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Sustainability in Product Design, Materials and Systems

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Engineering and Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 December 2022) | Viewed by 10002

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor

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Guest Editor
Associate Professor, Digital Manufacturing and Materials Characterization Laboratory, School of Science and Technology, International Hellenic University, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: additive manufacturing; composites; nanomaterials; processing and mechanics of materials; destructive and non-destructive testing; product design
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is evident that product design has attracted significant attention lately, both in academia and in industry. Product design is widely considered as the most critical phase in an industrial product’s life cycle, even though product manufacturing can be more costly and the use phase can be the longest and the most resource-demanding phase. This is mainly because most critical decisions regarding a product’s overall performance are considered in this phase. At the same time, sustainable development is becoming a top priority for organizations and enterprises worldwide through the introduction of international initiatives and regional-to-local legislative frameworks. The sustainable performance of products is highly influenced by their design and materials, thus making the lifecycle phase vital for companies to maintain a leading position in the modern, fast-changing, highly-demanding business world.

This Special Issue seeks to contribute to the sustainable production agenda through enriching scientific knowledge to proliferate performance efficiency and support decision making in the industrial sector. In this context, we invite papers on innovative technical developments, reviews, case studies, analytical, as well as assessment, papers from different disciplines, which are relevant to all the different aspects related to product design and sustainable development. Indicatively, the following topics are welcomed in the contributions to the present Special Issue: ecodesign, sustainable product development, sustainable production, life cycle analysis, cradle-to-cradle thinking, design thinking, service design, sustainable manufacturing processes, design-for-environment, design-for-sustainability, design-for-disassembly, reusability–recyclability–repairability, dematerialization and minimization of resource use, green materials, biobased materials engineering, recyclable and biodegradable materials, design for sustainable manufacturing, green manufacturing, sustainability of additive manufacturing, sustainability of subtractive manufacturing, biomimicry in design, modular product design, product longevity, producer stewardship, polluter-pays principle, circular economy, industrial symbiosis, public awareness and sustainable consumption, etc.

Dr. Charisios Achillas
Dr. Dimitrios Tzetzis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ecodesign
  • sustainable manufacturing and production
  • life cycle analysis
  • design for sustainability
  • design for environment
  • producer stewardship
  • circular economy
  • sustainable consumption
  • recyclable and biodegradable materials

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 8535 KiB  
Article
Mechanical Performance of 3D-Printed Cornstarch–Sandstone Sustainable Material
by Gabriel Mansour, Vasileios Papageorgiou, Maria Zoumaki, Konstantinos Tsongas, Michel T. Mansour and Dimitrios Tzetzis
Sustainability 2023, 15(11), 8681; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118681 - 26 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1761
Abstract
The objective of this research is the improvement of the physical properties of artificial sandstone in order to obtain a printable construction material whose composition and structure is suitable for the design, study and construction of environmentally friendly architectural structures. To investigate the [...] Read more.
The objective of this research is the improvement of the physical properties of artificial sandstone in order to obtain a printable construction material whose composition and structure is suitable for the design, study and construction of environmentally friendly architectural structures. To investigate the suitability of the researched material for 3D printing and determine the physical and mechanical properties of the starch-based sandstone 3D-printed material, both cylindrical and cellular samples were designed. The 3D-printed artificial starch–sandstone material was found to have satisfactory mechanical properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Product Design, Materials and Systems)
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29 pages, 3460 KiB  
Article
Affordable and Sustainable Cooling Sportswear for Cycling Athletes: A Design Case Study
by Abdullah Al Mahmud, Tharushi Wickramarathne and Blair Kuys
Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3033; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043033 - 7 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3029
Abstract
Cooling sportswear products have been used to improve the comfort of individuals exposed to hot–humid climate conditions; however, these products were not explored adequately in the outdoor sports context. Moreover, it is not known if these products meet the needs of athletes in [...] Read more.
Cooling sportswear products have been used to improve the comfort of individuals exposed to hot–humid climate conditions; however, these products were not explored adequately in the outdoor sports context. Moreover, it is not known if these products meet the needs of athletes in developing and tropical countries. Therefore, this study presents the design and exploratory evaluation of affordable cooling sportswear (T-shirt). Eight Sri Lankan athletes tested the sportswear prototype over three-weeks, undergoing a 30 min cycling trial that covered 15 km. The results show that the cooling sportswear improved cooling comfort, sweat evaporation, and overall comfort of the athletes by increasing ventilation and reducing body temperature. The developed prototype assisted in identifying suggestions for designing cooling sportswear products, including aesthetic, cost, functional, and sustainability considerations. These suggestions may guide researchers to develop affordable and sustainable cooling sportswear for endurance cycling athletes living in developing and tropical countries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Product Design, Materials and Systems)
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16 pages, 632 KiB  
Article
Complex Method of the Consumer Value Estimation on the Way to Risk-Free and Sustainable Production
by Marina V. Bolsunovskaya, Aleksei M. Gintciak, Zhanna V. Burlutskaya, Daria A. Zubkova, Alexandra A. Petryaeva and Darya E. Fedyaevskaya
Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1273; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021273 - 9 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1527
Abstract
Sustainable consumption and production strive for the rational management of natural resources, which implies a transition to the production of fewer goods with the greatest consumer value. Consequently, the consumer value assessment is a key task in the product and service design. However, [...] Read more.
Sustainable consumption and production strive for the rational management of natural resources, which implies a transition to the production of fewer goods with the greatest consumer value. Consequently, the consumer value assessment is a key task in the product and service design. However, a large number of applied practices for assessing consumer value is a challenge for researchers. Multiple heterogeneous solutions without a common classification and structure do not allow comparing methods with each other. Thus, there is a demand for some universal algorithm for assessing consumer value, which would be a model for the development of individual industry practices. Therefore, the present research aims to develop a universal algorithm for assessing consumer value, which is a unified sample. The work analyzes the current expertise in assessing consumer value. The paper provides a comparison of mathematical tools for aggregate indicators in order to develop a general formula for assessing consumer value. As a result, an algorithm for assessing consumer value has been developed, which includes the following stages: market segmentation by consumer groups, taking into account their personal characteristics and needs; product hierarchical division into groups according to indicators valuable to the consumer; selection of a scale for evaluating indicators; hierarchical convolution, calculation of the consumer value of selected indicators and their aggregation into a final assessment in accordance with coefficients obtained as a result of the initial data analysis. As part of the algorithm verification, an example of the implementation of the algorithm steps based on expert assessment of the tourist product characteristics is proposed. At the next stage of the study, a register of mathematical tools will be specified to ensure the implementation of the algorithm steps, and practical testing on real data on several products from different industries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Product Design, Materials and Systems)
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16 pages, 5752 KiB  
Article
Corn Starch-Based Sandstone Sustainable Materials: Sand Type and Water Content Effect on Their Structure and Mechanical Properties
by Maria Zoumaki, Konstantinos Tsongas, Dimitrios Tzetzis and Gabriel Mansour
Sustainability 2022, 14(14), 8901; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148901 - 20 Jul 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2413
Abstract
A new biodegradable, sustainable and environmentally friendly building material is introduced and studied in this work, which can be applied to lightweight architectural structures, aiming for the reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation of the climate change effects. The focus was [...] Read more.
A new biodegradable, sustainable and environmentally friendly building material is introduced and studied in this work, which can be applied to lightweight architectural structures, aiming for the reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation of the climate change effects. The focus was to investigate the effect of water concentration and different types of sand on the mechanical properties of corn starch-based artificial sandstone. A series of cubic, cylindrical and disk specimens were prepared by varying the concentration of water and using different sources of commercial quartz sand. The quasi-static and cyclic compressive properties of starch-based artificial sandstone samples were measured as a function of water concentration and sand type, while the structure of the artificial sandstone specimens was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy. Moreover, the Brazilian Test was employed as the indirect method to determine the tensile strength of the samples based on the type of the commercial sand they contained. The experimental results showed that the homogeneous grading of sand grains and the latter’s chemical composition have a significant effect on the mechanical properties of the sandstone samples. The highest compression values were obtained using the microwave heating method at a water concentration of about 12 wt%, while the cyclic compression and Brazilian Tests have shown that the granulometric grading of the sand particles and the chemical composition of the sand influence the compressive and tensile strength of the material. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Product Design, Materials and Systems)
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