A presentation by: AZROL KASSIM

APPLICATION OF SHAPE CHANGING SMART MATERIALS IN HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES: A FRAGMENTED AND

INCONSISTENT UPTAKE

10th International Symposium on Tools and Methods of Competitive Engineering 21st May 2014

Azrol Kassim, Imre Horváth Bart Gerritsen

SMART MATERIAL

APPLICATION IN CONSUMER DURABLES

TRANSITION

Research Interest

ACHIEVING THROUGH PRODUCT DESIGN

Today’s presentation covers

• Introduction• Background - Application landscape - motivation & objectives• Methodology• The application of SCSM in consumer durable • Comparison between the applications • Analysis of the findings • Projecting the applications in household appliances • Conclusion and propositions

•

Introduction

Shape changing smart materials (SCSM)

engineered materials that retake their original shape upon exposure to a designated stimulus (e.g. electrical, thermal, light, water)

Engineered material

Shape changing smart material

Thermal shape memory polymer

Shape memory alloy

Electro-active polymer

Piezoelectric material

Stimuli responsive

material

Application landscape

SCSM application areas

Aero

spac

eBi

omed

ical

Robo

tics

Consumer durable

fragmented, showing an inconsistent application pattern

Rather limited

Application landscape

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS

MEDICAL & HEALTHCARE

WEARABLE APPAREL

AUTOMOTIVE HOUSEHOLD HARDWARE

HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES

SPORTS & RECREATION

TOYS PACKAGING FURNITURE0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Distribution of papers on the application of SCSM in 10 consumer durable categories

Motivation

Challenges in the application of SCSM

Type of challenges Impact

Unresolved material properties issues

Technology High

Lack of market & functional acceptability

Business + technology Low

Lack of comprehensive method for SCSM-product inclusive design

Design + technologyHigh

Designers familiarity to SCSM

Design High

• investigate this phenomenon by describing its characteristics, using household appliances as a research object

• Evaluate if the phenomenon is due to a mere knowledge gap for product designers, or otherwise?

• exploring the interplay between SCSM knowledge offerings and the product design aspects of material considerations which includes (C1) material behaviour, (C2) aesthetics, (C3) application, (C4) manufacturing, (C5) economic, and (C6) environmental & safety

Objectives

Methodology

1. sorted literature according to consumer durable category

2. analyzed the considerations in the cases that are being compared

3. identify reasoning patterns occurring in the application of SCSM in paired

4. In cases where the aspects was not considered, we tried to uncover the background of the decision.

Transportation Wearable Apparel

Consumer Electronics

Hardware hardware

Medical & Health Devices

Packaging Furniture Household appliances

Sport & recreation Toys

Comparing the application of SCSM

xxxxMediocre number of applications

Limited number of applications

Material aspects Considered characteristics

Material behavior (C1) Physical Structural, volume, mechanical, thermal, electrical & chemical properties

Sensory Stimulation of senses by thermal, light, pH, or electrical

Aesthetics (C2) Appearance Colour choices, texture and pattern of material

Form giving Capability to manipulate SCSM to provide desired form and geometry

Application (C3) Function SCSM added functions for: sensing, deploying, actuating, self-repair, fitting

Use Purpose of applying and the place of applying regarding the function of SCSM

Manufacturing (C4) Process & assembly

Possibilities to use SCSM with certain fabrication techniques

Finishing Possibilities of finishing SCSM by certain techniques, surface properties

Economic (C5) Material cost Market price of producing, installing or maintaining a SCSM based component

Life-cycle Decompose readily by biological process (biodegradability) and recyclability

Environmental and safety (C6)

User safety Compatible with living system (biocompatible) and toxicity

C1 Material behavior RESULTS

CONSUMER ELECTRONIC

WEARABLE APPAREL

MEDICAL & HEALTHCARE

AUTOMOTIVE

HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES

PHYSICAL

SENSORY

REVERSE PLASTICITY

TRANSITION TEMPERATUREDAMPING CAPACITY

DENSITYVISCOSITY

ELONGATION

ELECTRICAL

THERMAL

MOISTURE PERMEABILITY

SUPER-ELASTICITY

CONSIDERED CHARACTERISTICS

HOUSEHOLD HARDWARE

RESULTS C1 Material behavior

• Slight differences between consumer durable categories

• SCSM have been engineered to have different characteristics because specific applications pose specific requirements

• benefitting from positive aspects only works with well-chosen applications

What patterns did we detect and our conjectures:

C2 AestheticsRESULTS

CONSUMER ELECTRONIC

WEARABLE APPAREL

MEDICAL & HEALTHCARE

AUTOMOTIVE

HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES

APPEARANCE

FORM GIVING

CONSIDERED CHARACTERISTICS

TACTILE QUALITY

MULTI-COLORAVAILIBILITY

OPACITY

GEOMETRIC MANIPULATION

NO INFORMATION

HOUSEHOLD HARDWARE

C2 AestheticsRESULTS

• Dissimilar between internal and external use• No consideration of SCSM when used as internal

components of products• Considerations are made because external use of

SCSM provides more pleasing appearance in replacement of conventional material use and new form giving

What patterns did we detect and our conjectures:

C3 ApplicationRESULTS

CONSUMER ELECTRONIC

WEARABLE APPAREL

MEDICAL & HEALTHCARE

AUTOMOTIVE

HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES

SENSING + ACTUATING

SELF-HEALING

FITTING

DEPLOYING

PRODUCT SAFETY

ENERGY SAVING

FASHION

COMFORT

MECHANSIM IMPROVEMENT

SIZE REDUCTION

RECYCLING

HOUSEHOLD HARDWARE

USER SAFETY

C3 ApplicationRESULTS

What patterns did we detect and our conjectures:

• Different functionalities serve different purposes between CD categories

• Sensing and actuating - product safety, user comfort, and energy saving, and for recycling support

• Fitting - user safety and comfort, and energy saving• Deploying - reducing product size, and support energy saving• Self-healing can be used for product safety

C4 Manufacturing

Consumer productcategory

Considered characteristics appearing in literature

Consumer electronic Compatible with injection moulding, thermoforming and extrusion

Wearable apparel Suitability for weaving, suitable for chemical, mechanical and thermal processing

Medical & healthcare suitability for chemical, mechanical and thermal processing

Household hardware Compatible with injection moulding, thermoforming and extrusion

Automotive Compatible with injection moulding, thermoforming and extrusion, other chemical, mechanical processing

Household appliances Compatible with injection molding

RESULTS

C5 Economic

Consumer productcategory

Considered characteristics appearing in literature

Consumer electronic Material, maintenance and installation cost

Wearable apparel Material and processing cost

Medical & healthcare material cost

Household hardware Material, maintenance and installation cost

Automotive Material, maintenance and installation cost

Household appliances Material and processing cost

RESULTS

RESULTS C6 Environmental & user safety

Consumer productcategory

Considered characteristics appearing in literature

Consumer electronic Recyclability and biodegradability

Wearable apparel Recyclability, biodegradability, biocompatibility, toxicity

Medical & healthcare Biodegradability, biocompatibility, toxicity

Household hardware Recyclability

Automotive Recyclability and biodegradability

Household appliances Recyclability

RESULTS C4, C5 & C6

• Slight differences between CD• economic aspects less transparent in literature • Manufacturing process compatibility as a driver for

future application considerations • SCSM can be considered for most applications to

support recyclability owing to good biodegradability

What patterns did we detect and our conjectures:

DISCUSSION

1. knowledge on SCSM has penetrated literature pervasively enough to reject characterizing the daunting uptake as a mere knowledge gap for consumer durable design

2. no fundamental and compelling reasons could be found, explaining why the hesitating uptake of SCSM exist in HA applications

3. the knowledge on SCSM is not always presented in a form a designer can use straight away (causal analysis for future research)

PROJECTING THE APPLICATION OF SCSM IN HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES

ADAPTIVE ENERGY SAVING

AESTHETICS THROUGH

FORM GIVING

ENHANCED BIODEGRADIBILITY

& RECYLABILITY

SPACESAVING

ADAPTIVE USER

COMFORT

SCSM

Adaptive switches to control

energy usageby responding to

environment changes

Replacement to conventional motors and actuators, deployment of

products from small packages or operated in confined working space

Manipulation in the change of shape to produce aesthetic pleasing forms

Cost-effective and eco-friendly

means for recycling electrical

components

User interface that adapts to ergonomic needs