Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Multi-criteria decision making and uncertainty analysis for materials selection in environmentally conscious design

  • ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Published:
The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Around the globe, manufacturers are increasingly trying to design products that are as ecological as possible, which is leading to the establishment of new design methods focused on environmentally conscious design (ECD). Materials selection, as a key element in ECD, differs from traditional design by introducing three additional requirements: life cycle viewpoint, consideration on environmental impact and cost, and uncertainties in the product life cycle scenario. This paper presents a new multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) model and uncertainty analysis method for the environmentally conscious materials selection problem. The model is based on engineering analysis and life cycle simulation, and is constructed in such a way so that it contains uncertainties to be explored and may be executed during product design; it considers such issues as manufacturing and post-use processes such as recycling. The TOPSIS method is employed, and uncertainty analyses are performed for model flexibility. The model is applied to material selection for PC housing. The case study shows that the decision-making analysis can provide useful design guidelines and a criterion for materials selection to achieve Environmentally Conscious Design.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ashby MF (2005) Materials selection in mechanical design, 3rd edn. Pergamon Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  2. Ermolaeva NS, Kaveline KG, Spoormaker JL (2002) Materials selection combined with optimal structural design: concept and some results. Mater Des 23:459–470

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Guisbiers G, Wautelet M (2007) Materials selection for micro-electromechanical systems. Mater Des 28:246–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Dieter GE (1986) Engineering design: a materials and processing approach. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  5. Granda Design (2009) The cambridge engineering selector. Available at: http://www.grantadesign.com/. Accessed March 2009

  6. Sapuan SM (2001) A knowledge-based system for materials selection in mechanical engineering design. Mater Des 22:687–695

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Hauschild MZ, Jeswiet J, Alting L (2004) Design for environment—do we get the focus right? CIRP Ann Manuf Technol 53(1):1–4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Graedel TE, Allenby BR (2003) Industrial ecology, 2nd edn. Prentice Hall, New York

    Google Scholar 

  9. Zhang HC, Kuo TC, Lu H, Huang SH (1997) Environmentally conscious design and manufacturing: a state-of-the-art survey. J Manuf Syst 16(5):352–371

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Halada K (2003) Progress of ecomaterials toward a sustainable society. Curr Opin Solid State Mater Sci 7:209–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. van Kesteren IEH (2008) Product designers' information needs in materials selection. Mater Des 29:133–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Weaver PM, Ashby MF, Burgess SC, Shibaike N (1996) Selection of materials to reduce environmental impact: a case study on refrigerator insulation. Mater Des 17(1):11–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Petti DA, McCarthy KA, Gulden W, Piet SJ, Seki Y, Kolbasov B (1996) An overview of safety and environmental considerations in the selection of materials for fusion facilities. J Nucl Mater 233–237:37–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Holloway L (1998) Materials selection for optimal environmental impact in mechanical design. Mater Des 19:133–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Farag M (2002) Quantitative methods of materials selection. Handbook of materials selection. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  16. Ljungberg LY (2007) Materials selection and design for development of sustainable products. Mater Des 28:466–479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. UNI (1998) Environmental management—life cycle assessment—principles and framework. UNI EN ISO 14040

  18. Bovea MD, Vidal R (2004) Materials selection for sustainable product design: a case study of wood based furniture eco-design. Mater Des 25:111–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Ermolaeva NS, Castro MBG, Kandachar PV (2004) Materials selection for an automotive structure by integrating structural optimization with environmental impact assessment. Mater Des 25:689–698

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Fitch PE, Cooper JS (2004) Life cycle energy analysis as a method for material selection. J Mech Design, Trans ASME 126:798–804

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Giudice F, Rosa GL, Risitano A (2005) Materials selection in the life-cycle design process: a method to integrate mechanical and environmental performances in optimal choice. Mater Des 26:9–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Chan JWK, Tong TKL (2007) Multi-criteria material selections and end-of-life product strategy: grey relational analysis approach. Mater Des 28:1539–1546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Huang HH, Liu ZF, Zhang L, Sutherland JW (2009) Materials selection for environmentally conscious design via a proposed life cycle environmental performance index. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 44:1073–1082

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Shanian A, Savadogo O (2009) A methodological concept for material selection of highly sensitive components based on multiple criteria decision analysis. Expert Syst Appl 36(2):1362–1370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Chen RW, Navin-Chandra D, Kurfess T, Prinz F (1994) A systematic methodology of material selection with environmental consideration. Proceedings of the 1994. IEEE International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment 1994. pp 252–257

  26. Chen RW, Navin-Chandra D, Indira N, Prinz F, Wadehra IL (1995) ImSelection—an approach for material selection that integrates mechanical design and life cycle environmental burdens. Proceedings of the 1995 IEEE International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment 1995. pp 68–74

  27. Rao RV, Davim JP (2008) A decision-making framework model for material selection using a combined multiple attribute decision-making method. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 35:751–760

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Zhou CC, Yin GF, Hu XB (2009) Multi-objective optimization of material selection for sustainable products: artificial neural networks and genetic algorithm approach. Mater Des 30:1209–1215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Johnson KW, Langdon PM, Ashby MF (2002) Grouping materials and processes for the designer: an application of cluster analysis. Mater Des 23:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Lennart YL (2007) Materials selection and design for development of sustainable products. Mater Des 28:466–479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Edwards KL (2005) Selecting materials for optimum use in engineering components. Mater Des 26:469–473

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Zha XF (2005) A web-based advisory system for process and material selection in concurrent product design for a manufacturing environment. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 25:233–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Ashby MF, Brechet YJM, Cebon D, Salvo L (2004) Selection strategies for materials and processes. Mater Des 25:51–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Lovatt AM, Shercliff HR (1998) Manufacturing process selection in engineering design part 1: the role of process selection. Mater Des 19:205–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Dreyer LC, Niemann AL, Hauschild MZ (2003) Comparison of three different LCIA methods: EDIP97, CML2001 and Eco-indicator 99. Int J LCA 8(4):191–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Goedkoop M, Effting S, Collingo M (2000) The eco-indicator '99—a damage oriented method for life cycle impact assessment—manual for designers, 2nd edn. Pre Consultants B.V., Netherlands

    Google Scholar 

  37. Yoon K (1980) System selection by multiple attribute decision making. Ph.D. Dissertation, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas

  38. Shanian A, Savadogo O (2006) TOPSIS multiple-criteria decision support analysis for material selection of metallic bipolar plates for polymer electrolyte fuel cell. J Power Sources 159:1095–1104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Milani AS, Shanian A, Madoliat R, Nemes JA (2005) The effect of normalization norms in multiple attribute decision making models: a case study in gear material selection. Struct Multidiscipl Optim 29:312–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Bovea MD, Gallardo A (2006) The influence of impact assessment methods on materials selection for eco-design. Mater Des 27:209–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Mousseau V, Figueira J, Dias L, Silva CGD, Climaco J (2003) Resolving inconsistencies among constraints on the parameters of an MCDA model. Eur J Oper Res 147:72–93

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  42. Pratyyush S, Jian-Bo Y (1998) Multiple criteria decision support in engineering design. Springer Verlag, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  43. Gartner (2008) Press releases. Available at: http://www.gartner.com/. Accessed December 2008

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shool of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Anhui, 230009, China

    Haihong Huang, Lei Zhang & Zhifeng Liu

  2. Division of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA

    John W. Sutherland

  3. State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    Haihong Huang

Authors
  1. Haihong Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lei Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Zhifeng Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. John W. Sutherland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Haihong Huang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Huang, H., Zhang, L., Liu, Z. et al. Multi-criteria decision making and uncertainty analysis for materials selection in environmentally conscious design. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 52, 421–432 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-010-2745-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-010-2745-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation