The Role of the Materials Engineer in Design

The Design Process This section offers insights into the several roles that must be
played by the materials selection expert. It also reviews the process and methods that may
be applied to enhance and improve the effectiveness of The design process.

 Industrial Design. The industrial design process creates the first broadly
functional description of a product together with its essential visual conception. Artistic
renderings of proposed new products are made, and almost always physical models are
developed. Models at this stage are usually very rough, nonfunctional ones showing
only external form, color, and texture, though some also may have a few moving parts.

 The Engineering Design Specification. The engineering design

specification, also called the product desing specification (PDS) (Ref 4), is described
in detail in the article "Conceptual and Configuration Design of Products and
Assemblies" in this Volume. Though different products require different kinds of
information in their specification, essential categories are common to all. Regardless of
how it is organized, an engineering specification in one way or another must contain
information in two major categories:
In-use purposes are related to the anticipated users and misusers (i.e., the
customers) of the Products including the primary intended purpose(s) to which
users will put the product, any unintended purposes to which the product may
be put (given that human beings behave the way they do), and any special
features or secondary functions required or desired.
Functional requirements are qualitative or quantitative goals and limits placed
on product performance, the environmental and other conditions under which
 the product is to perform, physical attributes, process technologies, aesthetics,
and business issues like time and cost.

Engineering Stages
A design is information. As a product is designed, the information known and recorded
about it increases and becomes more detailed. Though no formal theoretical foundation exists
for identifying specific stages of design information content, some stages are intuitively
obvious (Ref 3) and include:
 Stage 1: the product marketing concept
 Stage 2: the engineering (or physical) concept
 Stage 3: for parts, the configuration design
 Stage 4: the parametric design

Guided Iteration
The steps in the guided iteration process, illustrated in Fig. 2, are formulation
of the problem; generation of alternative solutions; evaluation of the alternatives; and if none is
acceptable, redesign guided by the results of the evaluations. This methodology is fundamental to design
processes.
Engineering Conceptual Design
The physical concept includes the physical principles by which the product will work
and an abstract physical embodiment that will employ the principles to accomplish the desired
functionality.
When a product is more complex, it consists of an assembly of subassemblies and parts.
For example, for an automobile, the subassemblies identified might be the engine, drivetrain,
frame, body, suspension system, and steering system. The physical principles by which a
product will work are specified by including sufficient information in its embodiment about
how each of these functional subassemblies will interact with all the others to accomplish the
required product functions
Decomposition is generally used to describe the part of the design process that identifies
the subassemblies comprising a product or larger assembly. That is, in the conceptual design
of an automobile, it could be decomposed into the engine, drivetrain, frame, and so forth.

Generating Conceptual Design Alternatives.

A large number of alternative physical concepts should be generated for evaluation in
terms of the requirements because the selection of the best possible conceptual alternative is a
crucial step in obtaining the best possible solution. Nonoptimal choices at this stage are
extremely costly in time and money if they have to be corrected later. Unfortunately, there is a
human tendency, strong in some designers and design organizations, to pass quickly through
the engineering conceptual stage by considering only the one or two possible conceptual
solutions that are most familiar to the people involved. This procedure very often ignores other
possible solutions that may be superior; that is, ones that may be found by business competitors
who are more thorough.

Evaluating Conceptual Design Alternatives.

Evaluation of proposed conceptual designs is a crucial step. There is a significant
difference between having a design and having the best competitive design . This distinction is
often missed by people in marketing, management, and manufacturing.

Guided Redesign of Conceptual Alternatives.

All of the methods available for comparison and evaluation of physical concepts
indicate in general, qualitative terms which alternatives are best. In addition, and at least as
important, the methods also illuminate the specific characteristics of proposed alternatives that
are weak or strong. Thus evaluation directs the attention of designers to the changes or
refinements that are needed to improve the alternatives. After such improvements are made,
the alternatives can be reevaluated and then redesigned.

Design of Assemblies Compared to Design for Assembly.

Discussion so far has been about design of assemblies. Design for assembly (DFA)
involves mainly the design of parts so that they can be handled easily and inserted properly
into place during the assembly process; these concepts are addressed in the article "Design for
Manufacture and Assembly" in this Volume. Design for assembly does involve some design
of assembly issues, such as the paramount issue of designing for the minimum number of parts.
Also, if the assembly is to be done automatically, assemblies should be designed so that all
parts are insertable from a single direction.

The Configuration Design of Special-Purpose Parts

As described in the preceding section, the engineering conceptual design process
decomposes a product into layers of nested subassemblies and ultimately into standard
components and special-purpose parts. Often an enormous number of special parts have to be
designed, manufactured, and assembled into a subassembly for final assembly into the product.
This section contains a discussion of the first stage in the design of these parts: designing their
configuration.
Is this Part Necessary?
STEP OF THE CONFIGURATION

What is a Configuration?

Formulating the Problem

The Configuration Requirements Sketch.

Generating Alternative Configuration Solutions

Materials at the Configuration Stage

Evaluating Design for Manufacturability at the Part Configuration Stage

Redesigning

Tolerances at the Configuration Stage

Methods for Parametric Design
Most parametric design methods can be applied to special-purpose parts and to standard
parts and standard assemblies. A number of powerful methods are available for the parametric
design of components and small assemblies, including guided iteration, optimization, and
statistical methods.

Tolerances at the Parametric Stage of Design.

At the configuration stage, the concern is with reducing the relative tightness and
number of tolerances that must be assigned to obtain the required functionality. At the
parametric stage, actual tolerance values are assigned. Not only do the values strongly influence
functionality, they also have a strong influence on processing costs.

Optimization Methods for Parametric Design.

Optimization is a well-developed field of study that is the subject of entire courses and
books. Excellent texts and reference books on optimization are available for use by designers;
The more technically advanced manufacturing firms will likely have optimization experts with
which designers and design teams can consult. Computer programs are also available, for
example, the optimization software programs Optdes and OptdesX (trademarks of Design
Synthesis, Inc., East Provo, UT).

Suboptimization.
In complex, realistic parametric design problems, an appropriate criterion function
often cannot be readily formulated to meet the conditions required by optimization techniques.
Nevertheless, sometimes certain subpart of problems can be solved by optimization. This is
called suboptimization.

Robustness.
The overall evaluation criterion in Taguchi's techniques is called robustness.
Robustness refers to how consistently a component or product performs under variable
conditions in its environment and as it wears during its lifetime.

Noise Factors.
The terms noise or noise factors are commonly used for the uncontrollable variable
conditions of environment, wear, and manufacture. Thus another way to describe robustness is
to say that it is the degree to which the performance of a product is insensitive to noise factors.

Control Factors.
Noise factors, which the designer cannot control, are not to be confused with the design
variables, whose values the designer can control. Design variables are called control factors in
the Taguchi approaches. Thoughdesigners have no control over the noise factors, the ranges
over which noise factors vary are usually reasonably predictable.
 Conceptual and Configuration Design of Products and Assemblies

COMPETITIVE DESIGN of new products is the key capability that companies must
master to remain in business. It requires more than good engineering, it is fraught with risks
and opportunities, and it requires effective judgment about technology, the market, and time.

Fig. 1 The concept and configuration development process. "Pervasive"

activities occur throughout product development.

Task Clarification
Conceptual and configuration design of products, as depicted in Fig. 1, begins and ends
with customers, emphasizing quality processes and artifacts throughout. Intertwined with the
focus on customers and quality are a number of technical and business concerns. We thus
initiate the conceptual design process with task clarification: understanding the designtask and
mission, questioning the design efforts and organization, and investigating the business and
technological market. Task clarification sets the foundation for solving a design task, where
the foundation is continually revisited to find weak points and to seek structural integrity of a
design team approach. It occurs not only at the beginning of the process, but throughout.

Mission Statement and Technical Questioning

A mission statement and technical clarification of the task are important first steps in
the conceptual design process. They are intended to:
 Focus design efforts
 Define goals
 Define timelines for task completion
 Provide guidelines for the design process, to prevent conflicts within the design team
and concurrent engineering organization
Business Case Analysis: Understanding the Financial Market
During any conceptual and configuration design effort, a product's market must be
clarified through the development of a business case analysis. A number of financial
assessment techniques exist at varying levels of detail. This section explains how the Harvard
business case method can be used to understand the potential impact of product development.

Table 1 Summary of the Harvard business case method

Process step Description
What market problem are you addressing, fixing, improving, making
more efficient, etc.? This should be Limited to one sentence, two at
1.Problem Statement
the most. Only one problem can be addressed. If the problem is
complex, with many interrelated subproblems, the problem should
be clarified and refined to the basic (atomic) or kernel problems.
Discuss any limiting assumptions made in preparing the business
case proposal, such as product costs, direction
2. Assumptions
of the industry/department, etc. This step provides a clear statement
of the scope of work.
List, briefly, major factors of the environment that affect the
decision. This may be the state of the business
3. Major factors.
(capital constraint), critical business needs or directions (strategies),
etc
List, briefly, factors that should be considered, but that do not seem
4. Minor factors
to have a significant effect on the problem
List concrete or hypothesized alternatives (minimum of three) to
address the problem or opportunity defined by the problem
5. Alternatives statement, assumptions, and major factors. Two or three sentences
should be sufficient. Under each alternative list the advantages and
disadvantages of each.
Review each of the alternatives with respect to the stated problem,
assumptions, major and minor factors. Compare alternatives and
discuss the relative merits of each (in terms of cost
6. Discussion of alternatives. savings/avoidance, cycle time reduction, increase in quality, and
head count reduction). From this discussion, a clear leader among
the alternatives (i.e., the most feasible alternative) should be
identified
State your recommendation. There should be no need to defend it;
7. Recommendation this should have been covered in the last section. If needed, elaborate
on the recommendation to add clarity.
Include resource requirements: financial, human, space, etc.
Describe the time frame requirements, controls, and measurements
that will be needed to ensure that goals are met. Measurements
8. Implementation Describe
should be tied directly to solving the problem, and adequate tracking
the implementation plan.
mechanisms should be used to quantify the success of the project.
Contingency plans should be developed that address any high-risk
aspects of the solution.
Gathering Customer Need Data

 Using the Product. The design teams goes to the locations where their or their
competitor's product is used, and they use the product as the customer would. If
customer tasks can be easily understood and undertaken by the design team, and the
design team is small, then this approach is effective. It is costly, though, for projects
with either large design teams or highly skilled customer tasks that require training.
Further, it does not address the need to document customer needs.
 Questionnaires. The design team makes a list of criteria that they consider
relevant to customers' concerns, and customers rank the product on these criteria.
Alternatively, the design team forms a list of questions for customers to answer. The
problem is that what the design team considers most important is not necessarily what
customers consider most important.
 Focus Groups. In a focus group discussion, a moderator facilitates a session with
a group of customers who examine, use, and discuss the product. Usually this is done
in the design team's environment, typically in a room with a two-way mirror so that the
design team can observe the customers during the session. This session can be video-
or audiotaped for later examination.
 Interviews. Sometimes a design team asks an interviewer to discuss the product
with a single customer, typically in the environment where the product is used by the
customer. Again, the interview can be video- or audiotaped for later examination.
 TUGAS I
Pemilihan Material
Dosen Pengampu : Sulistyo , PhD

Oleh :
Pratama Eka Putra Sijabat (21050114120090)

TEKNIK MESIN
UNIVERSITAS DIPONEGORO
SEMARANG
2018