The Design Process for You

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The design flow chart can be used for a complete overhaul of a product, or used to develop a product from scratch. Your project is to focus particularly on the materials aspect of the design, and then change any structural aspect later if needed.

You will be in a group of three students. You will work together as a team to make decisions, but each one of you will be an expert in a different materials class. You should decide who will be learning about metals, ceramics, and polymers and composites, and who will be the drafter, the communicator and the arbitrator. Click on this link for job descriptions for your group.

The design process for you would include 1. Research of the product (environment constraints, market constraints, forces on it, money constraints, etc.) --> 2.Brainstorming --> 3.Researching different materials ( processing constraints, conductivity constraints, waste constraints, etc.)--> 4.Choosing one material and testing it --> 5.Now go back to the beginning and think of another material that might also work--> 6.Compare the two with a pros and cons list and determine which would be best for the application --> 7.Continue to do this until you have a winner, choosing alternatives--> 8.Make the winner into a prototype and physically test it

Click on the red circles to the left to find out more information.

Remember as well...

1. APPEARANCE: How will the object look? The shape, color, and texture should make the object attractive.
2. MATERIALS: What materials are available to you? You should think about the cost of these materials. Are they affordable? Do they have the right physical properties, such as strength, rigidity, color, and durability?
3. CONSTRUCTION: Will it be hard to make? Consider what methods you will need to cut, shape, form, join, and finish the material.
4. SAFETY: The object you design must be safe to use. It should not cause accidents.

Your group will need to fill out a worksheet to help you organize your researching of the product and materials -Click on CONSTRAINTS and Print. You will need Acrobat Reader to open this file.

Environment constraints - Corrosion occurs when a material worn away by chemical reaction. This often occurs in certain types of metals. A material may also have an environmental constraint if its properties change for the worse in an environment (i.e. plastic in high temperatures, metal powders near water, wood in water). Top

Market constraints - For any product to sell it needs to have a market. That means that there have to be people out there willing to buy the product. If there is already something out there that has the same properties but is cheaper there may not be a market for your product. Top

Forces - Being an engineer, one of the most important parts of your job is to make sure that your product has the strength and ability to withstand any forces put on it. Also as an engineer you have to remember that some times products are not always used they way they should, which might put more force on the part then expected. Safety factors are used for this reason. A product is made to be stronger than it needs to be to account for an unexpected strength requirements, this is especially important when the product holds human life. Top

Money Constraints - To sell products you need to make them affordable, sometimes the materials that are best for a job are not feasible because of how much they cost. For this reason remember to look at how expensive a material is and if you need a lot of the material. If you are redesigning a part you should try to balance out better performance and a greater cost.Top

Processing Constraints - Just as different materials have different properties, they are produced in different ways. You can not roll a ceramic in the same way you can roll metals. It is important to know how you are going to produce the product you are redesigning.Top

Conductivity Constraints - Materials may be conductors or insulators of heat and/or electricity. Depending on the application it is important to know if it will allow heat and electricity to flow through it easily (good conductor) or not allow heat and electricity to flow through it (good insulator).Top

Waste Constraints - The environment is very important in this conscious country we live in. The less materials used in a product the more recyclable it is. Some materials are easier to recycle then others.Top