Design Of Mechanical Systems: Iterative

Process
Modern design is a complex activity that combines creativity, scientific and
engineering knowledge and is based on team work, high-tech communication,
proper management, interpersonal relations, stable supply chain, appropriate means
of manufacturing, and so on. Various models of the design process demonstrate that
it is iterative, meaning that depending on the results obtained on each step, the
designer may need and is capable to go back to previous steps for additional
research, analysis or design revision. In the diagram you can see the steps of the
iterative engineering design process, from introduction of a customer’s demand to
delivery of the final product.

he big picture of engineering design includes the following main phases:

1. Analysis of the problem, or task clarification. In a design project there is always a

customer who requests your service. The task (or client’s needs) analysis may
takes hours of discussions between customer and design team, with a Statement
of Work (SoW) as an outcome, a document with the value of a contract, as it is
legally binding. Sometimes projects don’t need SoW; in this case you should
formulate a Problem Statement, which usually is a part of the SoW, and it will
serve as a starting point for further product development.

2. Conceptual design. Based on the Problem Statement (or SoW), you should
formulate the client's need in terms of functions (systems) and subfunctions
(subsystems), defines conditions and assumptions, according to the customer's
needs and resources. These conditions are stated in the design specifications, or
design specs. Then, a vast set of alternative solutions is generated using
 creativity-enhancing methods, such as brainstorming and others. The set of
proposed alternative solutions is thoroughly analyzed and evaluated, until the
final set is identified as the candidate solutions that meets either all or acceptable
number of requirements and specifications, with adopted constraints. The
selected alternatives can be presented in the form of free-hand sketches or/and
as preliminary 3D CAD models. In conceptual design exact geometry and
detailed selection of the product components are not required, all attention is
given to functionality and specific characteristics needed for the evaluation of
different design solutions.

3. Embodiment design. Out of the models produced in phase 2, preliminary design

models, using CAD software, are generated in this stage. Off-the-shelf
components and materials for the other components are selected from
catalogues or on relevant web sites. However, while being more detailed than the
conceptual design, the embodiment design still may not have the final geometry
of the custom-design components, and the choice of used materials may not be
finalized yet, although you undertake appropriate preliminary simulations and
analyses.

4. Detailed design. This phase comes right after the embodiment design. Here, you
must conduct all simulations and computer analyses needed for the final
selection of materials, tuning-up the shape, geometry, methods of production and
assembling, and manufacturing tolerances. You finalize all parameters of the
selected design solution, based on the calculations and simulation accomplished
at the previous phase and rectified in this one. All designed parts are given their
final shape and dimensions. A set of manufacturing drawings is produced
including:

 The detailed drawings of all custom-designed parts;

 Assembly and sub-assembly drawings of the system and sub-systems;

 Bill of Materials (Part List) of all custom-designed parts and off-the-shelf

components;

 Title blocks on each drawing.

The deliverable of the design process is a design report, containing: a summary of
the need and requirements that initiated the project; a brief description of the short
list of alternative design solutions considered; a detailed description of the selected
design solution, with justification of the decision made; the manufacturing drawings;
tables; plots and conclusions resulted from analysis; estimated budget to prototype
the designed product; and any other piece of information needed to understand the
proposed solution.

Another type of the design process models represents design activities as a

straightforward process leading from initial customer’s need to final mass production.
However, in this case extra feedback connections should be still anticipated. In the
following figure, the left brunch shows typical connections between design steps that
may occur during standard design process. This means that normally the designer
would switch between critical points of development that originate new ideas, test
data, simulation or research results, etc. However, since engineering design is a
creative process, sometimes with many unknowns, the need for revision of past
achievements may arise literally on any step of the design project. Therefore, on the
right side of the diagram the brunch shows potential connections of each
development step with any other step of the same project. Even field tests of the final
product may call for revisions of the obtained design solutions.