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Functional characterisation of mechanical joints to facilitate its selection during the design of open architecture products

New trends in product design require the use of modularity as key feature aimed to improve functional performance and the generation of open architecture products. For mechanical systems, one of the challenges during early design stages of these products involves the proper selection of joining methods among their constructive components. A robust joint selection process must consider product requirements, life cycle analysis and eventual procedures for assembly and disassembly. However, the general approach towards a Design-for-Assembly (DFA)/Design-for-Disassembly (DFD) only considers design, manufacturing and in some cases final disposal stage. Additionally, most of the works found in the literature are merely focused on assembly operations, disregarding economic and environmental benefits from optimising disassembly complexity. Herein, a functional characterisation of mechanical joint methods for the assembly and disassembly activities that take place throughout the product life cycle is proposed, focusing on open architecture products. Additionally, a classification of joining methods, a joint complexity metric valuation and a selection process are proposed for the conceptual design stage. The approach integrates both DFA and DFD principles in a formal methodology. The proposed selection roadmap can be implemented to increase product sustainability positively regarding resources optimisation, operational time and costs in reuse, remanufacturing and recycling tasks.