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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2017/2018

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Engineering : Mechanical

Undergraduate Course: Conceptual Design for Mechanical Engineers 3 (MECE09030)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Engineering CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 9 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryDesign is often regarded as the central creative activity of engineering, this course aims to enhance the skills of analysis and synthesis required to develop solutions to open-ended problems. CDM3 aims to teach techniques for the effective evaluation and communication of design ideas. To support this
the students will also acquire a knowledge of materials and manufacturing processes selection along with the most common component / system failure modes.
Course description Course Syllabus:
Unit 1 - Course Overview
Introduction; The Design Process; Creative style; Brainstorming.
Unit 2 - Concept communication
Effective graphic and verbal communication of design ideas to groups and individuals.
Unit 3 - Material and process selection
To build the general understanding of the uses and limitations of common engineering materials and which processes can be used to shape them.
Unit 4 - Design Requirements and Design Definition
Exploring the design requirement through the use of tools like
the requirement Trees and producing Product Design Specifications. Identification of Design need; Product Life Cycle; Legislative constraints.
Unit 5 - Concept calculation, approximations and assumptions
To gain an understanding of the types of calculations and estimations that can be used to select and evaluate design concepts.
Unit 6 - Numerical design tools.
The creation of numerical design tools to aid the design process and optimise simple engineering components and systems.
Unit 7 - Material Properties and Failure
Static Strength; Stiffness; Brittleness; Resilience; Toughness; Creep.
Unit 8 - Stress Concentration
Design for Static Strength.
Unit 9 - Fatigue Failure
Terminology; Measurement; Characteristic Curves; Miner's Rule; S-N Curves.
Unit 10 - Component and system Failure
Reliability of an assembly and the cost of reliability.
Unit 11 - Tools for exploring the failure of a Design
Fault tress; Failure Modes and Effects Analysis
Unit 12 - Design of Experiments
Factorial Experiments; Limitations of Factorial DOE.
Unit 13 - Taguchi Methods
Fractional Factorial Experiments; Linear Graphs; Confounding.
Unit 14 - Orthogonal Arrays
Parameter selection; Interpretation of Results.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Propose engineering designs to open ended problems that are feasible, in terms engineering mechanics, economics, and other competing requirements of the design;
  2. Communicate design solutions and put forward reasoned arguments for how these designs address the product design specification, and design drivers that are not explicitly stated;
  3. Evaluate multiple design options by producing numerical design tools and using appropriate calculations to refine the designs or by designing efficient experimental test programs;
  4. Select appropriate materials and manufacturing processes for a given engineering problem;
  5. Interrogate System and component designs for likely causes of failure through static or dynamic loading and adverse environmental conditions.
Reading List
Shigley, "Mechanical Engineering Design", McGraw Hill (2015)
Pugh, "Total Design", Addison-Wesley (1991)
O'connor, "Practical Reliability Engineering", Wiley (2012)
Kalpaljian, - Manufacturing Engineering and Technology", Pearson (2014)
Ashby, "Materials: Engineering, Science, Processing and Design"
Butterworth-Heinemann (2014)
These, and other texts, are available in the University Library.
Materials Selection on Mechanical Design, Michael F. Ashby (Forth Edition)
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsConceptual engineering design,Open-ended design,iteration,design calculations,component / syste
Contacts
Course organiserDr Adam Robinson
Tel: (0131 6)50 8689
Email: Adam.Robinson@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Lynn Hughieson
Tel: (0131 6)50 5687
Email: Lynn.Hughieson@ed.ac.uk
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