Undergraduate Course: Conceptual Design for Mechanical Engineers (MECE09030)
Course Outline
| School | School of Engineering |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 9 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | Design 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-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 4-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 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-Material Properties and Failure
Static Strength; Stiffness; Brittleness; Resilience; Toughness; Creep.
Unit 7-Stress Concentration
Design for Static Strength.
Unit 8-Fatigue Failure
Terminology; Measurement; Characteristic Curves; Miner's Rule; S-N Curves.
Unit 9-Component and system
Failure Reliability of an assembly and the cost of reliability.
Unit 10-Tools for exploring the failure of a Design Fault trees; Failure Modes and Effects Analysis
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2026/27, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
98 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework %: 100
|
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback:
Wk1-11 Formative feedback continually provided during the weekly seminar sessions.
Wk2 Verbal feedback on brainstorming practice exercise is provided.
Summative feedback on assessments: Written feedback is provided within three weeks after the published deadline for the assessment.
|
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Interpret an open ended complex technical problem and translate it into a concise Product Design Specification (PDS).
- Propose engineering design solutions that satisfies the drafted PDS, in terms engineering mechanics, material and process sustainability and other competing requirements of the design specification.
- Identify and propose solutions to mitigate uncertainty in the design
- Develop knowledge and understanding of different types of machine elements for application in the development of detailed design
- Develop knowledge and understanding of Life Cycle Assessment and its role in sustainable mechanical design and apply its principles to evaluate the environmental impact of the design
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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 |
| Keywords | Conceptual engineering design,Open-ended design,iteration,design calculations,component / syste |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Amer Syed
Tel: (0131 6)50 5570
Email: Amer.Syed@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Maryna Vlasova
Tel:
Email: mvlasova@ed.ac.uk |
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