REQUIREMENTS ANALYSES TO SUPPORT A MATERIAL INFORMATION MODEL FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Published

November 21, 2013

Author(s)

Paul W. Witherell, Arvind Harinder, Katherine C. Morris

Abstract

Materials, and therefore material selections, influence the sustainable impact of a product from beginning to end-of-life. With improved access to material information, product designers can attain newfound insight into the sustainability implications of their design decisions. Insight to lifecycle tradeoffs requires access to both upstream and downstream information at design time. This access can be facilitated by information transparency between information representations across the lifecycle. A well-constructed Material Information Model (MIM) can provide the necessary access, and therefore the desired insight. In this paper we present an initial set of requirements that a MIM must support to provide the desired design-time information access. Using these requirements as guidelines, we then analyze several information representations currently employed for information management at various stages of the lifecycle. We compare and contrast the extent to which these representations meet the information needs of a MIM. We discuss the level to which information synthesis may be achieved given the varying degrees to which the MIM requirements are met. Finally, we introduce where synthesis challenges lie and the steps required to overcome them.

Proceedings Title

Proceedings of the ASME 2013 International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition

Conference Dates

November 15-21, 2013

Conference Location

San Diego, CA

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

Product standards, sustainable manufacturing, material model

Citation

Witherell, P. , Harinder, A. and Morris, K. (2013), REQUIREMENTS ANALYSES TO SUPPORT A MATERIAL INFORMATION MODEL FOR SUSTAINABILITY, Proceedings of the ASME 2013 International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, San Diego, CA, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=913844 (Accessed October 18, 2025)