Advanced Method in Mechanical Design

lecture notes

class of the the Master Program

in
Mechanical Engineering Design

prof. Francesca Campana

room 24 @ Dip. di Ingegneria Meccanica e Aerospaziale

francesca.campana@uniroma1.it

official webpage

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 Introduction

The aim of the class is understanding the design workflow, its methods and tools useful
to achieve products that are well defined according to the client-company-community
requirements. Exercises will be carried out through computational and CAD-CAE
software. At the end of the course students will be able to set up a design workflow
plan, choosing the most relevant requirements and design approaches, for any product
of the industrial sector. In addition, basics on the practical use of some CAD-CAE
software will be also given.

It will be organized in theory lessons and practical exercises that may ask for laptop.

Each student is asked to join a Design Team mad of maximum 3 persons. This team will
carry out a design project as assigned by the teachers.

The final exam will consist with:

• Final report of the design project

• Presentation of the final report made through a ppt presentation of 10 minutes.
All the team members must be present. It can be made during the exam session.
It does not matter id all the students are registered for the exam.
• Written exam about the overall syllabus

Necessary prerequisites are: solid and applied mechanics, machine design,

manufacturing and technical drawings (2D and 3D).

Advisable knowledge: Matlab, Finite Element Analysis, CAD systems.

Office hours for explanations and suggestions: by appointment.

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 Syllabus
Part I - Design workflow

Design meaning, activities and related workflow according to product lifecycle

management and concurrent engineering. Overview of general principles and specific
tools for conceptual and executive design. Exercises

Part II - CAD and Reverse Engineering

CAD systems. Product Data Management, Product Lifecycle management. Solid and
surface modelling. New and advanced CAD approaches. Shape design and system
arrangement: general criteria and methods. File formats for data exchange. Exercises.
Reverse Engineering: acquisition methods, post-processing, examples and exercises.

Part III - Virtual prototyping

Introduction to CAE systems. Multiboby simulation, Finite Element Analysis (FEA),

Topology optimization, Multiphysics, Ergonomic analysis. The role of simulations in
Design for "x" strategy. Examples for Design for manufacturing and assembly. Exercises

Part IV - Optimization methods for design

Probabilistic approach: source of randomness. Elements of Design for Reliability. Design

of Experiments. Robust Design. Response Surface. DOE versus DACE. Numerical
optimization through FEA. Topological Optimization. Examples for Additive
Manufacturing. Exercises

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 Part I - Design workflow

1.1 Design objectives in industrial environment

1.2 Definition of the requirement list

1.3 Design activities

1.4 From functional analysis to preliminary lay-out

1.5 From the concept design to the executive lay-out: design criteria

1.6 Tools and methods to organize the design activities.

1.7 Exercises

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 Part I - Design workflow

Topics: Design meaning, activities and related workflow according to product lifecycle
management and concurrent engineering. Overview of general principles and specific
tools for conceptual and executive design.

1.1 Design objectives in industrial environment

For a mechanical engineer designing means to define a component or an

assembly able to work under assigned conditions with the specified
performances. It is related to the definition of its physical behaviours (kinematic,
dynamic, structural, chemical, electromagnetic, ....), its shape and then its
manufacturability. Defining "assigned conditions", "specified performances" and
evaluating shapes and physical behaviours that must be derived from them
cannot be simple due to many interacting aspects and constraints, first cost
reduction. To give a general and methodological approach to the set-up of the
design requirements, it is necessary to understand the scenario where the
engineers usually works.
Design is a step of the industrial process named product design and
development. A general component or assembly from the enterprise point of
view is a product. Product design and development starts according to a
customer need that can be satisfied by industrial earnings. Developing new
products in an industrial environment is a complex task that involves many
efforts from different departments (management, marketing, technical depts,
manufacturing, ...) and a clear understanding of the needs of the costumers. It is
true for all kind of products; it does not matter if they concern with niche market
or large mass production.
The enterprise starts the development according to its business strategy after a
marketing survey and a technological study of feasibility. Product-Process design
gathers all this information to define and produce the component/system.
Figure 1 summarizes this concept adding another actor: the community (or
society) where the product is going to be used. The community may constrain
different aspects of the product by means of culture, trends and common sense
(e.g. type of use, shape, market spreading); the society, in the meaning of state,
may constrain specific technical aspects by laws and standards.
According to the type of product (that means the type of enterprise) marketing
survey, technology feasibility and community constraints have different
relevance. In some cases, a specific dept. for technology feasibility is present
(e.g. research and development dept. in chemical industries), in other cases
standards and laws strictly define technical requirements (e.g. nuclear sector or
aeronautical).

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 The design process accomplishes these needs through the organization of the
work that must start from the definition of the requirement list. The requirement
list defines all the needs and the technical aspects that are necessary for design.
To give a general procedure to define the requirement list, needs and technical
aspects are set in two classes: internal and external properties.

Figure 1 - Actors who constrain Product-Process Design

Internal properties are technical requirements of the product (power, efficiency,

maximum speed, acceleration, strength, reliability, ...). They are mainly defined
as performance values of the product and they represent part of the costumer's
needs besides part of the technical constraints. For example, let analyse the
performance values of a racing car: maximum speed or acceleration time are
costumer's requests, type of engine, weight or type of transmission may be seen
as technical constraints, that are not necessarily known by costumers.
External properties summarize at glance the voice of customer, community and
standards, the requests of production, distribution, sale and service.
They define macro-categories of technical properties.
Each of them satisfies a specific costumer or enterprise’s request that may rise
during the lifecycle of the product (Figure 2).

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 Figure 2 - Product Life Cycle Scheme
Pursuant to this reasoning the external properties are assigned to each step of
the lifecycle as reported in table 1.

Table 1 - Introduction to External Properties

when what who cares about
custumer enterprise community
Use functionalities and performance x x
ergonomics x
reliability x
maintenance x x
safety x x
aesthetics x
fitness to standards and laws x x x
environmental sustainability x x x
Distribution fitness to transportation x x
and sale fitness to storing x
Production manufacturability x
fitness to assembly/disassembly x
Disposal and recycling x x
End of life
cost x x

More in details their definitions and basic annotations are the following reported
in table 2.

Table 2 - External Properties: Definition

Property Definition Annotation
functionalities The set of functions that the Some of them are requested by
component/assembly must do costumer other of them must be
and have to work properly. identify by the engineer to make
the system work (e.g. engine
cooling, frameworks, ...)

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 Functionality is trictly related to
performance, thus it can be seen
as part of performance
performance Target values and admissible Some of them are requested by
domains for the numerical costumer other of them must be
evaluation of the functionalities identify by the engineer to make
the system work with quality
ergonomics "Ergonomics (or human factors) is Property related to all the
the scientific discipline concerned aspects (functions and
with the understanding of performances) that are involved
interactions among humans and in the correct interaction
other elements of a system, and between man and system during
the profession that applies its use. It can be distinguished in
theory, principles, data and physical ergonomics, cognitive
methods to design in order to ergonomics and organizational
optimize human well-being and (http://erg.sagepub.com/content
overall system performance" /17/4/7.full.pdf+html)
(http://www.iea.cc/whats/index.
html)
reliability It is the probability of a system of It is a quantitative requirement,
work properly (without failures) it is strictly related to the system
in the assigned conditions with arrangement, component and
the defined duration process quality, maintenance
policy. Loss of reliability may
cause loss of safety not vice-
versa
maintenance It defines the policy of
intervention to guarantee a
proper reliability
safety It concerns with functions and
performances related to
guarantee safety of users and
inner/out environment where the
system acts.
aesthetics It defines the shape, finishing and
general perceived aspects of the
system in relationship with users
and environment
fitness to It obliges to analyse and respect
standards and all the standards related to the
laws lifecycle of the system and under
the enterprise responsability
environmental It concerns with the reduction of Recently introduced it confirms
sustainability pollution and bad use of the that external properties are a
natural goods. results of the technical and
community development
fitness to It is related to the internal
transportation properties that allow component
s transportation without damages
fitness to It is related to the internal For example think about the
storing properties that allow component internal properties asked to

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 storages without damages design methane or hydrogen
tanks, or nuclear disposal
Manufacturabili It concerns with the fitness to be It is the base of the so-called
ty produced as designed according integrated product-process
to the proper efficiency in terms design
of cost and quality
fitness to It concerns with the fitness to be
assembly/disas assembled as designed according
sembly to the proper efficiency in terms
of cost and quality
recycling It concerns with the optimization
of the material selection
according to recycling, also in
relationship with the fitness of
manufacturing and disassembly
cost It concerns with all the costs It pertains all the choices related
involved during the product to the other external properties
lifecycles
Looking at the external properties and their definitions is easy to understand that
they have correlation through their link with the internal properties. Putting
aside Functionalities and Performances that are obviously related to target
values, Ergonomics, Reliability and Aesthetics pertain to functionalities, shape,
system design, surface finish and materials. Environmental Sustainability involves
efficiency but also Recycling and Manufacturing process. Manufacturability
involves shape and material properties but also Functionalities for what concerns
with tolerances. Recycling pertains to materials and thus to Manufacturing and
strength (that means Performances). Obviously, Cost is related with all the
properties and in many cases it constrains their improvement. It includes all the
costs necessary to define the product, from the company work during the
product development to the raw material to the manufacturing and distribution.
Among them the cost related to the product development are also known as cost
of the time to market.
Time to market is the duration which is necessary to develop new products until
the completion of the product process planning, or in other words: it is the
amount of time it takes to design and manufacture a product before it is
available to buy.
During this period no incomings are earned, so it is extremely important its
optimization. During the development, cost increases exponentially as soon as
the design process becomes executive and the process planning is defined.
Changes are easier if they are made in the first part of the design development.
This consideration represents one the basis for the time to market optimization.
To reduce time to market it is necessary to avoid design changes at the end of
the product development, thus design must always start and must evolve
keeping in mind clear objectives that are able to satisfy all the required needs.
This moves the attention towards a new scheme of workflow that welcomes
parallel steps and recursive optimization, avoiding sequential steps, with final
optimizations with partial redesigns. The final aim is a harmonious growth of the

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 project "well-posed from the beginning", that means adopting a design for
quality approach.
The analysis of the product lifecycle and external properties are the two key
issue for approaching the design for quality. Enterprise competitiveness and thus
the answer to the voice of management passes through the development of
products with the highest quality/cost ratio. Increasing quality means to make
possible costumer's needs, expected or not, during the whole lifecycle. Reducing
cost means to cut wastefulness and time to market by adopting proper
methodologies and best practice. In product design and development Concurrent
or Simultaneous Engineering defines the best workflow to achieve an optimal
quality/cost ratio. It aims to join design problems of different sectors as soon as
possible. It obliges many parallel works and concurrent decisions so that
interface problems and their strategic choices (e.g. type of manufacturing) must
be faced as soon it is possible. This is necessary to reduce time to market and to
prevent a bad assessment of the lifecycle properties. In medium-large companies
it means that the product design and development is organized by different
depts. that are asked to work together to assess requirements and design
solution in many steps of the flow. In small enterprises it can mean that the
engineer must be multidisciplinary and able to prevent questions and problems
of the next step colleague!

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 1.2 Definition of a requirement list
Design starts from an economic and technical study of feasibility. The technical
study highlights the technological principle adopted to solve the required need.
The technological principle is the physical law that accomplishes the product
definition. It fixes many of the internal properties necessary to design and, by the
knowledge of the state of the art, it may gives not only a preliminary idea of
basic lay-outs but, above all, the knowledge of a possible lifecycle. By them and
by the voice of costumers the list of requirements is built1.
The list of requirements must show the set of requirements that must be
satisfied in the product, therefore implemented in the design process. From the
external properties (that means the voice of costumers, company, society, ….)
the related internal proprieties must be exploited and organized, detailing also
the numerical values for the related performances (if any). In some cases, these
values can be ranges. Often, they are called “target values”.
In Fig. 3 an overview about the steps necessary to define a list of requirements is
described. Each step can be a seen as a loop that must converge as soon as
possible.

STEPS TO DEFINE A LIST OF REQUIREMENTS

1. COLLECT voice of costumers, state of the art, standard
and technical constraints by enterprise
2. ANALYSE functionalities by costumer's point of view
and by technical point of view
3. DEFINE functionalities and performance, and their
relevant external and internal properties
4. HIGHLIGHT other external properties relevant for the
customer and their correlations with performance and
functionalities
5. DEFINE correlated internal properties for the external
ones of point 4.
6. HIGHLIGHT product-process constraints to define
manufacturability and assembly requirements
7. DEFINE correlated internal properties for the external
ones of point 6.

Figure 3 – Steps for defining a list of requirements

1
In design theory the most general approach says that the list of requirements anticipates the choice of the
technological principle that must be chosen by the engineer [REF HUBKA and Pahl]. In our opinion it is partially true in
the industrial environment: if we see together the conceptual design research and the product development from the
Company point of view, the adoption of a specific technological principle is a natural consequence of the Company
where the engineer works. In other words, if you decide to design a mechanical system to go from place A to place B
and you work for Boeing, the technological principle is already decided and it is not the same of Citroen.

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 The final aspect of a requirement list is a sort of table with rows collected
according to the external properties and associated to columns able to quantify
the detailed definition of each property by its internal properties.
To better explain how defining a list of requirements let us start from an
example. Imagine you want to design a small table for a train seat.
The voice of the costumer and the needs of the Company can be defined
according to the following:
- Design a train seat table anchored to the back. It should be opened/closed
manually and reduce the risk of downfall of things put there, it also has to be
suitable as bookrack.
- Maximum in plane size 400 x 350 mm, with height from the floor of about
800 mm.
- The system must be ergonomics, easy to be assembled and manufactured
(medium/high volume), without maintenance, safe and reliable for intensive
use.
Please notice that the train seat can be orientable: its back can rotate of max 30°
from the vertical axis (see fig. 4). Consider that this solution is found to be
preferred in the respect of a table anchored near the armrest of the seat
(solution that would make the seats less comfortable).
Starting from these considerations the 7 steps to the define the requirement list
must be follow. The results will be a recursive change of the table that at the end
will look similarly to that of table 3.

max 30

Figure 4 – train seat configuration according to the type of table that is object of the
design

In this case some external requirements have been added according to some
technical consideration (for example, ISO standard or laws must be verified).
Moreover where possible external properties have been better detailed into
internal properties (see for example functionalities and reliability).
Be careful that:
- some internal properties are not defined yet (for example the red ones in the
table). They must be defined at the end of the list of requirement set-up
- some external properties could be without related internal properties
- many internal properties are correlated with others (for example Roughness is
relevant for perception and friction, thus aesthetics and safety).

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 Table 3 – List of Requirements for a train seat table anchored to the back (red
values means that the table is not complete)
External Properties Detailed Description Values
Performances and foldable table anchored to
functionalities a train seat

in plane size 400x350 mm

height from the floor about 800 mm
consider 100 mm from the
armrest of the seats
allowed weight on the less than 20 kg
table
Maximum load for design 200 N
cantilever beam totally loaded at 100 N
the edge
maximum deflection at the edge 5 mm
completely foldable
consider that train seat can 5°-30° from the vertical
change orientation axis
capability of using as
bookrack
regulation of rotation max 120°
Ergonomics opening/closing procedure
easy to be understood
easiness for manual usage
required force minimum
ergonomics related to
positioning during usage
regulation possible (how many?)
space for objects to
prevent downfall
for glass/bottle
for book
extruded rim at the edge
easiness to be clean
avoid small pockets Width less than ??
use suitable materials
Aesthetics Good perception
Materials
Roughness
Color
according to the train equipment
Safety Avoiding unexpected
opening
Avoiding unappropriete
usage

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 Avoiding sharp edges
Avoiding cutting elements
from the mechanism
Avoiding object sliding
friction coefficient > 0,19
Reliability and Maintenance Reliable to be
opened/closed
number of clycles per year 80000 cycle/year(?)
Maintenance absent
Manufacturing & Assembly Use of standard
components
Reduced number of
components
Easiness of assembly
Standard and laws To be checked To be checked
Cost Manufacturing cost less than 40 euros

Exercise 01: As exercise please define a correlation/interaction matrix among

external and internal properties of the train-seat table.

1.3 Design activities

From the requirement list the design starts according these main steps:

1. concept design that leads to the preliminary lay-out

2. executive design that leads to the final lay-out of the assembly, sub-assemblies
and components

3. final testing and prototyping

4. process-design

According to the type of product these activities may involve one of more teams
and design depts. Each activity is structured in sub-phases that may ask for
interactions according to the principle of simultaneous engineering. Specific
technical issues, tools and methodologies, described in the next, must be applied
in each of them, so that the product withstands to continuous definition of major
details, that must be optimized concordantly to the requirement list and the
interaction matrix.
Final outputs of each activity is the design documentation, that means technical
drawings (blueprints, CAD models, exploited views, preliminary sketches) and
technical reports. Each design step has its own elective type of drawing. At the
very beginning of the conceptual design step concepts or schematically designed
sketches are made. They must highlight functionalities, their way of acting and a
general overview of the lay-out needs (how many functional districts are
necessary? How/Where do they interact?). These kind of drawings summarise
the functional analysis that represents the first part of the conceptual design.

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 After this sub-assemblies definition and design must be provided. It means that
components of each sub-assembly is defined by its shape and size according to
technical constraints due to the internal arrangement of the lay-out (physical
constraints, joint types, materials, strength,…) and to the list of requirements. In
this step CAD models are made and subsequently detailed together with the
assembly/component optimizations. Finally, when tolerances and roughness can
be defined according to functional and manufacturing constraints, technical
drawings are made together with exploded views of the assembly.
Prototyping obviously represents the necessary test phase of a mechanical
design. Generally speaking we can distinguish different levels of prototyping:
virtual prototyping, made by numerical simulations of one or more physical
behaviours (structural, electromagnetic, fluid dynamics, ergonomics, kinematic,
multiphysics,...); functional mock-up by means of rapid prototype; final
prototyping for product-process set-up. Although virtual prototyping represents
one of the most well-known approach to reduce time to market, final tests on
real components are still necessary to release a complex product. In some areas
(e.g. aerospace) experimental tests are obliged training-steps to guarantee
functionality.

1.4 From functional analysis to preliminary lay-out

Functional analysis is the first design step after the list of requirements. It is
devoted to focus the basic actions the product must do and to help the choice of
the components/sub-assemblies (also called "actuators"2) that are able to do
them. Functional analysis must obviously take care not only of the functionalities
but also of the functions related to the other external properties (e.g.
ergonomics of command interface can be made by specific visors, safety by
specific lockers, ...). It must highlight the time sequence of their actions but also
the correlations. For this reason, two schemes are usually made:
- sequential functional analysis and
- functional tree analysis.
They are complementary to accomplish respectively, time sequence and
correlation among requirements.
Sequential Functional Analysis (SFA) analyses the use of the product looking for
the temporal link among the required functionalities, including also the set-up
before and after the use (if they are necessary).
Doing so the product work can be assigned to main functions and auxiliary ones.
For example, if you are studying a washing machine, electrical wires and plugs
are ancillary to the main functions (containing clothes, adding water/soap/…,
rotating, heating, ….), as well as support everything by a structure, …

2
The term “actuator” must be preferred to "component", since it highlights a specific function, not a technical
solution, that may represent the way the actuator works. For instance I can join two metal sheets by welding, glue or
bolt = different solution define different constraints and internal properties that I must evaluate according to the lay-
out of my product.

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 This type of information is relevant to think a proper lay-out of the sub-
assemblies of the product (set of functions related in terms of time, input and
outputs can be managed as sub-assemblies).
Tree analysis of the functions looks for the functions related to the external
properties of the list of requirements. It is devoted to look for the functions that
are able to implement an external property not to look for time/input-output
relationship among functions. It starts from the top, declaring the product, then
the main leaves are the external properties and at each of them secondary
leaves are defined through specific functions able/necessary to implement that
property.

open the table easily, when you are sit down

allow stability on the
back of the seat put objects on (bottle or glass, book, mobile, …) firmly

make regolations of the slope when you read

guarantee load support
close the table easily

Figure 5 - Sequential functional analysis of the train-seat table

The functional analysis derives from the requirement list, when many
correlations among properties are present, attention must be paid to simplify
the problem and to uncouple the functions that are correlated. It means that in
this step the engineer can decide if a specific function involved in more than one
requirement is really important for only one of them. This will lead to optimize in
the next that function only according to that requirement. Final aim of the
functional analysis is to define one actuator per function and how they must
work together. Time sequence and function interactions can help to define a
preliminary actuator scheme, so that a simplified functional analysis is of the
utmost importance for a correct preliminary design.

Functional analysis describes the system in words, each function can be

technically made by different kind of actuators. Their difference can be related to
the principle of action, cost or other external properties (e.g. analyse the
function "helping to support a rotating axis reducing friction". It can be done by
crankshaft bearing, ball bearing, fluid dynamic bearings, electromagnetic
bearings, oil or other kind of materials with friction coefficient lower than that of
the shaft). To avoid wrong selections each function can be associated to many
possible actuators in a matrix called morphological table.

Rows of the table are related to the functions, columns to their specific
actuators. Each row has its own specific number of actuators, that should be
grouped by technological principles if different. The actuators must be defined
not only by its name but also by a sketch. This will help the engineer to
understand the design trends and advancement.

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manual train seat table

Performance and Aestethics

Functionalities Reliability and Maintenance Standard and laws
pleasant materials
be manual good roughness Reliable to be opened/closed To be checked
choice of different colors (see on ISO website)
able to be in the back of a seat without manteinance
guarantee stability pleasant shapes
guarantee horizontal
position
Manufacturing and
be able to be foldable Safety Assembly

able for being a rack (slope regulation) Avoiding unexpected opening Use of standard components
stop it firmly
able to support load Reduced number of components
Ergonomics Avoiding unappropriate usage
easy to be understood Easiness of assembly
easy to be opened/closed
easy to be understood Avoiding sharp edges
easy to be handle
easy to be regulated Avoiding cutting elements from the mechanism
close dangerous mechanism
necessary minimum force
use its load Avoiding object sliding
able to contain work on friction coef
firmly the objects
define edges

easy to be cleaned
reduce small pocket

Figure 6 - Example of Functional Tree Analysis (test-case of the train-seat table)

optimize material surface

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manual train seat table

Performance and Aestethics

Functionalities Reliability and Maintenance Standard and laws
pleasant materials
be manual good roughness Reliable to be opened/closed To be checked
choice of different colors (see on ISO website)
able to be in the back of a seat without manteinance
guarantee stability pleasant shapes
guarantee horizontal
position
Manufacturing and
be able to be foldable Safety Assembly

able for being a rack (slope regulation) Avoiding unexpected opening Use of standard components
stop it firmly
able to support load Reduced number of components
Ergonomics Avoiding unappropriate usage
easy to be understood Easiness of assembly
easy to be opened/closed
easy to be understood Avoiding sharp edges
easy to be handle
easy to be regulated Avoiding cutting elements from the mechanism
close dangerous mechanism

the train-seat table)

necessary minimum force
use its load Avoiding object sliding
able to contain work on friction coef
firmly the objects
define edges

easy to be cleaned
reduce small pocket
optimize material surface

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Figure 7 - Functional Tree Analysis with the highlight of connected functions (test-case of
 Fig. 08 shows an example of morphological table. It gives at glance an overview
of the solutions related to each sub-function. Fast sketches are mandatory to
give the idea of the solutions in an intuitive way.

Figure 8 - General scheme for a morphological matrix (taken from The Industrial Design
Engineering Wiki @ TU Delft http://www.wikid.eu/index.php/Morphological_chart
(last access 26/03/2017)

Through this matrix (or chart) a preliminary concept may be done selecting the
most suitable actuator for each function (concept aggregation). Obviously this is
a result of reasoning based on:

1. technical knowledge behind the actuators and the product you are designing,

2. the requirements defined in the list of requirements.

It is going to be possible that some actuators are more suitable to fulfil specific
properties than others, or may work better if associated with other particular
actuators, thus concept aggregation is a results of many considerations that must
accomplish quality, design and manufacturing constrains, besides cost. In many
cases this leads to more than one concept and to help an optimized aggregation
each actuators can be evaluated on a qualitative scale (good, sufficient,
insufficient), according to the most relevant properties of the function or
product.

Figure 9 shows an example of this practice and its role for the concept design.
Since actuators can be ranked according to their link with the external properties
two aggregation strategies can be found:

1. choice the highest ranked actuator when it is relevant for a specific property,
this can help to balance overall quality and cost;

2. choice the actuators according to the ranking of one specific property, this can
help to maximize a specific property.

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 Figure 9 - Evaluation of the solutions according to the requirements (colors represent
solutions accepted for 3 concepts)

The aggregation of the concepts is made declaring the selected actuators and
drawing a rough scheme of their position and interaction (Fig. 10 and 11). After
their drawing, the concepts must be evaluated to select the preliminary lay-out
of the concept that will be developed. Although the evaluation is based on the
priorities of the requirement list, a different result from the evaluation of the
single actuator is being expected. In fact the concept evaluation is carried out on
the overall conceptual scheme, not looking single actuators, thus it judges the
interaction and harmonization of functions and properties. To not loose time
during the concept evaluation, it is usually suggested the definition of not more
than three concepts (if more than 3 are chosen, it is better they change only
minor details).

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 Figure 10 - Example of concept definition (test-case of the train-seat table)

Figure 11 - Sketch design for concept definition (test-case device for making hot
chocolate. For exercise try to derive functional groups of these concepts)

The evaluation can be made according to a comparison with a datum (that

represents the ideal solution, that with maximum scores). Again we divide the
evaluation in terms of quality properties and cost properties. Cost properties will
take into account expected number of parts, materials, difficulties of
manufacturing and assembly. Quality in terms of relevant requirements. Also in

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 this case a qualitative evaluation is made (on three or five scores). Defining an
ideal concept as that with the maximum score in every property, each concept
can be ranked by normalizing its average score with ideal one. An overview of
the quality/cost ratio among the concepts is then made comparing their scores in
a 2D-diagram of quality versus 1/cost (fig. 12). In terms of maximum quality/cost
ratio the best concept will be that nearest to 1 along the 45° line. Different
solutions can be found assuming different weight to quality or 1/cost. The best
concept will be developed by a preliminary lay-out design that will define the
preliminary draft of the sub-assemblies and components of the product.

Figure 12 - Evaluation of concepts via datum definition

The procedure that has been described is based on the Hubka’s design
methodology [Hubka, Eder, "Theory of Technical Systems: A Total Concept
Theory for Engineering Design, Springer Verlag, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-52121-
8]. This methodology has been defined as a general approach for designing. It is
consistent with other design strategies analysed by other authors and standards.
According to Design for Quality principles, if the voice of costumers in the list of
requirements is well defined, with minor modifications it is also proposed by
other more recent authors and specific methods like Axiomatic Design and
Quality Function Deployment.

1.5 From the concept design to the executive lay-out: design criteria for shapes
and sizes.

Concept schemes, also called system architecture, are made of symbolic sketches
that give a general idea of the actuators and their interactions. The mechanical
design of the optimal concept must be carried out according to the specific
design criteria of each sub-assembly of the product. To develop an assembly
from conceptual to its executive design, two classes of technical expertise are
required:

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 1. knowledge about drawing optimal topologies3, shapes and functional
interfaces.

2. knowledge about design criteria for section sizes (longitudinal lengths are
usually defined by requirement constraints or interface design).

From the first one the preliminary lay-out is drawn. It defines 3D shapes, physical
constraints and functional couplings. It defines how power is transmitted and
then the application points of the forces, thus the kinematic and the stress-strain
conditions of the structures. From the second one, the preliminary design is
developed to find its lengths. In other words, preliminary design is the design
step in which shapes and lengths of the actuators are developed.

1.5.1 Defining shapes: basic rules

Basic classes on solid mechanics and mechanical engineering explain the reason
why these solutions must be preferred [R.g. Budynas, J. K. Nisbett, “Shigley’s
Mechanical Engineering Design – 9th Edition” – MacGraw Hill]. Some practical rules,
and related common mistakes, are shown in table 4.

Table 4 – Practical rules for shapes and loads

DO DO NOT
Avoid load outside the plane
of the structure.
Adopt wireframe with loads
applied on the vertexes.

Avoid deviation of the stress

flow, especially in presence
of joints
Avoid stress-concentration

Interface of moving parts

must share the same
nominal surface to achieve
uniform loads, thus
minimum wear. Be careful,
movement is related to gap
tolerance NOT to difference
of lengths

Obviously other specific solutions concern with issues (e.g. bearings, kinematic
chains, ...) that are related to other different technical recommendations and are
strictly determined by the personal knowledge. Complexity of the topology is
manly related to the technological aspects of manufacturing, since it constraints
the freedom of obtaining complex components. In terms of simultaneous
engineering the manufacturing system must be defined as soon as possible, so
that optimization of its related aspects can be made.

3
Topology is a mathematical property that defines the degree of connectivity of the space domain of the component.
More information will be given in a following chapter.

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 1.5.2 Defining sizes: the concept of safety margin

According to [R.g. Budynas, J. K. Nisbett, “Shigley’s Mechanical Engineering

Design – 9th Edition” – MacGraw Hill] different design criteria may be adopted to
derive lengths. It depends on the type of loads (static, fatigue, compression
stability, crash, temperature, fracture, wear, ...) and related hypotheses of
equivalent stress computation according to the structural part we are analysing
(beam, shell, plate, ...). Nevertheless the general description of a design criterion
for length definition, can be written in the form of:

𝑪𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒕
𝑪𝒆𝒒 ≤
𝑿

Where 𝐶𝑒𝑞 stands for the maximum equivalent condition in the component, e.g.
the equivalent stress in the point of maximum stress, 𝐶𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡 stands for the limit
condition related to the adopted material and X represent a Safety Factor (or
margin of safety). When the design criterion is expressed in terms of strain or
energy stresses in the above formula should be replaced with strain or energy
computed according to the component section/point and the limit of the
material.

The margin of safety is greater than one and it is necessary to give assurance of
resistance in case of possible variations of the the equivalent condition and the
material limit. In the actual practice, reason of variations can be related to 8
reasons (Ti i=1,8):

1) limit about the analytic formula used to compute the equivalent condition
(Tresca, Mohr, Von Mises, Simplified impact energy, ...).

2) limit about the evaluation of the actual loads (are they fixed or probabilistic?
Are they completely known?) and their evaluation as local stress conditions (e.g.
shear load in beam sections, or stress evaluation in beam with large curvature, or
nearby the supports within De Saint Venant theory, ...).

3) limit about the knowledge of the probabilistic behaviour of the material

strength or their acceptance tolerance (are you sure that a yielding stress is
always the same for a given batch of material?).

4) knowledge of the operative conditions, that means understanding if

environmental conditions (weather, humidity, temperature, ...) may impact the
severity of the stress conditions or the material strength.

5) maintenance requirements and checks, since proper maintenance planning

may reduce risks of failures.

6) severity of failures in the respect of safety.

7) standards/law requests.

8) weight reduction.

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 Increasing the uncertainty, reasons from 1) up to 7) may increase the X value. In
the case of 8) an increase of weight makes a decrease of X (it is in opposite
condition to the other ones).

During design these reasons must be considerate to avoid underestimation of

loads, material limits and safety consequences. Nevertheless, a balance with
weight reduction should be found.

They can be used as a checklist or can be applied to systematically find a value

for X. According to [J. A. Collins, “Mechanical Design of Machine Elements and
machines”, Wiley and Son], X can be computed as a function of the 8 issues by
means of:

X= 1 + ((10+ ∑8𝑖=1 Ti )^2)/100 if ∑8𝑖=1 Ti ≥ -6

otherwise:
X=1.15

Ti can be derived in a qualitative way from a 9-degree scale that goes from -4
(extreme necessity of reducing X according to the ith reason) up to +4 (extreme
necessity of increasing X according to the ith reason).

0 value stands for no necessity of change.

±1 slight necessity

±2 moderate necessity

±3 relevant necessity

±4 extreme necessity

If adding all the Ti the sum is below -6 the C should be set =1.15 that represents
the minimum possible value.

1.6 Tools and methods to organize the design activities.

Design activities need some tools and methods able to aid them.

In the very first part of the design activity two methods are particularly useful:
Gantt's Diagram and Design Review.

By your own look for examples about them. Concerning Design Review, please
check its use in the ISO standards. Where is it applied?

1.7 Exercises

1. Give the definition of product. Can you distinguish its definition from the
Enterprise point of view and from the mechanical design point of view?

2. What is the main goal of the Design product and development?

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 3. What is the meaning of external property? Can you describe them according
to their correlation among them?

4. Can you define a list of importance for the external properties according to
different type of products (e.g. a golf caddy, electrical oven, goods lift, limb
prosthesis, ...)

5. What is the meaning of Simultaneous Engineering? and Concurrent

Engineering?

6. Why does Concurrent engineering reduce time to market?

7. Moving from A to B can be made by different technological principles: by flight

with or without engine, by car, bicycle/skateboard, segway, by train, by boat
with or without engine. Can you tell what technological principles are related to
each of them?

8. Adopting the rules of uniform stress and minimum weight, please define the
shape of the two components in following assembly, taking into account the
details for interfacing the two parts by interference

F= 600 N

L1=200 mm

L2=300 mm

hmax=bmax=30 mm

List of Basic References

Hubka, Eder, "Theory of Technical Systems: A Total Concept Theory for Engineering
Design, Springer Verlag, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-52121-8

J. A. Collins, “Mechanical Design of Machine Elements and machines”, Wiley and Son

R.g. Budynas, J. K. Nisbett, “Shigley’s Mechanical Engineering Design – 9th Edition” –

MacGraw Hill

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