Reflection
Kevin Tuscher
Last spring when I signed up for this class, I heard a lot of negative reviews based on the workload and course content. Due to these comments I heard, I had become weary of the course and I was not looking forward to what was in store. My concerns were quickly dismissed after the first few weeks of being in class -- I realized that this class would be of immense value and it would expose me to all of the different facets that must be considered in design thinking.
Starting with the first mini project, I learned about ways to analyze existing products in order to see how different mechanisms work. In a process called “reverse engineering” you disassemble an item in order to gain insight on the processes that went into the production of the item. This is an essential step when trying to solve a problem -- you must first take a deeper look into all of the components to gain a better understanding of the task at hand.
Next, in mini project 2, we learned about rapid prototyping mechanisms, or 3D printing. For this particular topic, I feel as if I gained a very in-depth look at all of the different variations of 3D printing, be it SLA, SLS, FDM, or others. These serve as an inexpensive way to create prototypes of a design or even to fill functions such as printing medical materials that can be implemented in surgeries. 3D printing is essential when it comes to the early parts of the design process.
The next few mini projects focused on manufacturing of metals. From these assignments, I learned the pros and cons of each method, such as milling, drilling, turning, and different types of casting. Milling, drilling and turning are deductive manufacturing methods while casting is not, as you are filling a mold. In addition, we investigated metal forming -- which is the process of shaping metal while it remains in a solid state. This could include sheet metal forming or forging. Forging is especially handy as it can be used to strengthen metals. While researching all of these metal-handling techniques, I inadvertently learned about young’s modulus and the different regimes of materials (elastic and plastic) and when original mechanical properties would be lost.
Along with metals, we learned about the manufacturing processes behind plastics and composites. Both can be injection molded, but with some variations. Composites consist of resin be injected between fibers, while plastic is by itself in the mold. When designing the molds for products, you must be weary of the draft angles and corners you use in order to ensure clean removal after injection. Plastic injection molding is generally a very quick process as the plastic is heated and injected at a high pressure, resulting in a high fill rate. On the other hand, composites often take a long time to completely fill the mold. The benefit to composites however is the added strength due to the fibers.
In addition to the manufacturing processes we learned about, I also learned how to design 2k factorial experiments to analyze which combinations of conditions produce the best result. This is essential when deciding processes to be carried out in order to maximize efficiency or the response desired.
I would consider my knowledge of 3D printing and the benefits of each method to be one of my strengths -- I analyzed the various properties of materials used in these machines in order to select the ideal process. One thing I struggle with is identifying the variables to be tested in 2k factorial experiments -- I have trouble finding things that can affect the outcome that we are looking for. My favorite part of this class includes the labs and main projects; I feel the hands-on experience was the best way to fully understand manufacturing processes and the things you must consider during design thinking.
Upon completion of this class, I have realized I developed an arsenal of design knowledge. Everything we learned needs to be accounted for during design thinking in order to minimize costs and maximize the quality and function of a product -- the core of design for manufacturability.
Sitao Zhang
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The goal of our redesign product is to reduce the number of parts in the tripod and increase the compatibility of the product be suitable for different kinds of cameras and even for cup holders. After making the redesigned part from innovation studio, we found the redesigned product meets our expectations. For the progress reports, we meet together and discuss the problems in the main project manual. During the whole period, I think I did fine on answering the problems in the report and in using softwares like aPriori. However, I felt I did not contribute enough especially when brainstorming the design ideas at the initial stage.
In the process, I think I learned how to approach cost analysis for the product as well as get familiar with CAD design. I have never used aPriori by myself and I have not touch Creo for more than one year. But the main project offers me a chance to run aPriori software by myself for our product and regained the skills in CAD part design. Also, I did not have a deep understanding about the 3D printing and not printed anything before using the 3D printers in our university. But the project offered this chance and I had a better sense about the 3D printing after seeing the real product.
This course provides me a chance to explore more information about the manufacturability and with the help of labs, we got the real products from those manufacturing machines which gives me a better sense about how companies manufacture the products in the real world. The challenge of this course is that it requires much extensive thinking and research, which I sometimes feel it is difficult to find the right answer for our problem. This course benefits me a lot for my future in real engineering practice. From the course, the experience using the design software such as Creo will benefit me in better designing products in the future.
Tim Culbertson
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When beginning to discuss what wanted to do for our new assembly, we all had no clue what to do. To be honest, when we could not get the original Octopod as what we wanted to modify, we were all pretty mad that we were not given a choice as to what the next product will be. We were pretty stump once Progress Report 3 came around until one came up with modifying the original phone holder. Once the initial spark was there, we all came together and created a new assembly that we all agreed were pretty happy to make.
Throughout the Main Project Process, I learned a bit of what could be the life of an engineer in the career field. Going into college, I was not a fan of CAD modelling, but now I enjoy every chance I get to model something with a CAD software (once I learned how to use Creo again). I also barely get the chance to 3d print an object. Being able to design a product with the intention of 3d printing was not only fun, but very informative as how we had to orient are pieces in order to successfully print our product. The idea behind analyzing our product to the customer standards was also very informative. Albeit boring, the idea behind the DOE and DFA became clear to me and I now understand why products take a bit of time to come out as companies continue to test their products until they are absolutely sure they can sell it publicly.
Outside of the Main Project, I really enjoy the units of machining, injection molding, and metal casting. Being able to apply what we learned in class to what we were able to produce in labs have solidified my understanding on the discussed topics. The execution of the injection molding and the production of the molds necessary for the plastic have created a desire in me to learn more about these topics in order to hopefully apply them in a career.
Whenever someone asks me what my favorite classes are in college, I always reply with all of my Mechanical Engineering classes. I explain that not only do we learn about certain topics, but we also get the chance to apply them to some degree. When this happens, not only do I have a better understanding of the topic and want to learn more about it, I also enjoy taking the classes because I am learning necessary information about what I need to do to become successful in a career. This class supports my argument as not only do I learn new information about plastics, injection molding, machining, etc., but I get to have fun and apply them to learn more about these topics. I do not regret taking this class at all this semester and can’t wait for future classes.
Kamil Nocon
After a semester in ME 270 with Professor Liebenberg, I not only learned a lot about design for manufacturability, but also myself. The project was a fun and interesting conclusion that brought all aspects of the class together in the end. From this class I learned that one of my strengths was CAD design and assembly, which is something that I have always enjoyed, and this project allowed me to be creative in design and explore my interest. I also think that one of my strengths is the ability to brainstorm and build off of other people’s ideas to create a new ideas which is what occurred with this project. I believe that one of my main weaknesses was my ability to research however throughout this semester this has improved from the mini projects and the main project.
Throughout this semester I learned about the different manufacturing methods that are used to make products such as, 3d printing, casting, machining, and injection molding. I learned that when designing a part, one must take into account the method of manufacturing used as this places restrictions on the design of the final product. I learned this through the labs and mini projects where we delved deeper into the concepts we learned in lecture. Other things I learned were material properties like Young’s Modulus and stress strain curves, which were not in the syllabus, through the mini projects.
A highlights of the course was the autonomy given to us in assignments such as the main project where we had a lot of freedom to the the project in any direct we wanted. This also autonomy also presented challenges, where sometimes we weren’t really sure of the requirements from us but, somehow we always managed to figure it out as group.
I think that all of this knowledge will be applied in real engineering practices. The autonomy of this course taught me how to be more independent and try to figure things out on my own. Also the manufacturing methods used and learning to design of manufacturability will definitely be applicable to real engineering practices as all these manufacturing methods are methods being used in industry right now.