University of Twente Student Theses
Verbetering van de milieuvriendelijkheid van de Axia bureaustoel.
Meijer, Ellen (2010) Verbetering van de milieuvriendelijkheid van de Axia bureaustoel.
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| Abstract: | The assignment was done at BMA Ergonomics in Zwolle. This company designs and produces ergonomic desk chairs. The goal of the assignment was to provide suggestions to BMA Ergonomics about the improvement of several parts of the Axia desk chair, so that these parts can be recycled. First an analysis was made about how BMA judges the environmental friendliness of a product. Next, de environmental friendliness of the Axia desk chair was compaired to desk chairs made by competitors. The results showed that BMA can compete very well with her competitors. Based on a research about the environmental score of parts of the Axia desk chair it was decided to redesign the foam and the attachment of the fabric. The advantages and disadvantages of the current designs were determined, and several new designs were made. A new design was chosen based upon a list of requirements. For the foam, an inside of LDPE material will be used. This will take up a large part of the seat. A layer of PUR foam will cover the LDPE, giving the cushion it’s shape. The production of the new cushion will use the existing foam mold. The used materials can be seperated at the end of the life span, after which the LDPE can be recycled. The attachment of the fabric will be done with several hooks in the cushion inserts. The fabric has a string in its edge, which can be placed behind the hooks. This will increase assembling speed and provides the ability to disassemble the cushion as well. This means that the insert can be recycled at the end of the life span. Simple prototypes were made for both of the designs. This resulted in some adjustments to the designs. Next, a more detailed prototype was made, combining both the designs. This prototype was made using the proposed production process for the foam. The prototypes were tested on several predetermined points like hardness, comfort and funcionality. These tests showed that all the requirements were met. The environmental score was determined again, so that a judgement of the environmental friendliness of the redesigns could be made. This showed that the redesigns are indeed an improvement compared to the old designs. Another analysis was done, using the program SimaPro. This was done to obtain more details about the environmental friendliness of the redesigns. This program calculates the influence a product has during its entire life span. This analysis showed that the redesigns are an improvement as well. As a result it can be concluded that the redesigns are a success. In the end a short research was done to explore other environmental options for BMA. This research covered what BMA already does, what competitors do and what other options there are. This showed that it can be interesting for BMA to obtain more certificates and to start a closed loop material cycle. Finally it can be said that the goal of the assignment has been reached. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Clients: | BMA Ergonomics, Zwolle |
| Faculty: | ET: Engineering Technology |
| Subject: | 51 materials science |
| Programme: | Industrial Design BSc (56955) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/60926 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
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