Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 24 (2010) 275~278 www.springerlink.com/content/1738-494x DOI 10.1007/s12206-009-1170-1 Selection of an optimized method for pitting processes with sustainability as an important factor † Ryuichi Saitoh 1 , Hiroki Yamakiri 1 , Tsuneo Kurita 2 Shinsuke Kondoh 2 , Nozomu Mishima 2 and Shinya Sasaki 1,* 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan 2 Environmentally Conscious Design and Manufacturing Research Group, AIST, Tsukuba, Japan (Manuscript Received May 8, 2009; Revised October 25, 2009; Accepted October 30, 2009) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abstract Recent engineering products must meet the demand for downsizing and sophistication. Environmentally benign manufacturing has al- so become a key technology for sustainable development. Striking a balance between product quality and environmental impact in manu- facturing processes has become an important issue in the design of eco-friendly products. However, despite this increasing demand from the industry, there is dearth of research on the environmental impact of processing as compared to studies on conventional manufacturing factors such as cost and time. We have tried to clarify the relationship between quality and environmental impact directly from experi- mental data. The pitting process that we chose as our experimental process is one of the most general and important processes in the in- dustry. In this paper, we discuss a basic concept for selecting optimal processing methods and conditions for the pitting process from the aspect of employing an environmentally benign process. By applying our study to the industry, engineers can easily conduct processes that are not only high in quality but also low in environmental impact. Keywords: Sustainable development; Environmentally benign process; Process quality; Desktop-size machine tool ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Introduction Engineering products continue to need to be downsized and sophisticated. Miniaturization and sophistication are becoming increasingly important for communication and medical de- vices. Such products will certainly not only become lighter in weight but will also possess increasingly more functions in the future. However, the industry still has much work to do as concerns about environmental problems continue to grow. Not only high quality but also environmental consciousness is required in recent manufacturing processes. Environmentally conscious manufacturing has become a key technology for sustainable development. In response to this demand, engi- neers are designing and developing eco-friendly products with the concept of reducing life-cycle environmental impact. As a result, the balance between product quality and environmental impact in the manufacturing process has become an important issue. However, one of the major obstacles to employing envi- ronmentally benign processes is the lack of information. De- spite the increasing demand from the industry, studies on the environmental impact of processing methods lag behind those on conventional manufacturing topics such as cost and time issues. Therefore, we have tried to clarify the relationship between quality and environmental impact directly from ex- perimentally demonstrated data. We focused on the effects related to the pitting process, which is one of the most general and important processes in the industry. Machining, electrical discharged machining (EDM), and laser machining methods were adopted for our experiments on the pitting process. Envi- ronmental impact was monitored during processing, and proc- ess quality was measured after the experiments. In this paper, we discuss a basic concept for selecting an optimal processing method and condition for the pitting proc- ess from the aspect of employing an environmentally benign process. If this study is applied to the industry, we expected that engineers can easily conduct processes that are not only high in quality but also low in environmental impact. 2. Experiments 2.1 Pitting process Pitting is the one of the fundamental processes that accom- panies cutting, welding, and plastic forming processes. It is also an important process in the industry because the process † This paper was presented at the ICMDT 2009, Jeju, Korea, June 2009. This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by Guest Editors Sung-Lim Ko, Keiichi Watanuki. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 3 5228 8389, Fax.: +81 3 5228 8389 E-mail address: s.sasaki@rs.kagu.tus.ac.jp © KSME & Springer 2010