Designing a better tomorrow today with self-disassembling electronics

Abstract

.The use of active disassembly using smart materials (ADSM) is an alternative that has the potential to be used for enabling a wide variety of consumer electronics that could be actively assembled, or self-disassembled nondestructively on the same generic dismantling line. This novel form of disassembly has shown considerable promise during the initial tests on the macro- and subassemblies of consumer electronic products. The designer can incorporate smart materials early in the design process, ensuring that at its end-of-life (EOL), perhaps 5 to 10 years later, the product contains all the necessary information and mechanisms to disassemble itself following a single generic triggering event such as heat. Currently, two basic families of smart materials lend themselves to active disassembly: groups of metallic materials known as shape-memory alloys (SMAs) and shape-memory plastics or polymers (SMPs). Most of the active disassembly devices are inexpensive and could prove to be a very valuable investment. Additionally, the smart material actuators and devices are highly reusable.