Switching from petroleum- To bio-based plastics: Visualization tools to screen sustainable material alternatives during the design process

Michael Saidani, Erik Pan, Harrison Kim

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

The recent development in technology has made bio-based plastics an increasingly attractive alternative to petroleumbased plastics to tackle plastic pollution. However, currently, bio-based plastics have not been widely adopted in the design and manufacturing of new products. To advocate the use of biobased plastics, this paper proposes two visualization-based tools to educate designers and engineers about the availabilities and the properties of different bio-based plastics. After analyzing the literature on visual tools for sustainable design and material selection, two new prototype tools for screening bio-plastic alternatives are designed with the advice and support of the engineers of a major U.S. manufacturer of agricultural equipment. Surveys and focus groups with the manufacturer's engineers are conducted to improve the tools, and a first case study is completed to examine their usefulness.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication25th Design for Manufacturing and the Life Cycle Conference (DFMLC)
PublisherAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
ISBN (Electronic)9780791883952
DOIs
StatePublished - 2020
Externally publishedYes
EventASME 2020 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, IDETC-CIE 2020 - Virtual, Online
Duration: Aug 17 2020Aug 19 2020

Publication series

NameProceedings of the ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference
Volume6

Conference

ConferenceASME 2020 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, IDETC-CIE 2020
CityVirtual, Online
Period8/17/208/19/20

Keywords

  • Bioplastics
  • Case study
  • Decision support tool
  • Material selection
  • Sustainable design
  • Visualization tool

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Modeling and Simulation

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