Introduction to Engineering
Design
GET 1000 – Introduction to Engineering
Design vs. Engineering Design
• Design
• A plan to produce something
• Does not necessarily need to meet any specific objectives
or constraints
Design vs. Engineering Design
• Engineering design
• Solves a problem/achieves clients’ objectives
• Follows a systematic process (rather than trial and error!)
• Designers generate multiple design alternatives before
selecting a final design for prototype fabrication
Design vs. Engineering Design
• Engineering design process is systematic
• Does not mean it is not creative! But a process is
followed…
Engineering Design
• Engineering design not always easy…. Why?
• Design problems can be:
• Ill –structured
• Solutions are not obtained by applying a single formula
• Open –ended
• Several acceptable solutions which requiring selecting the “best”
one
• Need to take into account manufacturability, budget,
environmental impact, safety etc.
Engineering Design
Process
Understand Stage (i.e. Design
Requirements)
• Decide on the requirements of the design
• Create a list
• Must satisfy all customer needs
• Example: What would be the design
requirements for a cell phone case?
Understand Stage (i.e. Design
Requirements)
List design requirements for a cell phone case
as a class…
Ideate Stage (Brainstorm Design
Ideas)
• Brainstorming design ideas could take
more than one form:
• Written description
• Hand drawn sketch
• Computer aided design (CAD) model
• Note: Hand drawn sketch most common
way to present a design idea
• Do not limit ideas at this point
• Important to consider as many possible designs as
Ideate Stage Cont.
• Example: design sketch for a mouthguard to
detect concussion in football (or other) athletes
Evaluate Stage
• List strengths and weaknesses of each design
• Use a design evaluation matrix to ‘rate’ designs
• i.e. for the design of a specialized wheelchair to give user,
with limited upper body mobility, the ability to access books
etc. stored behind chair
Design Points Design 1 Design 2 Design 3
Requireme Available
nt
Ease of 15 7 12 10
installation
of
mechanism
Ease of use 20 Etc.
Cost 10
Safe over 30
repeated
uses
Evaluate Stage
• Below is an example of a design evaluation
matrix for a vocal cord surgical stabilizer
Evaluation Stage
• Select final design (one with highest score)
• But implement more than one plan for risk mitigation
Prototype and Test Stage
• Create detailed CAD drawings
• Build physical model (manufacturing should yield
required properties…)
• Conduct testing
• ease of assembly
• strength
• safety
• durability
• Use mathematical/computer models to simulate
• Is the design process over after the
testing stage?
A few words on manufacturing a
prototype…
• Manufacturing process should yield required end
properties of product
• i.e. strength
• Example: cell phone case
• Needs to have good impact properties (i.e. not fracture if dropped)
• Need to think about this when choosing fabrication technique
• If we chose 3D printing of case, how would we set up printing
parameters?
Examples of Engineering Failures
• Failure could be design related or ethics related
or both…
• We will talk more about engineering ethics in a
future class
• Ford Pinto
• Gas tank placement made it susceptible to explosion in the
event of a rear collision
• Poor engineering and ethics
Examples of Engineering Failures
Cont.
• Space shuttle challenger
• Rubber O-ring seals were installed between each fuel
segment in rocket booster
• Seal not tested in extreme cold
• At this low temp, O-ring properties changed (stiffened) and
failed to seal joint
• Pressurized burning gas escaped the booster and caused
failure of an adjacent tank
Examples of Engineering Failures
Cont.
• Bridge failures
• Silver Bridge – spanned the Ohio River between Ohio and
West Virginia
• Failure of a suspension chain due to a small defect
• Bridge carrying higher loads that it was originally designed
• Poor maintenance