized thermal expansion of materials. Topology optimization technique is utilized to obtain conceptual layout of snap-fit mechanisms that realizes a desired deformation of snapped features for joint release. Two design approaches are attempted and design results of each approach are presented, where the geometrical configuration extracted from optimal topologies are simplified to enhance the manufacturability for the conventional injection molding technologies. To maximize the magnitude of deformation, a design scheme has been proposed to include boundary conditions as design variables. Final designs are verified using commercial software for finite element analysis.