Material Selection Intelligence for Circular Product Design

Lukas Schneider

Material Selection Intelligence for Circular Product Design

Author(s)	Dr. Lukas Schneider
Country	United States
Abstract	Material selection is one of the earliest and most consequential decisions in product development because it influences technical performance, manufacturing routes, durability, repairability, environmental burden, disassembly, secondary-material compatibility, and end-of-life recovery. Conventional selection procedures have traditionally prioritized mechanical performance, cost, processing, and safety constraints. Circular product design requires a broader decision logic in which the preferred material is not merely capable of performing its initial function but is also compatible with strategies for prolonged use, component recovery, reuse, remanufacture, and high-value recycling. This study develops a simulation-based Material Selection Intelligence framework for circular product design without presenting hypothetical industrial data as empirical evidence. The proposed approach combines engineering screening with circularity-oriented multicriteria decision analysis. Five dimensions are evaluated: functional fitness and durability, circular feedstock potential, compatibility with lifetime-extension strategies, end-of-life recoverability, and data and supply assurance. The framework is demonstrated through a hypothetical durable product enclosure using five candidate material families: virgin acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, recycled polypropylene, recycled acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, bio-based polyamide, and recycled aluminum. Simulated Circular Material Selection Intelligence scores range from 56.7 for virgin ABS to 87.1 for recycled aluminum, while recycled ABS achieves 78.8 and demonstrates a strong balance between technical continuity and circular feedstock use. The analysis shows that recycled content or low embodied impact alone should not determine selection. A material with favorable environmental characteristics can perform poorly in a circular system when its durability is inadequate, incompatible materials are permanently bonded to it, secondary-market quality is uncertain, or recovery infrastructure is absent. Material-selection intelligence is therefore conceptualized as a transparent decision-support capability combining property databases, lifecycle information, recovery pathways, uncertainty, and product architecture rather than as an opaque automated ranking algorithm. The study concludes that circular material selection should optimize retained functional value across multiple potential lifecycles while maintaining engineering safety and manufacturing feasibility.
Keywords	material selection, circular product design, circular economy, recycled materials, design for recycling, material intelligence, durability, multicriteria decision making
Field	Engineering
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 4, July-August 2026
Published On	2026-08-24

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American Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Innovation and Research

A Widely Indexed Open Access Peer Reviewed Multidisciplinary Bi-monthly Scholarly International Journal

Material Selection Intelligence for Circular Product Design

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