Application of unascertained number for the integration of carbon footprint in conceptual design

Abstract

Carbon footprint has become a recent global concern for the environment. The product carbon footprint is typically calculated with activity data and corresponding carbon emission factors in the product life cycle. However, due to the uncertainty of product information in conceptual design, all the existing carbon footprint models fail in conceptual design. As the decisions made during the conceptual design have extensive impacts on carbon footprint, it is a crucial issue to estimate product carbon footprint in conceptual design. This article is devoted to model carbon footprint in conceptual design. After the introduction of unascertained mathematics theory, the modeling process of carbon footprint in conceptual design based on unascertained number is proposed. The carbon footprint in conceptual design of an automatic pipe handling manipulator is used to demonstrate the proposed methodology.