Engineering and Design Tools - TSOC 302 and TSOC 303 - Home Page
1. Introduction
This module describes some of the tools that engineers and designers use to assist them to produce good quality components, products and systems and explains how and where they should be used.

In the early days of the industrial revolution the ability of engineers to make equipment ran a long way ahead of their understanding of the background science. Hence the early days of the railways featured frequent boiler explosions (twice a week on average!) which often resulted in serious injury and death. Obviously technology had to become safer and more reliable and much effort has gone into researching the background science and technology with this aim in mind. Increasingly customers expect high levels of safety and reliability in everything that they purchase. Any apparent significant failure can result in loss of business confidence and even bankruptcy as happened to Railtrack recently.

Prudent organisations increasingly make use of a range of tools to ensure that their products are safe and reliable, techniques range from simulation used on new designs to failure investigations of current products that have failed.

The development of low cost computers and software has considerably increased the ease with which some of these engineering design tools can be applied. Optimisation and simulation are two areas whose use has increased enormously since the development of the PC.

This module will look at: design for manufacture, reliability, danger, risk, risks and hazards, simulation and optimisation. Obviously these topics are linked as poor design that leads to difficulties with manufacture may lead to poor reliability which might also affect the risk associated with using the product.

Teaching Scheme

- This is provisional and may be varied somewhat.
Week Topic Lecturer
Autumn Term week 1 Introduction, Design for Manufacturability DJG
2 continued DJG
3 Simulation Excel DJG
4 Simulation - Matlab Simulink DJG
5 continued DJG
6 continued DJG
7 Optimisation DJG
8 Failure, wear and wear prevention DJG
9 continued DJG
10 continued DJG
11 Reliability of a Design DJG
12 continued DJG
Spring Term 1 Introduction to section, Resources v reserves, renewables and non renewables DCP
2 Impact of technology and population on resources DCP
3 Effect of resource use on reserves, the environment and ecosystems DCP
4 Approaches to action on the environment - Technocentrist V Ecocentrist DCP
5 Energy production from fossil fuels. Combustion, outputs and by products.Reducing the environmental impact DCP
6 Electricity generation. Gas and steam turbines, plant and efficiencies DCP
7 Alternative energy sources, wind, wave, tidal, hydropower generation. DCP
8 Introduction to nuclear power DCP
9 Nuclear power. The Chernobyl nuclear accident. Fission and Fusion principles. JG
10 Nuclear fuel, safety, risk, insurance, economics, environment, types of reactor JG
11 The nuclear fuel cycle JG
12 Integrating the issues in Design DCP and DJG

References
D1 'The Engineering Design Process', A Ertas and J C Jones, John Wiley and Sons, 1993.
M1 'Design for Manufacturability Handbook', by James G Bralla, McGarw Hill, 1999.
M2 'Design for Manufacture', by J Corbett et al., Addison Wesley, 1991.
M3 'Design for Manufacturability 1995', Ed. J R Behun, DE-Vol. 81, ASME, 1995.
M4 'Design for Manufacturing and Assembly', Ed. S B Billatos and N A Basaly, DE-Vol. 89, ASME, 1996.

Return to Index of Online Documentation.

David Grieve, 10th December 2003.