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The recycling of polyurea-urethane (PUU) RIM materials, which are widely used in the automotive industry, was investigated. The process employed for the recycling PU-U RIM was based on the catalyzed chemical decrosslinking, using short chain diol as a reactant. The transesterification (decrosslinking reaction) was studied in the Haake mixer and twin screw extruder. The effect of various parameters (temperature, reactant/PU-U RIM ratio, rpm etc.), on the yield of liquid oligomers was determined. The resulting liquid oligomers were characterized using various analytical methods and used in the preparation of new products such as coatings, adhesives etc. The results showed that the catalyzed chemical decrosslinking of PU-U RIM can be a potential recycling method.

A design framework based on the principles of lean manufacturing and axiomatic design was used as a guideline for designing an automotive component manufacturing system. A brief overview of this design decomposition is given to review its structure and usefulness. Examples are examined to demonstrate how this design framework was applied to the design of a gear manufacturing system. These examples demonstrate the impact that low-level design decisions can have on high-level system objectives and the need for a systems-thinking approach in manufacturing system design. Results are presented to show the estimated performance improvements resulting from the new system design.