Abstract: In order to investigate the impacts of two shortage policies, namely with and without shortage, on dynamic behavior of remanufacturing supply chain system under nonlinear constraints, a more realistic model is proposed based on constraints of forbidden returning, finite supply service level, and maximum recoverable capacity. According to the principles of chaotic dynamics, the dynamic behavior of nonlinear system under the two shortage policies is analyzed with the aid of phase diagram. Moreover, the influences of some backward parameters under different shortage policies on system dynamics are compared by bifurcation map and the maximum Lyapunov exponent. Simulation results show that nonlinear constraints do not inevitably lead to the chaotic behavior no matter what shortage policy is applied. A system with shortage is not strictly superior to the system without shortage and vice versa, when the value of backward system parameters changes, except as remanufacturing leadtime parameter. The appropriate shortage policy should be selected according to management objectives and the value of parameters. 

Key words: remanufacturing, supply chain, nonlinear, dynamic behavior