Mechanical Design Engineering Handbook

1

Design

Abstract

The aims of this book are to present an overview of the design process and to introduce the technology and selection of a number of specific machine elements that are fundamental to a wide range of mechanical engineering design applications. This chapter introduces the design process from an inventor's perspective, and double diamond, to more formal models such as total design and stage- or phase-gate reviews.

Keywords

Design; Engineering; Function; Gate; Optimization; Process; Stage; Technology; Total

Chapter Outline

1.1 Introduction

1.2 The Design Process

1.2.1 Case Study

1.3 Total Design

1.3.1 Market

1.3.2 Specification

1.3.3 Conceptual Design

1.3.4 Detailed Design

1.3.5 Manufacturing

1.3.6 Marketing/Sales

1.3.7 Total Design Information Flows and Activities

1.4 Systematic Design

1.5 Double Diamond

1.6 Conceive, Design, Implement, Operate (CDIO)

1.7 Design for Six Sigma

1.8 Design Optimization

1.9 Stage-Gate Process

1.10 The Technology Base

1.11 Conclusions

References

Further Reading

Nomenclature

1.1 Introduction

The term design is popularly used to refer to an object's a esthetic appearance, with specific reference to its form or outward appearance as well as its function. For example, we often refer to designer clothes, design icons, and beautiful cars, examples of which are given in Figures 1.1 and 1.2. In these examples, the products fulfill a range of requirements with regard to visual impact, i.e. something that appeals to our visual perception, and technical function, both of which are important in defining so-called good design.

Figure 1.1 Piaggio's Vespa, which was launched in 1946. The Vespa was an early example of monocoque construction where the skin and frame are combined as a single construction to provide appropriate rigidity and mounting for the vehicle's components and riders.

Figure 1.2 The Audi TT, which was originally launched in 1998 and is a contender for the most attractive sports car of the twentieth century. Figure courtesy of Audi.

The word design is used as both a noun and a verb, and it carries a wide range of context-sensitive meanings and associations. As stated by George Cox in the Cox Review (Cox, 2005), Design is what links creativity and innovation. It shapes ideas to become practical and attractive propositions for users or customers. Design may be described as creativity deployed to a specific end. In essence design can be considered to be the process of conceiving, developing, and realizing products, artifacts, processes, systems, services, and experiences with the aim of fulfilling identified or perceived needs or desires typically working within defined or negotiated constraints. This process may draw upon and synthesize principles, knowledge, methods skills, and tools from a broad spectrum of disciplines depending on the nature of the design initiative and activity.

The word design comes from the Latin designare, which means to designate or mark out. Design can be taken to mean all the processes of conception, invention, visualization, calculation, refinement, and specification of details that determine the form of a product. Design generally begins with either a need or a requirement or, alternatively, an idea. It ends with a set of drawings or computer representations and other information that enables a product to be manufactured and utilized.

Design can be regarded as the total activity necessary to provide a product or process to meet a market need. This definition comes from the SEED (Sharing Experience in Engineering Design) organization, which is now the DESIG (Design Education Special Interest Group of the Design Society) (see Pugh, 1990).

According to a Royal Academy of Engineering pamphlet, engineering can be defined as,

The discipline, art and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social and practical knowledge to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize solutions to the needs of society.

This definition is not attributed to a single individual, and the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET, 2011), the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and the National Academy of Engineering (2004) all have similar definitions for engineering where scientific and mathematic principles are applied to design, develop, and deliver artifacts, products, and systems to realize a societal, commercial, or organization requirement or opportunity.

The terms engineering design and design engineering are often used interchangeably. The inclusion of the word engineering in both suggests that they involve the application of scientific and mathematical knowledge and principles. It may be useful to think of engineering design in connection with engineering science as the strand of engineering that is concerned with application, designing, manufacturing, and building. Design engineering suggests a process in which engineering (scientific and mathematical) approaches are applied in the realization of activities that began with a design concept or proposal. However, such distinctions remain subtle and subject to context.

1.2 The Design Process

Design processes abound and have been widely documented, with many design schools, design consultancies, and engineering corporations developing their own brand of approaches (e.g. see Clarkson and Eckert, 2005). Commonly cited methods include the educational approach CDIO (conceive, develop, implement, operate), total design, double diamond, six sigma, MDO (multiobjective design optimization), and gated reviews. Design processes can be broadly categorized as activity-based, involving generation, analysis, and evaluation, and stage-based, involving distinct phases of, for example, task clarification and conceptual design. It is also widely recognized that experienced practitioners approach design in a different manner to novice designers (e.g. see Ahmed et al., 2003).

From your own experience, you probably know that design can consist of examining a design need and working on the problem by means of sketches, models, brainstorming, calculations as necessary, development of styling as appropriate, making sure the product fits together and can be manufactured, and calculation of the costs. The process of design can be represented schematically to levels of increasing formality and complexity. Figure 1.3 represents the traditional approach associated with lone inventors. This model comprises the generation of the bright idea, drawings and calculations giving form or shape to the idea, judgment of the design, and reevaluation if necessary, resulting in the generation of the end product. The process of evaluation and reworking an idea is common in design and is represented in the model by the iteration arrow taking the design activity back a step so that the design can be improved. Figure 1.4 illustrates the possible results from this process for a helmet providing peripheral and reverse vision.

Figure 1.3 The traditional and familiar inventor's approach to design.

Figure 1.4 Panoramic helmet by Alberto Meda and Denis Santachiara. (a) The need: to be able to view behind you. (b) The idea: An optical link using fiber optics and lenses. (c) Practical sketches showing the concept. Source: Manzini, 1989.

Figure 1.5 shows a more formal description of the design process that might be associated with engineers operating within a formal company management structure. The various terms used in Figure 1.5 are described in the following text.

Figure 1.5 The design process illustrating some of the iterative steps associated with the process.

Although Figures 1.3 and 1.5 at first glance show design occurring in a sequential fashion, with one task following another, the design process may actually occur in a step forward, step back fashion. For instance, you may propose a solution to the design need and then perform some calculations or judgments, which indicate that the proposal is inappropriate. A new solution will need to be put forward and further assessments made. This is known as the iterative process of design and forms an essential part of refining and improving the product proposal. The nonlinear nature of design is considered by Hall and Childs (2009).

Note that the flow charts shown in Figures 1.3 and 1.5 do not represent a method of design but rather a description of what actually occurs within the process of design. The method of design used is often unique to the engineer or design team. Design methodology is not an exact science and there are indeed no guaranteed methods of design. Some designers work in a progressive fashion, while others work on several aspects simultaneously.

1.2.1 Case Study

The process identified in Figure 1.6 can be illustrated by example. Following some initial market assessments, the Board of a plant machinery company has decided to proceed with the design of a new product for transporting pallets around factories. The Board has in mind a forklift truck, but it does not wish to constrain the design team to this concept alone. The process of the design can be viewed in terms of the labels used in Figure 1.5.

Figure 1.6 Pallet dimensions and terminology. Source: See BS ISO 509, 99/712,554 DC, and 99/712,555 DC.

Recognition of Need (or Market Brief)

The company has identified a potential market for a new pallet-moving device.

Definition of Problem

A full specification of the product desired by the company should be written. This allows the design team to identify whether their design proposals meet the original request. Here a long list of information needs to be developed and clarified before design can proceed. For example, for the pallet-moving device being explored here this would likely include aspects for consideration such as:

1. What sizes of pallet are to be moved?

2. What is the maximum mass on the pallet?

3. What is the maximum size of the load on the pallet?

4. What range of materials is to be moved, and are the materials packaged?

5. To what maximum height must the pallet be lifted?

6. On what terrain must the pallet-moving device operate?

7. What range is required for the pallet-moving device?

8. Is a particular energy source/fuel to be used? What lifetime is required?

9. Are there manufacturing constraints to be considered?

10. What is the target sales price?

11. How many units can the market sustain?

12. Is the device to be automatic or manned?

13. What legal constraints need to be considered?

This list is not exhaustive and would require further consideration. The next step is to quantify each of the criteria. For instance, the specification may yield that standard sized pallets, see Figure 1.6, are involved; the maximum load to be moved is 1000 kg; the maximum volume of the load is 2 m³; the reach must be up to 3 m; use is on the factory floor and asphalt surfaces; the pallet-moving device must be capable of moving a single pallet 100 m and must be able to repeat this task at least 300 times before refueling if necessary; electricity, gas, or diesel fuel; seven-year lifetime; production in an East European country; target selling price 9000 Euros; 12,000 units per year; manned use; design to ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and target country national standards (e.g. see BS ISO 509, BS ISO 6780, BS EN ISO 445, BS EN 1726-1, BS EN 13,545, 99/705,213 DC, ISO, 18,334, 99/712,554 DC, BS 3726, BS 5639-1, and BS ISO 2330).

Synthesis

This is often identified as the formative and creative stage of design. Some initial ideas must be proposed or generated in order for them to be assessed and improved. Concepts can be generated by imagination, experience, or by the use of design techniques such as morphological charts. Some evaluation should be done at this stage to reduce the number of concepts requiring further work. Various techniques are available for this, including merit and adequacy assessments.

Analysis

Once a concept has been proposed, it can then be analyzed to determine whether constituent components can meet the demands placed on them in terms of performance, manufacture, cost, and any other specified criteria. Alternatively, analysis techniques can be used to determine what size the components need to be to meet the required functions.

Optimization

Inevitably there are conflicts between requirements. In the case of the forklift truck, size, maneuverability, cost, esthetic appeal, ease of use, stability, and speed are not necessarily all in accordance with each other. Cost minimization may call for compromises on material usage and manufacturing methods. These considerations form part of the optimization of the product producing the best or most acceptable compromise between the desired criteria. Optimization is considered further in Section 1.8.

Evaluation

Once a concept has been proposed and selected and the details of component sizes, materials, manufacture, costs, and performance worked out, it is then necessary to evaluate it. Does the proposed design fulfill the specification? If it appears to, then further evaluation by potential customers and use of prototype demonstrators may be appropriate to confirm the functionality of the design, judge customer reaction, and provide information on whether any aspects of the design need to be reworked or refined.

1.3 Total Design

The process of design has been the focus of research for many years, and a number of design models and methodologies are available. Design methodology is a framework within which the designer can practice with thoroughness. One such approach, called total design, has been proposed by the SEED programme (1985) and Pugh (1990) and is illustrated schematically in Figure 1.7. This shows the core activities of design: marketing, specification, conceptual design, detailed design, and marketing/selling. As in Figures 1.3 and 1.5, the iterative nature of design is accounted for where work on a design results in the need to go back and redo previous work in order to produce a better overall design to meet the requirements. Indeed, it is sometimes necessary to go back several levels. An example might be the discovery at manufacture stage that an item cannot be made as envisaged and a new concept is required. Ideally such a discovery should not occur, as every other level of the design process illustrated in Figure 1.7 should be considered at each stage. Each of the design activities illustrated in Figure 1.7 is described in more detail in the following text. As it is the same process being described, these descriptions are similar to those described for Figure 1.5.

Figure 1.7 The total design core. After Pugh (1990).

1.3.1 Market

The market phase refers to the assessment of sales opportunities or perceived need to update an existing product resulting in a statement sometimes called the market brief, design brief, brief, or statement of need.

1.3.2 Specification

Specification involves the formal statement of the required functions, features, and performance of the product or process to be designed. Recommended practice from the outset of design work is to produce a product design specification that should be formulated from the statement of need. The product design specification is the formal specification of the product to be designed. It acts as the control for the total design activity because it sets the boundaries for the subsequent design. Further details of the product design specification are described in Chapter 2.

1.3.3 Conceptual Design

The early stages of design when the major decisions are to be made is sometimes called conceptual design. During this phase, a rough idea is developed as to how a product will function and what it will look like. The process of conceptual design can also be described as the definition of the product's morphology, how it is made up, and its layout. Conceptual design is the generation of solutions to meet specified requirements. Conceptual design can represent the sum of all subsystems and component parts that go on to make up the whole system. Ion and Smith (1996) describe conceptual design as an iterative process comprised of a series of generative and evaluative stages that converge to the preferred solution. At each stage of iteration, the concepts are defined in greater detail allowing more thorough evaluation. It is important to generate as many concepts and ideas as possible or as are economically expedient. There is a temptation to accept the first promising concept and proceed toward detailed design and the final product. This should be resisted, as such results can invariably be bettered. It is worth noting that sooner or later your design will have to compete against those from other manufacturers, so the generation of developed concepts is prudent. Some methods such as brainstorming, SCAMPER, and morphological analysis used to aid the generation of concepts are described in Chapter 3.

1.3.4 Detailed Design

The detailed design phase consists of the determination of the specific shape and size of individual components, what materials should be used, how they fit together, and the method of manufacture. Detailed design makes use of the many skills acquired and developed by engineers in the areas of analysis. It is the detailed design phase that can take up the bulk of the time spent on a design. However, as implied earlier, it is wise to only spend time on details once a sensible concept has been selected.

1.3.5 Manufacturing

The manufacture phase, although identified as distinct within the structure, is typical of other phases in that it influences all the others. The design of any item must be such that it is feasible to manufacture it! The materials selected must be compatible with the manufacturing facilities and skills available and at acceptable costs to match marketing requirements. Manufacturing is so important that design strategies to reinforce its importance have been developed, such as design for assembly (DFA) and design for manufacture (DFM) (see, for instance, Boothroyd, 1997). More recently, the concept of concurrent engineering has become popular. It is a systematic approach that encourages the developer from the outset to consider all the elements of a product lifecycle or process from concept through disposal including quality control, scheduling, and user requirements.

1.3.6 Marketing/Sales

The last phase, selling, is of course essential and should match the expectations of the initial market phase. This phase also has an impact on other phases within the design core. Information such as customer reaction to the product, any component failures or wear, damage during packaging, and transportation should be fed back to influence the design of product revisions and future designs.

1.3.7 Total Design Information Flows and Activities

The double arrows shown in Figure 1.7 represent the flow of information and control from one activity to another as well as the iterative nature of the process. For instance, detailed design activity may indicate that an aspect of the conceptual design is not feasible and must be reconsidered. Alternatively, conceptual work may yield features that have the potential for additional marketing opportunities. In other words, the activity on one level can and does interact dynamically with activities on other levels. Figure 1.8 illustrates the possible flow of this process during the development of a product.

Figure 1.8 Design activities at different stages in product development. Adapted from Baxter (1995).

Almost any product, such as a vacuum cleaner, kettle, automobile, or cordless hand-tool, requires input from people of many disciplines, including engineering, legal, and marketing, and this requires considerable coordination. In industrial terms, the integration comes about as a result of the partial design inputs from each discipline. In Figure 1.9, additional activities, such as market analysis, stressing, and optimization, have been added to the design core as inputs. The effective and efficient design of any product invariably requires the use of different techniques and skills. The disciplines indicated are the designer's tool-kit and indicate the multidisciplinary nature of design. The forklift truck example mentioned in Section 1.2.1 will require engine management and control systems as well as the design of mechanical components. Although this text concentrates on mechanical design, this is just one, albeit important, interesting, and necessary, aspect of the holistic or total design activity.

Figure 1.9 The total design process. After Pugh (1990).

A number of circumferential inputs have been shown as arrows in Figures 1.3, 1.5, 1.7, and 1.9. These represent elements of the specification listed in order of importance for each phase of design. The priority order of these specifications may alter for different phases of the design activity. The exact number will depend on the actual case under consideration.

Industry is usually concerned with total design. Total design is the systematic activity necessary from the identification of a market need to the commercialization of the product to satisfy the market need. Total design can be regarded as having a central core of activities consisting of the market potential, product specification, conceptual design, detailed design, manufacture, and marketing.

1.4 Systematic Design

A systematic approach to design has been developed and proposed by Pahl and Beitz (1996), who divide their model, see Figure 1.10, into four phases:

1. Product planning and clarifying the task;

2. Conceptual design;

3. Embodiment design;

4. Detail design.

Figure 1.10 The design process proposed by Pahl and Beitz. Figure adapted from Pahl and Beitz (1996).

The approach acknowledges that because of the complex nature of modern technology, it is now rarely possible for a single person to undertake the design and development of a major project on his or her own. Instead, a large team is involved and this introduces the problems of organization and communication within a larger network. The aim is to provide a comprehensive, consistent, and clear approach to systematic design.

Design models and methodologies encourage us to undertake careful marketing and specification. Because of their sequential presentation, design starts with a need or design starts with an idea, they inherently encourage us to undertake tasks sequentially. This is not necessarily the intention of the models, and indeed this approach is countered within the descriptions and instructions given by the proponents of the model, who instead encourage an iterative feedback working methodology.

A criticism of the design models of Pahl and Beitz and Pugh is that they tend to be encyclopedic, with consideration of every possible scenario. As such, though, their use can be viewed as a checklist against which a personal model can be verified. A further criticism of design models is that they are too serialistic as opposed to holistic, and that because of the serious manner in which the models are portrayed and documented, they have the tendency to put the intuitive and impulsive designer off!

1.5 Double Diamond

The Design Council (2007) reported a study of the design process in 11 leading companies and identified a four-step design process called the double diamond design process model. This model involves: discover, define, develop, and deliver. In Figure 1.11, the divergent and convergent stages of the design process are indicated, showing the different modes of thinking that designers use.

Figure 1.11 Schematic describing the design process. Design Council (2007).

1.6 Conceive, Design, Implement, Operate (CDIO)

The CDIO framework is widely used in design and engineering education. The framework explicitly recognizes the importance of holistic considerations for effective design outcomes with application of both engineering practice skills such as design, manufacture, personal, professional, interpersonal, and business in combination with disciplinary knowledge from the sciences and mathematics as well as the humanities (Crawley, 2001).

1.7 Design for Six Sigma

Design for six sigma (DFSS) is an approach for designing a new product or service with a measurable high performance. This requires the development of an understanding of customer needs prior to launch rather than afterward.

There are a number of methodologies applying six sigma principles, including DMADV (design, measure, analyze, design, verify), IDOV (identify, design, optimize, verify) as well as DFSS. IDOV tends to focus on the final stages of engineering optimization and may not address the selection of product features and attributes that actually address customer requirements (Tennant, 2002).

DFSS comprises a number of defined activities as outlined in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1

Design for six sigma.

1.8 Design Optimization

Inevitably there are conflicts between the diversity of requirements driven by the stakeholders. Optimization can be viewed as the process of repetitively refining a set of often-conflicting criteria to achieve the best compromise. In the case of a transportation system, size, maneuverability, cost, esthetic appeal, ease of use, stability, safety, and speed are not necessarily all in accordance with each other; for example, see Hall et al., (2013). Priorities can change within the lifetime of a product and vary within markets and cultures. Cost minimization may call for compromises on material usage and manufacturing methods. These considerations form part of the optimization of the product producing the best or most acceptable compromise between the desired criteria.

A traditional engineering design process comprises a series of often sequential steps, beginning with defined requirements or an opportunity and proceeding through ideation, synthesis, analysis, and optimization, to production. This process can be controlled by a series of gate reviews in coordination with the stakeholders and the process can be iterative with phases being revisited when rework is recognized as necessary. This type of process can lead to bottlenecks in activity and a tendency to stick to a particular suboptimal solution as so much time and effort have already been allocated to it.

The range of optimization tools used in design is reviewed by Roy et al. (2008). Multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO), for example, combines tools and approaches from a number of disciplines in order to tackle the refinement of a set of parameters for a given problem area in order to deliver the best compromise between those parameters, and it has been widely applied in aerospace applications. A key characteristic of multidisciplinary design optimization is that the solution is better than that obtained by optimizing each of the parameters sequentially. The approach is resource-intensive in terms of computational power, however the Moore's law enhancement of processing means that this is not a hindrance to application of the approach. Optimization approaches and numerical strategies typically employed have included decomposition, approximation, evolutionary and mimetic algorithms, response surface methodologies, reliability, and multiobjective. The METUS methodology (METUS, 2012), for example, has been used in Airbus development programs to help provide a holistic approach to product development, covering the phases of conception and optimization of product architecture, visualization, and integration of partners in the supply