Chapter 1 The design process ‘Material selection and design are integrated term in the development of any product with competitive cost. It is dificult to select appropriate material for any product design without having the knowledge on the importance of material selection in design. ‘This chapter thus gives an overview on the new product development activities and some basic features of material selection. Several new case concepts on the development of product are also introduced, Learning outcomes After learning this chapter students should be able to do the following: ¢ Explain the importance of material selection and design 4 Idontify the activities for a now product development 4 Describe features of materials selection “Design” is one of those words that mean all things to all people. Every man- ‘ufsctured thing, from the most typical cup of Lea to a spaccerafl, qualies, in some way, as a design, ‘This course is about engineering design and tho role fof materials in it. Mechanical components have mass; they carry load; they conduct heat and cloctricity; they are exposed to wear and to corrosive envi- ronments; they are made of one or more materials; they have shape; and they ‘must be manufactured. This course describes how these activities are related. ‘The selection of the correct material for a design is a key step in the process because it can improve the service performance and is the crucial decision that links with a working design, Materials and manufacturing process that convert ‘the material into a useful part underpin all of engineering design. There is a ditcet relationship between material selection and design especially the design ‘configuration of the part, Therefore, it is important to deal these two ( mato- ‘al selection and design) together. Design engineer should identify application requirements such as mechanical, thermal, environmental, chemical etc. At the ‘same time, st is also important to remember that this relationship is only at ‘tho primary level but it is an integral part of the design process. A good «x ample is that, a product consist of components which in turn made out of one ‘or more parts whereby simple part consist of only one material. Tn that case, ‘materials selection is performed for simple parts. When several parts of ‘8 component for some reasons ate to be made out of the sarae material, this 12 CHAPTER 1, THE DESIGN PROCESS is performed by adding this as a separate requitement followed by the analysis of the parts together with the simple part. Therefore, materials selection and design should fulfill all the requizements together and suit each other in order to have excellent and reliable product 1.1 The role of the materials engineer in design ‘The role of the materials enginoer in the design and manufacture of today's highly sophisticated products is varied, complex, exciting, and always changing, mainly because of materials and their performance under service conditions However, materials selection specialists have been practicing their art since the beginning of recorded time. Nowadays, the role of the materials selection ex- pert has evolved. When we think of materials sclection specialists, we think of those who have been formally trained as metallurgical or materials engineer But as discussed below, there are many more engineers involved in materials selection than those with the title metallurgist, materials engincer, or materials scientist. Therefore, it is becoraing essential to develop much closer working relationship between those who design a component and those who advise the designer on materials selection, In fact, the most efficient structural designs are now generated by, incorporating form the beginning, the complex properties of ‘modern enginvered materials into the design synthesis step (matching form to faction), ‘The actual selection of a material to satisfy a design need is effectively pes formed every day in literally dozen of different ways by poople of many different backgrounds. Te selection process can range from simply re-epecifying @ pre viously used material (or one used by a competitor) through finite clement analyses or modelling routines to precisely identify property requirements. Ad~ ditionally, the selection may be done by someone formally trained in metallurgy and materials science or by designers themselves. There is no unique individual role when it comes to materials selection. ‘Today, the selection of the material and its processing, product design, cost, availability, recyeleability, and performance in final product form have become inseparable, As a result, more and more companies are forming integrated prod~ + development teams to ensure that all needed input is obtained conewrvently, the integration of material, provess, and product design relies on individuals who aze trained in materials selection and can work in a team environment. Often, itis the materials specialist, famaliar with the Lrequent, conflicting needs of design, production, and marketing, who can assume the role of mediator to focus on the final product. Worldwide, the vast majority of manufacturing firms are small and cannot afford the lucury of a formally trained materials sciontist or material selection specialist. Rather, they have individuals trained in many areas, one of which is ‘materials. In a smaller enterprise, these individuals actually select materials as ‘a part of their daily design activity. An understanding of these decisions might assist in designing and making the part completely.1.2, PRODUCT DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES 1.2 Product design and development in the in- dustrial enterprise ‘Thousand of different products are being used every day, from telephones to bikes and drinks cans to washing machines. However, it ie vital to think how ‘thoy work or the way they are mado. Bvery product is design in a particular ‘way and as such, product analysis enables to understand the important materi- als, processing, economic and aesthetic decisions which are required before any’ product can be manufactured ‘The role of engincering design in a manufacturing firm is to transform rela tively vague marketing goals into specific information needed to manufacture a product or machine that will make the fim a profit. This information is in the form of drawings, computer-aided design (CAD) data, notes, instructions, and s0 forth, Product design and development involve interdiseiplinary activities with eon tributions from different segments of an industrial enterprise including design, ‘materials and manufacturing, finance, legal, sales, and marketing. This is bo- ‘cause of satislying the technical requirements, a successful product should also bbe acsthetically pleasing, safe to use, economically competitive, and compliant with logal and environmental constraints. ‘The total development effort depends on the complexity of the product, and project teams can consist of a few people working for a few days or weeks on a siraple product like a hand tool to several hundred people working for several ‘months or even years on a complex product like a motorear or an airplane. ‘The cost of development can range from a few hundred dollars for a simple product to millions of dollars for a complex product A product design usually starts as a concept that, if feasible, develops into a design and then a finished product. While each engineering product has its awn individual character and its owa sequence of development events, the following seven phases can be identified in a variety of product design and development projects 1. Tdentifcation of ness, feasibility study, and concept selection 2. Systemlovel design, detail design, and selection of material and process 4 Testing and refinement 4. Manufacturing the product 5. Launching the product 6. Selling the product 7, Planning fr its retirement ‘The overall goal of this chapter is to introduce the spectrum of activities ‘that are normally involved in different product development phast4 CHAPTER 1, THE DESIGN PROCESS 1.2.1 Identification of needs Market research ‘Market research involves a survey to evaluate competing products and their ‘main characteristics in addition to identifying the customer novds. Elements of ‘the markot resoarch include the following: 1, The range of foatures and technical advantages and disadvantages of ex: isting products, the mechanism of their operation, and the materials and processes used in making them, 2, Past and anticipated market growth rate and expected market share by. value and volume 3. The number of companies entering and leaving the market over the past {ow yoars and reasons for those movements. 4, The reasons for any modifications that have been carried out recently and the effect of new technology on the product, 5. Patent or license coverage and what improvements can be introduced over the existing products. 6, Profile of the prospective costumers (Income, age, sex, etc.) and their ‘eed in the area covered by the product under consideration, 7. Ranking of costumer needs in the order of their importance, 8, How long will it take for the competition to produce a competitive prod uct?” ‘The preceding information is essential for determining the rate of production, plant capacity, and financial and economie evaluation of the proposed product Product analysis ‘The frst task in product analysis is to become familiar with the product! What does it do? How does it do it? What does it look like? All these question, and ‘moro, need to be asked before a product can be analyzed. However, the most important question for us i about the obvious mechanical and ergonomics requirements, let's take an example of a bike ‘© What is the function of a bike? ‘© How does the function depend on the type of the bike (e.g, racing, ox ‘about-town, or childs bike}? 4 How is st made to be easily maintained? What should it cose? 4 What has it boon mace comfortable to side? # How do mechanical components work and interact? It this exercise is done for various products, certainly one can ascertain something, interesting,1.2, PRODUCT DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES System and components ‘There are two main types of product ~ those that only have one component (e.g, a spatula) and those that have many components (e.g., a bike). Products with many components are called systems. In product analysis, itis preferably to start with the whole system. However, to understand various materials and ‘processes itis required to ‘pull it apart’and think about each component as well and finally, analyze the function in mote detail and draft a design specification, Customer needs and product specification dentification of needs and customer views is an important fist step im the development and design of a new product, The house of quality (HOQ) is a structured process for translating customer requirements and market research, into quantifiable product characteristics and specifications to be met by the product design, HOQ is diagram, resembling a house, and consist of six sections as follows. 1. Voice of the costumer isa lst of customer requiromonts from the product ‘Those are usually gathered through conversations, opinion surveys, and market research, 2, Priotitized customer requitements and the degree of the customer satisfac tion with various competing products relative to the different requirements are included in this section, This information is also based on opinion sur= voys and matkot research, 3. Voice of the company can be a list of the technical paramoters, product characteristics, from the point of view of the manufacturer in terms of ‘engineering specifications. These include measurable quantities such as ‘weight, dimensions, level of noise, power consumption, and cost. For ex- ample, a specification of “the total weight of the product must be less than 5 kg"can be based on the costumer need of a “lightweight product” and ‘the observation that the lightest competing product is 5 kx Similarly, a specification of “average time to unpack and assemble the product is less ‘than 22 mincan be based on a customer need of “the product is easy to assemble’ and the observation that the competing product needs 24 min to unpack and assemble. ‘The voice of the company can also include nontechnical parameters such as look and feel of the product, fashion, the type of prospective customer, and the culture of society in which the product will be sold. 4, Interrelation matzix cortelates the eustomer requirements with a technical parameter based on inputs from items 1, 2, and 3. The correlation between ‘one of the customer requirements and one of the engineering specifications cab Bik (9 points), medium (3 points), low (1 point), or none (zero points) Correlation matrix, roof of the house, shown how the technical parameters support or impede one another. When an improvement in one parameter Teas to an improvement in another, (~) sign is given to indicate support One the other hand, when the improvement leads to a deterioration in6 CHAPTER 1, THE DESIGN PROCESS another, a (.) sign is given to indicate trade-off, The roof shows where ‘9 design improvement could lead to a range of henefits and also focuses attention on the areas where compromise have to be made, 6, Design targets give the conclusions drawn from the data in other sections of the HOQ. This section gives the relative importance of the technical parameters in meeting customers needs, compares the product with the ‘competition, and indicates the level of performance to be achieved in the new product. 1.2.2 Concept selection Product specifications are then used to develop different product concepts that satisfy customer needs, Some of the concepts may be generated by the develop- ‘ment team as novel solutions, but others may be based on existing solutions or patents, The different concepts ate then compared to select the most promising option. The Pugh method is useful as initial concept-screening tool. Economic analysis ‘The economic analysis section of the feasibility study normally provides an eco initial investment that will nomic model that estimates the development cos ‘be needed, manufacturing costs, and income that will probably result for each of the selected concepts. The economic analysis also estimates sources and cost of financing based on the rate of investment and schedule of payment. The model should allow for a "what if" analysis to allow the product development team to assess the sensitivity of the product coast to changes in different elements of cost, Selecting an optimum solution ‘The final stage of the feasibility study identifies an optimum solution, Selection is usually based on econornics as well as technical specification, since the product is expected to satisfy the customer needs at an acceptable price. This process involves trade-offs between a variety of diverse factors, such as 1 Customer needs 4 Physical characteristics of size and weight 4 Expected life and reliability under service conditions # Bnorgy needs # Maintenance requirements and operating costs «© Environmental impact # Quantity of production 4 Expected detivery date ‘A quantitative method that can be used in concept selection gives weight to product specifications according to their importance to the function of the product and preference of the customer. The total score of each concept is determined by the woightod sum of the ratings of its characteristics.1.3, MECHANICAL DESIGN 7 ‘© Optimize performance and cost © Fal choice of material and process Figure 1.1: The design flow chart. The design proceeds from the identification of a market need, clatifed as a set of design requirement, through concept, embodiment, and detailed analysis to a product specification 1.3. Mechanical design ‘As aforementioned, the starting point of a design is a market need or a new idea, the end point is the full specification of a product that fills the need or embodies the idea. A need must be identified before it can be met. It is essential to define the need preciscly- that is, to formulate a need statement, ‘often in this form: "A devise is required to perform a task;"expressed as a set of design requirements, Whiters on design emphasize that the need statement should be solution-netzal (that is, it should not imply how the task will be performed) to avoid narrow thinking constrained by preconceptions, Between ‘the need statement and the product specification lie the stages shown in Figure Ld: concept, embodiment, and detailed design, explain in a moment. ‘The product itself i called a technical system. A technical system consists of sub-assemblies and components, put together in a way that performs the roquired task, as in the breakdown of Figure 1.2. It is like describing a cat (the aystem) as made up of one head, one head, one body, one tail, four legs, and so on (the subassemblies), each composed of components: fernurs, quadriceps, ‘laws, fur. This decomposition is a useful way to analyse an existing design, but it is not of much help in the design process itself, that is devising, new designs.8 CHAPTER 1, THE DESIGN PROCESS (Component 4.1 Subset |, Component 12) ‘Component 1.3. (Conponet2} Teommict Pf Sibemenby 1 component 22) Component 2.3 (Component 9.4 I ‘Subassembi sgemtly |! Component 3.2 (Component 9.) igure 1.2: The analysis of a technical system as a breakdown into assemblios and components. Material and process solection is at the component level Better, for this propose, is one based on the ideas of systems analysis, which considers the inputs, flows, and outputs of information, energy, and materials, as in Figure 1. This design converts the inputs into the outputs. An electric motor, for example, converts clectrical into mechanical energy; a frogging press takes and reshapes material; « burglar alarm collects information and converts it to noise In this approach, the system is broken down into connected sub-systems, each fof which performs a specific fametion, as shown in Figure 1.3. The resulting arrangement is called the function structure or function decomposition of the system, ‘The design proceeds by developing concepts to perform the function in the function structure, each based on a working principle. At this, the conceptual design stage, all options are open: The designer considers alternative concepts and the ways in which those might be separated or combined. The next stage, embodiment, takes the promising concepts and seeks their operation at an ap” “ing the components and selecting materials proximate level, ‘This involves ‘hat will perform properly in the ranges of stress, environment, and tempera ‘vure suggested by the design requiroments, examining the implication for por formance and cost. The ersbodiment stage ends with a feasible layout, which is then passed to the detailed desig stage. Here specifications for each component are drawn up. Critical components may be subjected to precise mechanical or ‘thermal analysis. Optimaization methods are applied to components and groups1.3, MECHANICAL DESIGN ° Figure 1.3: ‘The function structure is the system approach to the analysis of ‘ technical system, seen as transformation of energy, materials, and informa tion (signals). This approach, when elaborated, helps structure thinking about alternative designs of component to maximize performance, A final choice of geometry and mate. ‘al is made and the methods are analysed and costed. The stage ends with a detailed production specification ‘Thus a key part of design, and of selecting materials for it, ir dexibilty, the ability to explore alternatives quickly, keeping the big picture as well as ‘the details im mind. Our focus in later chapters is on the selection of materials and processes, where exactly the same need arises. This requires some kind of ‘mapping of the universe of materials and processes to allow quick surveys of alternative while still providing detail when it is needed,