1. Draw the schematic diagram of the basic elements of a design process and explain them briefly?

Phase I Conceptual Design

Conceptual design is the process by which the design is initiated, carried to the point of creating
a number of possible solutions, and narrowed down to a single best concept. It is sometimes
called the feasibility study. Conceptual design is the phase that requires the greatest creativity,
involves the most uncertainty, and requires coordination among many functions in the business
organization. The following are the discrete activities that we consider under conceptual design.
● Identification of customer needs : The goal of this activity is to completely understand the
customers’ needs and to communicate them to the design team.
● Problem de! nition : The goal of this activity is to create a statement that describes what has to
be accomplished to satisfy the needs of the customer. This involves analysis of competitive
products, the establishment of target specifications, and the listing of constraints and trade-offs.
Quality function deployment (QFD) is a valuable tool for linking customer needs with design
requirements. A detailed listing of the product requirements is called a product design
specification (PDS).
● Gathering information: Engineering design presents special requirements over engineering
research in the need to acquire a broad spectrum of information.
● Conceptualization: Concept generation involves creating a broad set of concepts that
potentially satisfy the problem statement. Team-based creativity methods, combined with
efficient information gathering, are the key activities.
● Concept selection: Evaluation of the design concepts, modifying and evolving into a single
preferred concept, are the activities in this step. The process usually requires several iterations.
● Refinement of the PDS : The product design specification is revisited after the concept has
been selected. The design team must commit to achieving certain critical values of design
parameters, usually called critical-to-quality (CTQ) parameters, and to living with trade-offs
between cost and performance.
● Design review: Before committing funds to move to the next design phase, a design review
will be held. The design review will assure that the design is physically realizable and that it is
economically worthwhile. It will also look at a detailed product development schedule. This is
needed to devise a strategy to minimize product cycle time and to identify the resources in
people, equipment, and money needed to complete the project.
Phase II Embodiment Design:
Structured development of the design concept occurs in this engineering design phase. It is the
place where f esh is placed on the skeleton of the design concept. An embodiment of all the main
functions that must be performed by the product must be undertaken. It is in this design phase
that decisions are made on strength, material selection, size, shape, and spatial compatibility.
Beyond this design phase, major changes become very expensive. This design phase is
sometimes called preliminary design. Embodiment design is concerned with three major tasks—
product architecture, configuration design, and parametric design.
● Product architecture: Product architecture is concerned with dividing the overall design system
into subsystems or modules. In this step we decide how the physical components of the design
are to be arranged and combined to carry out the functional duties of the design.
● Configuration design of parts and components: Parts are made up of features like holes, ribs,
splines, and curves. Configuring a part means to determine what features will be present and how
those features are to be arranged in space relative to each other. While modeling and simulation
may be performed in this stage to check out function and spatial constraints, only approximate
sizes are determined to assure that the part satisfies the PDS. Also, more specificity about
materials and manufacturing is given here. The generation of a physical model of the part with
rapid prototyping processes may be appropriate.
● Parametric design of parts: Parametric design starts with information on the configuration of
the part and aims to establish its exact dimensions and tolerances. Final decisions on the material
and manufacturing processes are also established if this has not been done previously. An
important aspect of parametric design is to examine the part, assembly, and system for design
robustness. Robustness refers to how consistently a component performs under variable
conditions in its service environment. The methods developed by Dr. Genichi Taguchi for
achieving robustness and establishing the optimum tolerance. Parametric design also deals with
determining the aspects of the design that could lead to failure. Another important consideration
in parametric design is to design in such a way that manufacturability is enhanced.
Phase III. Detail Design
In this phase the design is brought to the stage of a complete engineering description of a tested
and producible product. Missing information is added on the arrangement, form, dimensions,
tolerances, surface properties, materials, and manufacturing processes of each part. This results
in a specification for each special-purpose part and for each standard part to be purchased from
suppliers. In the detail design phase the following activities are completed and documents are
prepared:
● Detailed engineering drawings suitable for manufacturing. Routinely these are computer-
generated drawings, and they often include three-dimensional CAD models.
● Verification testing of prototypes is successfully completed and verification data is submitted.
All critical-to-quality parameters are confirmed to be under control. Usually the building and
testing of several preproduction versions of the product will be accomplished.
● Assembly drawings and assembly instructions also will be completed. The bill of materials for
all assemblies will be completed.
● A detailed product specification, updated with all the changes made since the conceptual
design phase, will be prepared.
● Decisions on whether to make each part internally or to buy from an external supplier will be
made.
● With the preceding information, a detailed cost estimate for the product will be carried out.
● Finally, detail design concludes with a design review before the decision is made to pass the
design information on to manufacturing.
Phases I, II, and III take the design from the realm of possibility to the real world
of practicality. However, the design process is not finished with the delivery of a set of detailed
engineering drawings and specifications to the manufacturing organization. Many other technical
and business decisions must be made that are really part of the design process. A great deal of
thought and planning must go into how the design will be manufactured, how it will be
marketed, how it will be maintained during use, and finally, how it will be retired from service
and replaced by a new, improved design. Generally these phases of design are carried out
elsewhere in the organization than in the engineering department or product development
department. As the project proceeds into the new phases, the expenditure of money and
personnel time increases greatly.
One of the basic decisions that must be made at this point is which parts will be
made by the product developing company and which will be made by an outside vendor or
supplier. This often is called the “make or buy” decision. Today, one additional question must be
asked: “Will the parts be made and/or assembled in the United States or in another country where
labor rates are much lower?”
Phase IV. Planning for Manufacture
A great deal of detailed planning must be done to provide for the production of the design. A
method of manufacture must be established for each component in the system. As a usual first
step, a process sheet is created; it contains a sequential list of all manufacturing operations that
must be performed on the component. Also, it specifies the form and condition of the material
and the tooling and production machines that will be used. The information on the process sheet
makes possible the estimation of the production cost of the component. High costs may indicate
the need for a change in material or a basic change in the design. Close interaction with
manufacturing, industrial, materials, and mechanical engineers is important at this step. The
other important tasks performed in phase IV are the following:
● Designing specialized tools and fixtures
● Specifying the production plant that will be used (or designing a new plant) and laying out the
production lines
● Planning the work schedules and inventory controls (production control)
● Planning the quality assurance system
● Establishing the standard time and labor costs for each operation
● Establishing the system of information f ow necessary to control the manufacturing operation
All of these tasks are generally considered to fall within industrial or manufacturing engineering.
Phase V. Planning for Distribution
Important technical and business decisions must be made to provide for the effective distribution
to the consumer of the products that have been produced. In the strict realm of design, the
shipping package may be critical. Concepts such as the shelf life of the product may also be
critical and may need to be addressed in the earlier stages of the design process. A system of
warehouses for distributing the product may have to be designed if none exists. The economic
success of the design often depends on the skill exercised in marketing the product. If it is a
consumer product, the sales effort is concentrated on advertising in print and video media, but
highly technical products may require that the marketing step be a technical activity supported by
specialized sales brochures, performance test data, and technically trained sales engineers.
Phase VI. Planning for Use
The use of the product by the consumer is all-important, and considerations of how the consumer
will react to the product pervade all steps of the design process. The following specific topics can
be identified as being important user-oriented concerns in the design process: ease of
maintenance, durability, reliability, product safety, convenience in use (human factors
engineering), aesthetic appeal, and economy of operation. Obviously, these consumer-oriented
issues must be considered in the design process at its very beginning. They are not issues to be
treated as afterthoughts. Phase VI of design is less well defined than the others, but it is
becoming increasingly important with the growing concerns for consumer protection and product
safety. More strict interpretation of product liability laws is having a major impact on design. An
important phase VI activity is the acquisition of reliable data on failures, service lives, and
consumer complaints and attitudes to provide a basis for product improvement in the next design
cycle.
Phase VII. Planning for Retirement of the Product
The final step in the design process is the disposal of the product when it has reached the end of
its useful life. Useful life may be determined by actual deterioration and wear to the point at
which the design can no longer function, or it may be determined by technological obsolescence,
in which a competing design performs the product’s functions either better or cheaper. In
consumer products, it may come about through changes in fashion or taste. In the past, little
attention has been given in the design process to product retirement. This is rapidly changing, as
people the world over are becoming concerned about environmental issues. There is concern
with depletion of mineral and energy resources, and with pollution of the air, water, and land as a
result of manufacturing and technology advancement. This has led to a formal area of study
called industrial ecology. Design for the environment , also called green design, has become an
important consideration in design.
2. Explain the basic principles of designing for economic production.
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF DESIGNING FOR ECONOMICAL PRODUCTION
The following principles, applicable to virtually all manufacturing processes, will aid designers
in specifying components and products that can be manufactured at minimum cost.
1. Simplicity. Other factors being equal, the product with the fewest parts, the least intricate
shape, the fewest precision adjustments, and the shortest manufacturing sequence will be the
least costly to produce. Additionally, it usually will be the most reliable and the easiest to service.
2. Standard materials and components. Use of widely available materials and off-the-shelf parts
enables the benefits of mass production to be realized by even low-unit-quantity products. Use of
such standard components also simplifies inventory management, eases purchasing, avoids
tooling and equipment investments, and speeds the manufacturing cycle.
3. Standardized design of the product itself. When several similar products are to be produced,
specify the same materials, parts, and subassemblies for each as much as possible. This
procedure will provide economies of scale for component production, simplify process control
and operator training, and reduce the investment required for tooling and equipment.
4. Liberal tolerances. Although the extra cost of producing too tight tolerances has been well
documented, this fact is often not appreciated well enough by product designers. The higher
costs of tight tolerances stem from factors such as (a) extra operations such as grinding, honing,
or lapping after primary machining operations, (b) higher tooling costs from the greater precision
needed initially when the tools are made and the more frequent and more careful maintenance
needed as they wear, (c) longer operating cycles, (d) higher scrap and rework costs, (e) the need
for more skilled and highly trained workers, (f) higher materials costs, and (g) more sizable
investments for precision equipment.
Figure 1 graphically illustrates how manufacturing cost is multiplied when close tolerances are
specified. Table 1 illustrates the extra cost of producing fine surface finishes. Figure 2 illustrates
the range of surface finishes obtainable with a number of machining processes. It shows how
substantially the process time for each method can increase if a particularly smooth surface finish
must be provided.
 Figure 1 Figure 2

Table 1
5. Use of the most processible materials. Use the most processible materials available as long as
their functional characteristics and cost are suitable. There are often significant differences in
processibility (cycle time, optimal cutting speed, flowability, etc.) between conventional material
grades and those developed for easy processibility. However, in the long run, the most
economical material is the one with the lowest combined cost of materials, processing, and
warranty and service charges over the designed life of the product.
6. Teamwork with manufacturing personnel. The most producible designs are provided when the
designer and manufacturing personnel, particularly manufacturing engineers, work closely
together as a team or otherwise collaborate from the outset.
7. Avoidance of secondary operations. Consider the cost of operations, and design in order to
eliminate or simplify them whenever possible. Such operations as deburring, inspection, plating
and painting, heat treating, material handling, and others may prove to be as expensive as the
primary manufacturing operation and should be considered as the design is developed. For
example, firm, nonambiguous gauging points should be provided; shapes that require special
protective trays for handling should be avoided.
8. Design appropriate to the expected level of production. The design should be suitable for a
production method that is economical for the quantity forecast. For example, a product should
not be designed to utilize a thin-walled die casting if anticipated production quantities are so low
that the cost of the die cannot be amortized. Conversely, it also may be incorrect to specify a
sand-mold aluminum casting for a mass-produced part because this may fail to take advantage of
the labor and materials savings possible with die castings.
9. Utilizing special process characteristics. Wise designers will learn the special capabilities of
the manufacturing processes that are applicable to their products and take advantage of them. For
example, they will know that injection-molded plastic parts can have color and surface texture
incorporated in them as they come from the mold, that some plastics can provide “living hinges,”
that powder-metal parts normally have a porous nature that allows lubrication retention and
obviates the need for separate bushing inserts, etc. Utilizing these special capabilities can
eliminate many operations and the need for separate, costly components.
10. Avoiding process restrictiveness. On parts drawings, specify only the final characteristics
needed; do not specify the process to be used. Allow manufacturing engineers as much latitude
as possible in choosing a process that produces the needed dimensions, surface finish, or other
characteristics required.
3. Explain with an example how larger machining tolerances are obtained.
4. What are general design considerations for casting process with respect to economic moulding,
solidification, fettling and cleaning?
 The shape of the castings should be as simple as possible. That helps to reduce the cost of
patterns, cores and moulds
 Casting should be made as compact as possible. Large steel castings of complex shape are
divided into two or more castings, they can be joined by welding.
 To facilitate removal, provision should be made of draft (1/2 to 3 degrees) on the castings
vertical surfaces. The draft is greater for the inside surfaces than for exterior surfaces.
 Projecting details (bosses,lugs,etc) or undercuts should be avoided or the pattern elements for
them should be made so that they do not hinder the removal of pattern from the mold.

 Wherever possible, avoid complex parting lines on the pattern, because these increase the
cost of moulding operations. Parting lines should be in a single plane, if practicable.

 Avoid concentration of metals so that no shrinkage cavities are formed. For this reason,
bosses, lugs, pads should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Metal section is too heavy
at bosses which is difficult to feed solid.

 The position of the castings surfaces during metal pouring must be taken into account, since
gas blow holes may form on the castings upper horizontal surfaces. Critical surfaces of
castings should lie at the bottom part of the mold.
 The thickness of the casting walls is determined depending on the size and mass of the
casting, its material and the casting method. Inner sections of the castings, resulting from
complex cores, cool much slower than outer sections and variation in strength properties
 Whenever feasible, the castings should be designed with uniform section thickness, because
shrinkage defects( porosities, cracks) may arise in the thickened portions. An abrupt change
in section and sharp corners act as stress risers in the finished casting, create turbulence
during pouring and hinder proper feeding of the casting.

 The sharp corners are eliminated with a radius at the corner from one-half to one-third of the
section thickness.

 Ribs are used for two purposes:

i) to increase stiffness ii) to reduce weight
a) Thickness of the rib should be 0.8 times the casting thickness.
b) Ribs should be rounded at edges and correctly filleted.
c) Avoid complex ribs Wide and low ribs are safer than thin and high ones.
d) When two ribs cross each other, localized heavy cross-sections result. This indicate hot
spot where melt solidifies only after adjacent zones have solidified, resulting shrinkage
cavities. They can be avoided by offsetting the ribs.
 The staggered ribs cause less distortion than the regularly spaced ribs.
 Ribs should be used chiefly for static loads. These should be avoided where impact loads are
expected since these increase the rigidity of the parts.

 Due to the same reasons as for cross ribs, bring or join minimum number of sections together
 Inside diameter of a cylinder or bushing should be greater than the wall thickness of the
casting. If it is less, it is better to cast solid. Holes can be produced by cheaper and safer
methods than by coring.
 Don’t use iron castings for impact and shock loading
 Don’t use cast iron at temperature above 3000C, since its strength decreases after 3000C.
 A material that has a large solidification shrinkage will result in hot-shortness(hot tears). The
straight arms can result in hot tears, but S-shaped arms can straighten a little to accommodate
the required shortening on and after solidification.

 Provide places where holes are to be drilled, to reinforce the walls of the casting, design (a) is
not good, because the drilled holes should be normal to the surfaces, top and bottom to
eliminate drill breakage. Design(b) is much more satisfactory because it eliminates drill
breakage, reduces drilling time and saves lot of material.

 Load the iron castings in compression, as afar as possible. Tensile and bending stresses can
be eliminated or minimized by proper design.
 The casting shape should allow easy cut-off the gating system elements and removal of cores.
 It is preferable to dispose the entire casting in the drag if the casting construction permits
doing so. This helps rule out mismatch.
 The mould should have a minimum number of cores or no cores at all, if possible. It is
advisable to use projection cods.
 The cavities in castings should have extensions roomy enough to receive the core prints of
cores. It is undesirable to support cores with chaplets since they sometimes do not weld
enough with the metal being cast.
 The casting design should provide for easy removal of core materials and reinforcements and
should make for ease of cleaning and fettling after the shake out operation. In order to
remove core material from internal cavities, special bosses with holes should be provided on
the casting. After the cleaning, the holes are stopped with the plugs. The outer contour of the
 casting should be free of deep blind pockets and recesses. The cavities should have openings
of sufficient size of facilitate stripping.
 Casting drawings should indicate locating surfaces which are to be used in the machining of
the castings and also in the checking of the castings. The locating surfaces should be formed
by the pattern and should lie in the same mould half, so that relative displacements of mould
parts and the cores do not affect accuracy of these surfaces. These locating surfaces are not
needed for part functioning and can be removed after machining when necessaryExamples of
locating surfaces are:
a) Centre holes on shafts.
b) Centring recess 1 and end face 2 on the skirt of an automotive engine piston. Fig (a)
c) Flats 1 of bosses 2 on cast blanks, provided for their proper loading and clamping., Fig
(b)
d) Bosses 1 on turbine blade blanks, Fig(c )
e) Two locating holes 1 on housing-type castings. Fig (d)

 Cooling and solidification of molten metal start at the surface of the mould cavity and
crystals form there first. Then the crystal growth takes place inwards, normal to all surfaces.
At the central plane of the casting, the formations from different sides intersect. The metal in
this plane is weak because the crystals do not join perfectly or even porosity may result there.
In a casting with sharp corners, fig (a), a plane of weakness extends from corner to corner,
exactly where the stresses are apt to be maximum. In castings with corners rounded off,
Fig(b)

 The plane of weakness runs uniformly throughout the centre, where the stresses are
extremely low. Also, the heat flows propagating normally to the corner walls intersect and
develop a ‘hot zone’ within the corner inner area. The corner walls here are made 20 to 25%
thinner than those in the areas farther from the corner.
 The design of a cast part must take into account the casting properties of the alloy being cast.
5. Explain the Keeler Goodman Forming Line Diagram.

A forming limit diagram (FLD), also known as a Keeler-Goodwin diagram, is a

graph that illustrates the behavior of sheet metal under different levels of strain. The line
describing the behavior of the metal is called a forming limit curve (FLC). A forming limit
diagram provides information on the maximum stress the metal can undergo before fracturing or
necking. The diagrams are constructed by using test strips of sheet metal and measuring the
deformation. Forming limit diagrams are graphed in a two-dimensional coordinate system, with
the major strain plotted on the y-axis and the minor strain plotted on the x-axis. Strain is a
measure of the deformation — major strain is defined as being in the direction with higher
deformation, while minor strain is in the direction with less deformation. Different types and
different thicknesses of sheet metal each have their own unique forming limit diagram. An FLC
is an irregular parabolic curve, with the minimum occurring at or near the major strain axis. A
material subjected to strains that lie above the curve will fail, while strains below the curve are
safe to apply to the metal. FLDs are usually graphed with two curves — the area between the
curves is a zone of critical deformation or safety zone, where the material may be safe or may
crack, so in practice it is best not to apply those strains. The critical deformation that is likely to
occur in this zone is called necking, which is when the metal is stretched thinner in some areas.

A forming limit diagram is developed using a series of tests. During the tests,
strains are applied to metal strips of differing widths. The different widths of strips simulate
different strain conditions. Each strip is marked with a circular grid pattern that is used to
measure the strain. Strain is usually applied to the strips using a hemispherical punch. A metal
strip is stretched until necking is observed. Strain values for the major and minor axes can be
 obtained by measuring the deformation of the circular grid previously marked on the strip.
Computer-based methods may also be used for measuring strain. Images taken by the computer
during the deformation process can be compared to a reference grid comparable to the circular
grid on the metal. The computer can compute the strains using these images. Another method
compares before and after images of the circular grid in order to calculate strain.

( Keeler Goodman Figure – 4 Marks, Explanation - 8Marks )

6. Discuss the various factors that are to be considered in the design of weldments.
 Mechanical and Physical properties of metals and weldments
 Weldability of metals
 DDimensions of the workpiece
 Length of the weldment etc
 Welding processes, costs and variations in welding procedures
 Filler metals and properties of the weld metals
 Thermal effects of welding
 Effects of retraint and stress concentration
 Control of distortion
 The orientation of the joint: Overhead or vertical or transverse?
 Are pre or post weld treatments suggested for the workpiece materials in question?
 Design for appropriate stiffness or flexibility in welded beams and other structural
members
 Design for torsional resistance;
 Effects of thermal strains induced by welding in the presence of restraints
 Effects of stress induced by welding in combination with design stresses.
 Practical considerations of welding and the selection of proper joint design for the
application.
 Communication of weldment design to the shop, including the use of welding symbols
 Applicable welding codes and safety standards
(Minimum 12 points, 1mark/point = 12 Marks)
7. Explain with an example the effects of automation in manufacturing a component.
The operations performed on a machine can be divided into two categories:
 Handling operation (description with example 6Marks)
 Processing operations (description with example 6Marks)
Handling includes loading and unloading of components, mounting and removing
of cutting tools, feeding of tool and inspection of the workpiece during operation. Processing
means the actual machining time. The total time of operation is the sum of the above two factors.
The quicker the above operations are performed, the lesser is the time of machining.
More automation on machine means more operations are performed
automatically. Once the operations have been set, the operator is free to set another machine . In
this way an operator can control more than one machine, which increases productivity in the
industry.

8. How assembly machines are classified? Explain rotary and inline transfer.

(4 Marks)

Inline Transfer (4Marks) and Rotory Transfer (4 Marks)

9. Explain in detail about various approaches in design for assembly.
DFA is a systematic analysis process primarily intended to reduce the assembly
costs of a product by simplifying the product design. It does so by first reducing the number of
parts in the product design, and then by ensuring that remaining parts are easily assembled. This
close analysis of the design is typically conducted by a team of design and manufacturing
engineers, although other functional groups such as field service and purchasing may also be
involved. DFA techniques can be applied manually or with software. Both approaches lead to a
simpler product structure and assembly system. DFA is used for discrete manufacturing products,
and primarily for durable goods, but occasionally for consumer products. DFA is typically
applied to subassemblies or small discrete products such as tape recorders, computer printers,
and gun sight assemblies. DFA goes by many names, such as DEM (design for economic
manufacture), DFMA (design for manufacture and assembly), or PDFA (product design for
assembly). DFA is often confused with, but is actually a subset of, DFM (design for
manufacture). DFM describes a class of techniques to improve product manufacturability for all
types of products, not just assemblies.
DFA was developed with the assumption that the bulk of manufacturing costs are
set in the design stage, before any manufacturing systems analysis and tooling development is
undertaken. DFA provides a quantitative method for evaluating the cost and manufacturability of
the design during the design stage itself. DFA analysis roughly calculates expected unit material
and labor (and/or equipment) assembly cost, and also finds an "efficiency rating" which is a
relative measure of the product's ease of assembly. Many products have efficiencies as low as
20% before DFA analysis is applied, and then achieve efficiencies higher than 70%. These
product cost and efficiency figures can then be used to evaluate alternative design and assembly
approaches early in a new product development effort. DFA algorithms build on many earlier
industrial concepts including group technology, producibility engineering, product
rationalization, and time and motion studies. In many ways DFA is a structured, automated
approach to time and motion industrial engineering, combined with a bit of design philosophy
via design axioms and guidelines. Traditional industrial engineering concepts such as
producibility engineering and value engineering are sometimes called qualitative approaches.
Producibility engineering focuses on the efficient manufacture of piece parts, and so focuses on
cost minimization. Value engineering considers part functionality, performance, and cost.
Exclusive focus on piece parts can lead to usage of many individual parts that are individually
less complex and less expensive; however, this leads to higher system costs due to part
 proliferation. A DFA move beyond this to consider effective system design, and does so by
rationalizing and improving the assemblies. By integrating design rationalization theory, design
axioms, engineering time study methods, and conventional wisdom on effective design practices,
DFA "allows holistic [quantitative] analysis of design, materials, costing, and manufacturing
processes.
(6marks for Traditional approach of DFA and 6marks for systematic approach)
10.