Design & Engineering

(BE 102)
 Engineering
• Engineering a science or art ?

• Who is an Engineer ?

• How a scientist differ from an engineer ?

Science – study of nature

Technology – application of science

Engineering - Process of collecting scientific

knowledge and converting them in a systematic
manner to technology
 Scientists & Engineers
Scientists discover the world that exists;
engineers create the world that never was
 Engineering Design

• It is a decision-making iterative process, in which

the basic sciences, mathematics, and
engineering are applied to optimally convert
resources to meet a stated objective.
• We are solving a problem – 2 way to look at it

1. Problem is new – so solution will be new

2. Already a solution is available – we need to give an
improved solution

• In Design we need to find an optimal solution that

satisfy certain constrains

• Constrains – time , money…….

 Design Levels
1. Adaptive Design

• Designer first studies working principle of certain existing machines

/ System and slightly modifies the structure imposing his ideas.

• Existing design can be adopted for new design with some

modification

• Design activity of this kind demands no special knowledge or skill

• problems presented are easily solved by a designer with ordinary

technical training.
 2. Development Design
• designer starts from an existing design, but the final outcome
may differ from the initial product

• scientific training and design ability are needed for

development design.

• Eg. development could be from a manual gearbox in a car to

an automatic one

• traditional tube-based television to the modern plasma and

LCD versions
 3. New design
• Only a small number of designs are new designs

• generating a new concept involves mastering all the

previous skills in addition to creativity and imagination,
insight, and foresight.

• It is the most difficult level of design

• Eg. - design of the first automobile, airplane, or even the

wheel (a long time ago)
• Japan is a world leader in high-speed trains

• These bullet trains travel safely at over 200 miles per

hour (322 km/hr)

• The Japanese rail system has many tunnels.

• When a high-speed train passes through a tunnel, air

pushed along in front of the train. 

• When the kingfisher hits the water, there is a major

pressure difference, somewhat similar to the pressure
changes caused by bullet trains
 Objectives of design
• To identify the need of the user.

• To do research and know about the various possibilities of

problem solving.

• To fix and formulate a working principle of the solution.

• To complete the product design with in the affixed time

period.

• To reduce the cost of the design process.

• To reduce the complexity of the component.

• To increase the efficiency of the component.

• To increase the ergonomic features of the designs

there by making it more user friendly.

• To increase the safeness of the component under

various static and dynamic conditions.

• To make an eco-friendly material.

 Common design constraints
• Functional constraints
1. Overall geometry
2. Kinematics involved
3. Energy requirement
4. Materials used
5. Control System
6. Information flow
• Safety constraints
• Quality constraints
• Manufacturing constraints
• Time constraints
• Economical constraints
• Ecological constraints
• Legal and ethical constraints
• Ergonomical and Aesthetic constraints
 Functional Constraints
• Limit on the working principle of a product

1. Overall geometry
• Components in a system should be designed with
proper dimension , volume and space
requirement to satisfy its intended function

• Eg. Diameter of shaft should not be smaller than

bearing
2. Kinematics involved
• Product should be able to withstand the static
and dynamic forces acting on it

3. Energy requirement
• Input energy requirement for a particular
function may vary for different products

• Use of appropriate transducers and amplifiers

help in proper functioning of product
Landing gear
4. Material constraints
• Material used for product should have sufficient strength

• Some constraints in choosing material are availability of

materials , cost effectiveness , machinability , weldability ….

5. Control System
• It transfers signal from one part of product to another part

• It involves various mechanical and electrical components

• Main constraints in control system are the proper positioning

of sensors and other fragile components in severe operating
condition
DELHI IRON PILLAR- INDIAN
METALLURGICAL BEAUTY
 Safety Constraints
• Every component should have a factor of
safety limit for design

• Common safety constraints include

– Operational safety constraints
– Environmental safety constraints
– Constraints due to inevitable human errors during
operations
 Manufacturing constraints

• Internal constraints in a manufacturing unit include

– Availability of raw materials
– Availability of proper machineries
– Machining time
– Amount of wastage and unused byproduct
– Labour shortage

• External constraints in a manufacturing unit include

– Quality and reliability of raw material
– Total quality management
– Assembly constraints due to installation
 Quality constraints
• Product must be passed through several regulation and
testing to ensure its quality

Time constraints
• Design must be completed with in stipulated time limit

Ecological constraints
• Design of product should be eco friendly to eliminate
its toxic effect
• Disposal of exhausts and byproducts to environment
should be properly monitored
 Economic Constraints
• Some factors influencing economic constraints
are
– Demand for product
– Design costs
– Development cost
– Manufacturing cost
– Distribution cost
– Availability of resources
 Ergonomical and Aesthetic constraints
• Product should be visually pleasing and
comfortable in handling

Legal and Ethical constraints

• Product should be approved by various
organization to ensure its safety and quality
• Patent and copyright should be taken for design
to avoid legal issues
Activity 1: Identify which among the following is having a better
design . Justify ?
 Hints
• Material required ?
• Stress acting on material ?
• Easiness of manufacturing ?
• Stability ?
• Cost of manufacturing ?
• Space occupied when packed ?
 Spherical Can

• It has smallest surface area for a given volume so

it use least amount of material

• No corners, so uniform stress on the wall

• It is difficult manufacture

• It will roll off when we placed on the table

 Square Shape can

• It won’t roll off-Stable when we placed on the table

• uncomfortable to hold and drink

• Easy to manufacture

• corners are there and un equal distribution of

stress
 Cylinder can

• No corners so uniform stress on the wall

• Cylinder can be easily manufactured

• Packing factor 91%

 Design Function
• This is about the specifics, the design is planned to do

• Function refers to the way a technical system works

Primary function – It is the basic operational outcome of the

device

Secondary required functions – It supports primary functions

Secondary unwanted functions – Undesirable by product eg.

Generate heat , generate noise
Portable drilling Machine - Design Functions
Primary
• To drill holes.
• The drill should switch off if the load exceeds.

Secondary
• Convert Energy
• Compact and less weight

Secondary unwanted
• Generate heat
• Generate Noise
 Design Means
• It is about the approaches to make it function
as proposed

• Two approaches for a design

Evolutionary change - A product is allowed to evolve
over a period of time

Innovation – Creative skills and analytical ability is

required
 Design Form

Form is the shape of the design.

Often the design starts with form
Eg. A building design starts with sketches
Form has not much to do with the function.
For the same function the shape could be
different
Same function – Different forms
Automobiles
Gate
 Design & Engineering- Scheme
• First internal exam – closed book exam – 25 marks

• Second internal exam – open book exam – 25 marks

• Assignment and projects – 50 marks

• End semester exam – open book exam – 50 marks

( 2 hours duration – conducted by the University)
Role of Science ,Engineering and Technology in
design
• Fields of science, engineering and technology are mutually
interdependent

• Advances in science offers new capabilities, materials, processes

that can be applied through engineering to produces advances in
technology

• Advancement in technology provide scientists new capability to

probe natural world at larger or smaller scale

• Eg. Science gives the principal of thermal measurement – thermal

expansion of solids and liquids

• Engineer convert this principle to Technology by Designing a

thermometer
Optical Microscope
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)
Atom probe Microscope
 Role of science & Technology in design
• Determining functions of a system

• Establishing units of measurements

• Technological advancement in field of computers made engineer to not

only draft but to analyze and simulate their products

• Development of various software packages aid in design and analysis eg.

auto-cad, solid works ,ansys

• Development of various quality control tools to measure variable factors

of a component

• Defining designers safety parameter

 Functional and Strength Designs
• Function and Strength are the two important aspects of any
design.

• Software designs are always functional.

• Designs in electronics are predominantly functional

• However most designs consider these two aspects often

together.

• Engineers tend to be more oriented towards strength designs.

FUNCTION

STRENGTH

FUNCTION & STRENGTH

Activity 2: Identify which among the following is having functional
design , strength design or both . Justify ?
Activity 3 Why ceiling fans have normally three blades?
Why not four? What about five or six? How about two blades?
 Hints
The fan blades turn and push air downward
1.Air flow
2.Cost
3.Weight
4.Power consumption
Number of blades and It’s Design

• we want to maximize the downward flow of air while

minimizing local turbulence around the fan blades

• Each blade wants to pass through uninterrupted air

• With too many blades a trailing blade risks moving

through the turbulence of the blade in front

• generating noise and reducing efficiency

• ceiling fans have 3 to 5 blades

 Desirable qualities of a Design Engineer
1. Problem solving skills - able to identify and define the problem to be solved.
2. Proficiency in STEM [ Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics]

3. Creativity and Imagination

4. Technical and Computer skills.
5. Ethical, moral and professional values.

6. Business and managerial skill .

7. Excellent communication skills.

8. Cultural exposure- sensitivity, understanding and manners.

9. Self confidence and optimism.

 Initiating the Thinking process
How to initiate creative designs?
In creative design we deal mostly with physical objects.
However the same process is applicable to the design
of a business model or the design of a software.
If one encounters a totally new problem, the solution
ought to be termed as creative !
If one solves the problem differently with an
improvement then also it can be termed as creative.
• However today there are many designs
available to us, in all segments of engineering.
• So how one can be creative in design?
• Look at an existing design and think of a new
way of meeting the requirement

Q? Low priced water purifiers that don't require

running water or electricity
`
 How to initiate creative designs
Initiating creative design is to simply generate as many new ideas as possible.

Steps in creative design process

1.Refinement and evaluation of ideas

• Refinement means adding information and comments to ideas in order to
make them better understandable and evaluable.

• Evaluation means assigning a judgment to an idea.

• The main objective of this step is to identify the new creative ideas, feasible
ideas and discover the ideas which are in practice.

• First step is to sort ideas in to three categories,

a) Ideas that are feasible as they stand.
b) Ideas that may have potential after more thought or research applied.
c) Ideas that are very unfeasible and have no chance of becoming good
solutions.
2. Generating design concepts
• The primary aim of concept generation and evaluation is to ensure that
the product can perform all of the major functions.

• This may be done by simple calculations, sketches, circuit diagram,

proof of concept models or by detailed written description of the concept.

3. Systematic methods for designs

1. Functional Analysis
The principle of functional analysis is first to specify what the product
should do, and then to infer from there what the parts- which are yet to
be developed- should do.
2.Morphological approach
Morphological analysis is a method for representing and exploring all the
relationships in multidimensional problems.
Steps involved :
1. Divide the overall design problem into simpler sub-problems.
2. Generate solution concepts for each sub-problem.
3. Systematically combine sub-problem solutions into different complete
solutions and evaluate all combinations.

3. Axiomatic design
Some fundamental laws or principles of engineering design are used as the
basis for a rigorous theory of design.

4. Design optimization
An optimization problem is a problem in which certain parameters needed to
be determined to achieve the best measurable performance under given
constraints.
Activity 4 Think of any two design changes for an
ordinary soap box that can add value to it.
 Factors affecting product Design
1. Customers requirements
2. Production facilities
3. Raw-materials to be used
4. Cost to price ratio
5. Quality policy

6. Plant and machineries

7. Effect on existing products
8. Reputation of the company
 ELEMENTS IN DESIGN FRAME WORK

• Need Identification
• Problem statement
• Design objectives and attributes
• Market Survey
• Brainstorming
 Need Identification
• Client- a person or group of company that want a design conceived
• User – one who will employ or operate whatever is being designed
• Designer – job is to solve client’s problem in a way that meets user’s
need
• Whose need? Designer ,User or Client;
• Aircraft - Designer - Boeing or Airbus
Client - Air India or IndiGo
User - Passengers
• At times the user, the client and the designer could be the same or
different.
• To start with, the Designer has to meet the needs of the
Client as well as the User.
• They provide the synergy for a good design.
• In addition the Designer should be aware of professional and
social ethics and values.

• For any Design to be taken up, there should be a need gap

or a problem that needs a solution.

• This gap or need could be identified by the user, an observer

or by an organization
 Means of need identifications
• Interviews with customers: Active marketing and sales forces should be continuously
meeting with current and potential customers.

• Focus groups: A focus group is a moderated discussion with 6 to 12 customers or

targeted customers of a product. The moderator is a facilitator who uses prepared
questions to guide the discussion about the merits and disadvantages of the
product.

• Customer complaints: A sure way to learn about needs for product improvement is
from customer complaints.

• Warranty data: Product service centres and warranty departments are a rich and
important source of data on the quality of an existing product.

• Customer surveys: A written questionnaire is best used for gaining opinions about the
redesign of existing products or new products that are well understood by the public.
 Problem Statement
CLARIFYING THE INITIAL PROBLEM STATEMENT
• Most design projects begin when a client sets out a problem to be solved,
typically in a verbal problem statement

• Eg. “Design a bottle for new children’s fruit juice product.”

• One response to this challenge is to design a clever new label for an existing
bottle and declare the work done.

• is this a good design? Is it the right design?

• There is no way to answer these questions because the problem statement is so

brief

• that it gives no hint of other considerations Eg. for example, the intended
market, the shape or materials choice of the container, and so on.
FRAMING CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS

• we want to clarify what the client requires, account for the project
stakeholders, and identify contexts within which our design will
function

• we will be defining or framing the design problem clearly and

realistically.

• A design team may ask questions of the clients and stakeholders

who might have varying degrees of interest in the design, including
potential users or experts in the field

• The experts may be versed in relevant technology or knowledgeable

about the market for which the design is aimed.- Market research
• Design teams may also hold their own internal
discussions in which they ask each other questions to
identify and list ideas that they can then organize into
some problem-relevant structure- Brainstorming

• It is important that such team discussion sessions

remain focused, particularly as they shift from the more
general notion of overall design requirements toward the
specifics of objectives, constraints, or functions.

• The best outcome of this work is a list of attributes from

which separate lists of objectives (i.e., features or
behaviors), constraints (i.e., limits), and functions (i.e.,
things the design must do) can be extracted.
 Lists of Design Attributes
Design a new ladder for electricians or other maintenance and
construction professionals working on conventional job sites.”

1. What features or behaviours would you like the ladder to

have?
2. What do you want this ladder to do?
3. Are there already ladders on the market that have similar
features?

And while asking these three questions, we might also ask:

What do you mean by that?
How are you going to do that?
• objective a feature or behavior that the design
should have or exhibit.

• constraint : a limit or restriction on the design’s

behaviors

• function : a specific thing a designed device or

system is expected to do.

• means : a way or method to make a function happen

 Representing in Objectives Trees
• The indented outline of objectives is one way to represent the information
contained in that list.

• That same information can also be represented or portrayed graphically in a

hierarchy of boxes, each of which contains an objective for the object being
designed.

• Each layer or row of objective boxes corresponds to a level of indentation (indicated

by the number of digits to the right of the first decimal point) in the outline.

• Thus, the indented outline becomes an objectives tree: a graphical depiction of the
objectives for the device or system.

• The graphical tree display is very useful for portraying design issues, and for
highlighting things we need to measure, since these objectives will provide our basis
for choosing between alternatives.
REVISED PROBLEM STATEMENTS

• We can formalize our new understanding by drafting

a revised problem statement that reflects our fuller
understanding of the design problem

• It expresses in clear, unambiguous terms the design

problem that the designers are trying to solve.

• This revised problem statement will often appear in

public presentations and reports as well.
Market survey - customer requirements
• Market survey are used to identify the needs of
customers
• A designer must be aware of customer
requirement
• Some market survey methods include
– Direct Customer interview

– Market survey – circulating questionnaire among

customers regarding their expectation and feedback

– Reviewing Customer complaints

 Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a group activity technique by
which efforts are made to find a conclusion for a
specific problem by gathering a list of ideas
spontaneously contributed by its members.
 Activity 5
Q? Sketch design form for a common room door in a
house and for a bank store room door
 EXERCISE 1
Q1? Define engineering design in your own words.

Q2? List at least three questions you would ask if you were,
respectively, a user (purchaser), a client (manufacturer),
or a designer who was about to undertake the design of a
portable electric guitar.

Q3? List down examples for different design levels