Concept Sketch:

Descriptions
ARSP, a design consultant firm we are contacted by the client to design and select the appropreate
material for the manufacturing of a vehicle shed to be made from either plastic or metal that meet the
requirements as stated. The designed shed is assemble from 4 different main components including 1
ground piece and 3 curved pieces making up a semi circle attached together by a bolt. The additional
feature is a handle for the purpose of easy operation and an additional lock can also be added to improve
the securitiy of the stored vehicle.

Translation of requirments
As an engineer we have to consider the impact of the designed product on the environment which mean
our material for manufacturing has to have low carbon footprint, low enbodiement energy, high recyclable
level and can be repurposed at the end of its service life. The selected material must meet the mechnical
requirements stated which has to have an adequate stiffness above 50 GPa and strenght above 90 MPa.
The vehicle shed must be light in weight which mean lower density material is preffered, and we also need
to consider the cost of the material as the shed has to be cheap. The shed must be able to protect the
vehicle from various weather condition including watertight and ultraviolent resistance (UVR) properties of
the material against harmful radiation.

Research:
Mouldability
Mouldability is a type of material processiblity, it refers to the ease or difficulty in which material can be
shaped by processes such as injection moulding, extrusion, blow molding, thermoforming, or compression
moulding. Based on CES Edupack software the definition of moulabiliity only targeted 2 specific material
groups which are polymers and elastomers, but not metal. Therefore we will not use mouldability in the
process of metal selection, so we will be selecting appropriate metal based on their castability and
formability, which are other form of processibiltiy.

Mechanical properties
Metal group is gennerally known to have higher strength and stiffness compare to plastic, according to the
constraint there are no polymers or elastomers that have the strength and stiffness as required. Therefore
we will not consider the mechanical properties limit for plastic but the higher stiffness and strength is
prefered.
 Local condition
Local considerations are taken to account this include the Ultraviolent level in New Zealand, as the target
market of the vehicle shed will be in New Zealand. According to World Health Organisation, New Zealand is
one of the few countries that received the least UV radiation at the level of less than 2500J/m^2 compare
to the rest of the world.
Since the level of radiation in New Zealand in general is low we have decided to add another constraint to
narrow the potential materials list. The additional constriant required all material to have an acceptable
tolerent to rural atmospheres, CES Edupack defines rural area as those area that are free of emissions and
large-scale industry and remote from saltwater and spray. This constraint is suitable considering the
expected environment where the vehicle shed is going to be used.
We are also interested in selecting the material that are locally available to reduce transportation cost
which will lead to reduction of the overall cost of the manufacturing process.

Eco-selection
As an engineer we are responsible for the impact of the design product on the surrounding environment,
making sure the end result is harmless to the environment and to be produced from a sustainable
resources. The material selected for the designed shed should be made from non endangered element and
sustanable resources in oder to promote sustainability of the future. In the process of material selection
we will unlikely to consider material that are on the endangered element list (Appendix 1)
The carbon footprint of the material selected should be 0 or to the minimum among its material group.
The carbon footprint relate to the energy required for recycling, repurpose and also the embodiment
energy required. Prefered material should have the least impact on the environment.

Density and cost

As metal and plastic material groups have a large range when it comes to their density and cost, therefore
we decided to compare the potential materials in the process of subjective ranking to select a highest
ranked material. Material with lower density (kg/m^3) and cost per kg is highly preffered.

Subjctive ranking
After we had a look at the constraint and perform reasearches, a decision is made which is the subjective
ranking process of the metal and plastic should be done separately with constaints applied only when
appropriate.
Below is a selective risk where the limit of the constraint is mentioned and the selection critaria is applied
when appropriate, the table is used to guide us in the computer aided selection process of one metal and
one plastic.

Selection
Selection Critaria Limit Metal Plastic

Price <$10/kg YES YES

Stiffness Young’s >50GPa YES NO

Strength Tensile>90MPa YES NO

Rural atmosphere Acceptable YES YES

Formabiltiy 2 YES NO

Castability 2 YES NO
Mouldablity 3 NO YES

UVR resistance Fair to Excellent YES YES

Computer aided selection:

Density to strength

Embodied energy to strength

Metal ranking Cast iron, Cast iron, High Low alloy Low Medium
steel carbon steel
Ductile gray carbon steel carbon steel

Price ($) 0.439 0.439 0.992 1.08 0.92 1.01

Strength (MPa) 620 280 1095 1095 925 805

Stiffness (GPa) 173 109 208 208 208 208

Processability 5+2=7 5+2=7 3+5=8 2+4=6 3+5=8 3+5=8

Density (kg/m^3) 7250 7250 7900 7900 7900 7900

Total score 2 -1 3 1 4 2

Plastic ranking (CA) (PC) (PHA, PHB) (PLA) (TPS)

Price ($) 6.62 3.83 9.92 7.53 7.09

Strength (MPa) 38 62 38 59 19

Stiffness (GPa) 1.8 2.2 2.4 3.4 0.87

Environmental effect Yes No Yes Yes Yes

Mouldability 4 5 5 5 5

UVR resistance Fair Fair Good Good Fair

Density (kg/m^3) 1300 1210 1250 1240 1280

Total score 1 2 2 3 0

Discussion:
We have used the CES Edupack software to generate the graph above, we limit each material group
according to the selection criteria we provided earlier for each group. We can shortlist all the materials
down to 6 metal and 5 plastic material. There are some selection criteria that we didn’t consider because
they have the same properties among the potential material this include, embodiment energy, local and
global availability, UVR, non-endangered element and environmental impact. We only chose the criteria
that applied for the selection process.
Metal: There are 6 metal that have met the requirements including cast iron ductile and gray, high carbon
steel, low carbon steel, medium carbon steel and low alloy steel. After subjective ranking the metal that
score the highest is low carbon steel. Low carbon steel is high in strength, stiffness, locally available,
recyclable, low carbon footprint, good processability, high UV resistance and moderate density. The cost is
low compare to all other material and moderate compare to cast iron and other steel material. The
properties of Low carbon steel make it the most suitable metal to produce the vehicle shed as it meets the
requirement best.
Plastic: There are 5 polymers that have met the requirements including Cellulose polymers,
Polycarbonate, Polyhydroxyalknoates, Polylactide and starch-based thermoplastics. The subjective ranking
process suggested that Polylactide (PLA) is the most suitable plastic for fitting the purpose of the
requirement, but a disadvantage of PLA is cost. Nevertheless, PLA has many advantages as it is one of the
material of its group with highest strength and stiffness, recyclable, available locally, biodegradable, UV
resistance and low in density compared to metal. These properties making Polylactide the most suitable
material for the manufacturing of vehicle shed.
Discussions:

Steel and iron are locally sourced material, and polymers and elastomers can also be purchased locally.