Architects, landscape designers, interior designers and product designers are typical designer jobs. They often develop visual themes, to position themselves and their designs in the market. Many clients purchase products of or engage these designers because their products match with the sense of their identity. For example urban planners expect the landscape designers to develop landmarks, to improve the attractiveness of the city, neighbourhood or region. In addition to the visual requirements the design should improve the liveability of the community, preserve the environment and protect sensitive areas. Requirements usually not met by the visual themes of the designer. Most design teams are not composed of visual designers only but also include marketing people, design engineers, manufacturing- and O&M specialists. The design engineers, manufacturing- and O&M specialists ensure that the product meet the criteria of professional correctness, which may be specified in professional codes and standards.

You can use this guide together with manufacturers catalogues to specify and select a clutch that will meet your needs. If you are not very familiar with the standard types of clutch available from stock then review the sections on Uses of clutches and Types of clutch available from manufacturers. Reference should be made at every stage of the selection process to the Product Design Specification (PDS) for the system (all the relevant factors should be described in a well written PDS). The characteristics of clutches available “off the shelf” often may constrain the design of the system that requires the clutch so be prepared to change your design to match a manufacturer’s clutch. The guide also specifies the environment and the requirements for the clutch, how to choose a clutch, and a list of clutch suppliers.

[Description and screenshot taken from the SEED Curriculum for Engineering Design page for this guide. (c) The Design Society used under the terms of their (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) license.]

The purpose of this guide is to enable the user to determine the attributes required of an electric motor to meet a specific power transmission need and then to select one from those offered by manufacturers. It has been compiled as part of a series, which covers typical elements of a system.

In this guide only conventional power transmission motors will be considered. This covers AC and DC motors between about 30 watts and 30 kilowatts. Other motors will be dealt with in other guides. The guide looks at the selection procedure, factors affecting motor selection, and motor selection and specification.

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The purpose of this guide is to enable the user to determine the attributes required of a gearbox to meet a specific power transmission need and then to select an appropriate gearbox from those offered by manufacturers. It has been compiled as part of a series which covers typical elements of a system. It is not concerned with the detailed design of a gearbox which will be covered in other guides in this series. Before embarking on the selection procedure it is necessary to ensure that the need for a gearbox, has been carefully considered. The guides at higher levels in the Mechanical Power Transmission Series provide assistance in this process. The successful selection of a suitable gearbox is the result of matching the requirements of the power transmission system with one of the range of boxes offered by the manufacturers. Thus information about the system and information about available hardware is necessary.

The guide looks at the selection procedure, types of gearbox and their characteristics, general characteristics, factors affecting gearbox selection, and manufacturers.

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You can use this guide to determine what kind of a seal will meet your needs and then to select a seal from those offered by manufacturers. If you are not very familiar with the standard types of seal available from stock then review the section on standard seal types available from manufacturers. Reference should be made at every stage of the selection process to the Product Design Specification (PDS) for the system (all the relevant factors should be described in a well written PDS). The characteristics of seals available “off the shelf” often constrain the design of the system components that require the seal so be prepared to change their design to match a manufacturer’s seal.

The guides looks at how to: specify the environment and operating conditions, specify the performance of the seal, select the type of seal required, select the material for the seal, choose a seal from a manufacturer’s catalogue, review your choice of seal. There is also a list of seal manufacturers.

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This guide gives information on how to design a shaft when fluctuating loads are to be considered. It gives details on how to: Determine External Loads; Choose Preliminary Dimensions; Identify Critical Shaft Sections; Determine Stresses; Combine Stresses; Choose Failure Criterion; Choose Material and Material Properties; Determine Fatigue and Safety Factors; Compare Stresses and Strength; Specify Shaft. This guide should be used in conjunction with the guide, How to design a Shaft for Strength and Rigidity. There is also a list of suggested further reading.

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This guide gives information on how to design a shaft for strength and rigidity. It gives details on how to: determine the loads on the shaft; choose provisional dimensions for the shaft; identify critical sections; calculate internal forces and moments; introduce safety factor; choose material; calculate deflection; compare factored stresses with strength of material; specify shaft.

References are also provided.

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You can use this guide to determine the attributes required of a rolling element bearing to meet a specific power transmission need and then to select one from those offered by manufacturers. If you are unfamiliar with rolling element bearings then review the page on Bearing types and characteristics. This guide comes in the following sections:
1. Introduction 2. Specify the factors that determine the choice of the bearing 3. Decide the required type of bearing 4. Determine the equivalent load and speed 5.  Determine the equivalent bearing life 6. Determine the dynamic load rating 7. Select a bearing and check.

Other information includes details of bearing manufacturers, references and standards, and a list of the notation and symbols used in the guide.

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This guide gives an insight into the types, terminology used, selection procedure and uses of standard chain drives. The most common applications for chains drives are discussed and a simplified strategy is given to help the infrequent user select an appropriate chain system using information from a manufacturer’s catalogue. Chain drives are an important and widely used type of mechanical element. They have two major uses, that is, for power transmissions and for materials handling purposes on conveyors. In addition, specific types of chain are used for supporting loads and for lifting purposes. As a transmission, chain drives can operate efficiently at high loads and they may be used where precise speed ratios are required. Selecting the best type of transmission drive will depend on the specific requirements of the application. Certainly, chain drives are widely used throughout mechanical engineering and, therefore, deserve to be very seriously considered at the preliminary stages of design.

This guide includes the sections: Preliminary Selection, Types of Chain, Factors Affecting Roller Chain Selection, Lubrication of Chains, Roller Chain Terminology, Standard Sizes, Chain Power Ratings, Chain Nomenclature, Roller Chain Selection Example,  and Chain Costs. Other information includes suggested further reading and details of leading chain manufacturers.

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The purpose of this guide is to enable the user to determine the attributes needed of a planar mechanism to meet a specific combination of output requirements and then to select the appropriate type. It has been compiled as part of a series which covers typical elements of a system. In this guide only planar mechanisms driven by “constant” velocity rotating input are considered. Other aspects of mechanism design will be dealt with in subsequent guides. The guide gives information on the types of planar mechanism and factors influencing type selection. It also has a list of specialist manufacturers and an appendix with information on direct electrical drives.

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You can use this guide to determine the attributes required of a belt drive to meet a specific power transmission need and then to select a drive from those offered by manufacturers. The successful selection of a suitable belt drive is the result of matching the requirements of the power transmission system with one of the range of belt systems offered by the manufacturers. Thus, information about both the system and the hardware available is necessary, and the selection process entails six consecutive stages:

1. Gathering information about the system
2. Deciding on influential factors
3. Establishing limits of acceptability for factors
4. Collating information from manufacturers
5. Selecting a suitable element
6. Seeking follow-up advice

The guide also has information on how to specify the environment and operating conditions and the performance of the belt drive, how to select the belt drive required, and how to install the belt drive. Other information includes details of belt drive types currently available, power ranges, belt drive manufacturers, and suggested further reading.

Reference should be made at every stage to the Product Design Specification (PDS) for the system (all the relevant factors should be described in a well written PDS). Note that, before embarking on the selection process, you should ensure that the need for a belt drive, as distinct from other forms of drive, has been carefully considered. The Guides at higher levels in the Mechanical Power Transmission Series provide assistance in this process.

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You can use this guide to select standard gears from catalogues. If you are unfamiliar with standard gears first review the sections on standard gears and gear terminology. Gears can either be obtained as standard components from a manufacturer’s catalogue or alternatively specially designed and manufactured. Smaller sized gears, especially instrument gears, tend to be more readily available from catalogues and larger, less used gear types tend to be produced as specials; usage is claimed by leading manufacturers to be approximately equally divided. For practical reasons, gear catalogues tend to display only geometric and materials data of stock gears rather than specific operational information. This is because functional behaviour will vary with an application and so it is not feasible to give comprehensive data covering all operational conditions within a catalogue for a complete product range. The guide describes a practical approach which ensures that gears selected from a catalogue are technically suitable for a specific application. Technical considerations usually produce a number of viable alternatives so cost may well be the decisive factor influencing the final selection.

The guide details how to: establish the requirements; choose the number of teeth, type and material for the gears; calculate the pitch-line velocity and tooth bending stress; select suitable gears by considering materials and cost. Other information includes notation for calculations, a worked example, details of gear manufacturers, and a bibliography.

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The purpose of this guide is to draw together the fundamental principles, which should be considered in the design of a rotary power transmission system so that it will perform effectively as an entity. If you are unfamiliar with the design of rotary power transmission systems then review the section on concepts and definitions. The selection of individual system elements e.g. motors, gearboxes etc. is presented in other Guides in this series. The four sections of this guide are: consider the load on the system, match the load to the supply, consider other characteristics of the system components, and find real system elements.

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The aim of this guide is to provide procedures to enable the user to design a bolted connection where the dominant load acts parallel to the axes of the bolts making the connection (and therefore perpendicular to the connecting faces of the parts which constitute the joint). The guide provides sufficient additional data to enable the threaded elements to be selected and specified. Typical joint configurations where the threaded fasteners are in tension/bending, simple tension or shear are shown in the following figures:

Figure 1. Types of Bolted Connection covered by this Guide

Two approaches are included. The first covers “statically loaded joints” and the second “dynamically loaded joints”. The first approach is essentially a simplified version of the second and can be adopted when the variation of the axial load at the joint in service can be regarded as negligible and the number of times that the axial load is applied to the joint throughout its working life is less than 105 applications. The guide assumes that the component parts being connected are sufficiently rigid so as to not subject the threaded fasteners to bending stresses when the joint is being tightened or when it is under load in service. The guide does not consider the design of threaded connections where the threaded fastener is subject to lateral shear – clevis joints for example. In these cases, the threaded fastener is subject to high bearing stresses on its diameter and, invariably, bending stresses accompany the lateral shear stress. These situations are considered to be outside the scope of this guide.

Section 2 looks at the limits of the guide in greater depth. The guide advises in general terms on aspects of good practice relating to the positioning of fasteners in a joint. The number and position of fasteners to be used in a given situation tends to be influenced by other features of the design work being undertaken and there is a wide variety of possibilities which are difficult to categorise in a brief guide such as this. The symbols and nomenclature used throughout the guide are defined as they occur. No derivations of equations are presented; such derivations are available for those who require them in the Bibliography at the end of the guide.

Section 3 covers the selection of bolted connections which are statically loaded. This enables the user to design safe connections for static loading using a flow chart approach. Section 4 gives the necessary background and equations for determining the load distribution and corresponding stress levels imposed on the component parts of a joint subjected to fatigue loading. It also includes a table of screw thread strength reduction factors, which should be used in conjunction with the other strength reduction factors used in designing against fatigue. A second flow chart is included, giving the reader a step-by-step procedure for the safe design of bolted joints capable of sustaining fatigue loading. Section 5 examines and discusses the relationship between applied torque and induced load and the distribution of stress in normal threaded fasteners. Section 6 deals with ISO grading of threaded connector materials. Section 7 looks at the common thread system as well as touching on past systems. Section 8 shows how to select fasteners with the best characteristics for many applications.

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This guide aims to provide specialist knowledge across a range of manufacturing technologies to enable the correct process selection to be made from the breadth of possibilities and also to provide technological and economic data on a range of important manufacturing processes. Manufacturing PRocess Information MAps (PRIMAs) give detailed data on the characteristics and capabilities of each process in a standard format under general headings including: material suitability, design considerations, quality issues, general economics and process fundamentals and variations. A distinctive feature is the inclusion of process tolerance capability charts for processing key material types.
This guide is largely based on the manufacturing process selection and costing text published by the authors (1). In this guide the reader is introduced to a systematic approach to process selection supported by a sample of ten PRIMAs only. Space does not permit the inclusion of all the available PRIMAs and the method for detailed costing of component designs given in reference (1). A computer based (PC) version of the authors’ component costing method is available for educational purposes only from the SEED website at http://www.cad.strath.ac.uk/~bill/seed.htm. Topics covered by this guide include a process selection strategy and PRIMA selection. Sample PRIMAs and a case study are included.

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This guide is concerned with explaining the system of tolerances and fits contained in the British Standard No 4500 Part 1 and how to use this system. This is a national standard which embodies the international standard No R286.

Note that the numbers in parentheses refer to the ‘List of Definitions” and the Introduction refers to these and to Figures 1 and 2.

Reference is made throughout to the application of tolerances to “shafts” and “holes” and an impression is often created that the system of tolerances described in BS 4500 is suitable only for use with circular features (1). This is not the case and the system can be applied to features having parallel planes. Common examples of such use are the applications to bar stock of square, rectangular and hexagonal section and to keyways and splines.

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This guide explains what product design specifications (PDS) are, why they are important, and how to write one. The guide includes links to examples from a PDS written by a group of students who were specifying the design of a lawn-edge trimmer. This is a typical first-time PDS, not an ideal model. The students missed out several sections, and did not put figures on as many of their specifications as they should have done. This guide was commissioned by the SEED Curriculum Development Editorial Board.

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This guide aims to: determine the optimal dimensions of a cam mechanism to produce a given motion and satisfy the kinematic constraints imposed by limiting pressure angle and profile curvature as well as the artificial limitations associated with a particular application, such as space restrictions; determine the spring force needed for force closure; use cam design to illustrate the principles of preparing and applying design data for solving multi-variable problems which do not yield readily to mathematical analysis. It is recommended that the ‘Unit Design – Cam Mechanisms‘ guide be read first. See the References Section for further citations, including software. This supplement is intended to provide background information for tutors using SEED ‘Unit Design – Cam Mechanisms‘ guide for undergraduate design assignments. It includes additional explanations and figures, supplies cross-references, identifies manufacturers and outlines possible assignments. It is assumed that the students have access to micro-computers and can use a suitable spreadsheet package.

The guide includes the sections:

• The Cam Mechanism
• Cam Laws
• Forces on the Follower
• Pressure Angle
• Profile Curvature – Undercutting
• Design Procedure for Optimum Cam Size
• Validation
• The Spreadsheet
• General Approach to Cam Design
• Outlines for Assignments

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The manufacturing phase follows the detail design phase, within the ‘Design Activity Model’ (reference 1) shown in Figure 1. However, manufacturing considerations need to be addressed from the outset of the project and it is essential that students be made aware of this distinction. Design educators must include manufacturing considerations as an essential part of the curriculum, and emphasise the need to integrate design and manufacture. Students should be asked to consider manufacture as well as form, fit and function, and be able to compare costs (reference 2) of alternative manufacturing methods, including assembly. These are too often considered later in the product development stage when expensive modifications may be required to alleviate quality or production problems.

Students should also understand that, in practice, many companies have traditionally had separate lines of management, at operational level, for product design and process or manufacturing system design. More progressive companies are implementing project teams which include design, manufacturing and other disciplines from the outset of the project.

The report provides an introduction, topic definition, educational objectives and chapters on when taught and how, manufacturing considerations, manufacturing processes, manufacturing costs, manufacturing information, and influence of automated manufacturing systems. Also provided are references, suggested further reading and figures.

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During the SEED ’83 Design Seminar, held at Southampton University, delegates proposed, unanimously supported and set up a Working Party to make recommendations on the content of a curriculum for engineering design in undergraduate courses. Although the importance of design was being increasingly acknowledged nationally, it was realised that definitive guidelines in regard to a recognised core curriculum for design teaching were conspicuous by their absence. The delegates to the SEED ’83 seminar considered it essential to respond to this challenge and meet the need. The Working Party subsequently submitted two reports which were discussed in detail.and accepted respectively by the SEED ’84 Seminar held at Lanchester (Coventry) Polytechnic and the SEED ’85 Seminar held at Liverpool Polytechnic. A synopsis of the first report (1) is given in this document in the ‘Introduction‘, whilst the second report is included in its entirety together with suggestions arising from the SEED ’85 Seminar.

Design is central to engineering and hence the majority of engineering graduates are likely to have contact with it during their subsequent careers, whilst others will become professional designers. Consequently, and because of its importance to the economy, a well founded ‘appreciation’ of design is essential for all engineering undergraduates and is the theme of this paper. This view is reflected in the more recent demands by the Engineering Council for the mandatory inclusion of both ‘Engineering Applications’ (2) and ‘Design Studies’ (3) for accreditation of engineering undergraduate courses. This development has brought in its train increased demands for design teaching. Whilst every encouragement must be given to such developments, a cautionary note must be sounded in that damage will be done to the understanding and practice of design unless it is taught in a balanced and comprehensive way.

The proposals in this report represent the views of a large percentage of those who teach design at tertiary level, the majority being Chartered Engineers, many of whom continue to practice as consultants. They therefore see the proposals as being directly relevant both to teaching and practice and not the untried exhortations of non-practitioners. Furthermore, the proposed curriculum is itself designed to provide a sound basis for many of the needs of EA2 and of the Engineering Council’s request for design studies.

This report includes the following sections:

• Preface
• Working Party Members
• Introduction
• View of Design
• Requirements for a Design Curriculum
• Definition of Terms
• Proposed Teaching Strategy
• Teaching and Practice
• Time Requirements
• Current Reports
• Concluding Comments
• References
• Appendix A – Description Of The Design Activity Model
• Appendix B – Definition Of Topics

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This document forms part of the SEED curriculum development series of publications and is principally intended for use by teachers and lecturers in engineering design in the preparation of teaching material for the topic of conceptual design. Conceptual design is a key phase of the design process. It is during this stage that the product concept which will eventually be taken forward to manufacture is formulated and selected. The thoroughness with which this activity is carried out significantly influences the quality of the final product and, as a consequence, its eventual success or failure. In practice, the resources put into conceptual design are often inadequate. It is necessary, therefore, to impress upon students not only the importance of the phase but also the approach required to achieve a robust concept.

This document addresses a strategy for the teaching of conceptual design rather than the specific procedures involved in the conceptual design of a product. The message it aims to present is equally applicable to mechanical, electrical, civil and other engineering disciplines. Consequently, the term “product” as used though out the document should be interpreted as referring to buildings, processes, systems, circuits etc. as well as consumer and industrial artefacts. Similarly, “manufacturing” should be interpreted as also referring to construction.

The report provides an introduction, topic definition, rationale, educational aims and objectives and chapters on the conceptual design curriculum, teaching and assessment of conceptual design and a bibliography and references.

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The Market Phase is the first major phase in the total design activity and is followed by the Specification Phase. Indeed, the Product Design Specification (PDS) produced during the Specification Phase may be described as a statement of market needs. It forms the essential foundation for competitive design and greatly influences the probability of a successful outcome. The PDS must itself be soundly based and this necessitates a thorough market investigation. The market phase and PDS formulation are therefore closely related, which is the justification for the title of this document. Whilst there appears to be a growing awareness of the importance of the PDS in some areas of industry and academia, the approach by which they are formulated in practice is frequently lacking in breadth and thoroughness. It is necessary to impart to students not only the importance of the PDS but also the modus operandi for creating a reliable document. The key is information and its processing.

This booklet identifies the information areas requiring exploration, and a structured, albeit flexible, approach to processing information in order to formulate a PDS. It also provides guidance on the compilation of the PDS itself. The booklet may be used as a text upon which to base lectures, for exercises in market information processing and specification formulation, and as an aid at the commencement of design projects. The approach is applicable irrespective of engineering discipline although the terminology used may vary. For example, the term ‘brief’ in civil engineering is synonymous with ‘specification’ in electrical and mechanical engineering. Hence the term ‘product’, used throughout this document, may refer to any outcome from a design project be it a civil engineering structure, chemical engineering process, mechanical engineering system, electronic circuit, on an industrial or consumer product.

The report provides an introduction, topic definition, rationale, educational aims and objectives and chapters on the market and specification phases in total design, the market phase, the specification phase, when and how taught, a demonstration exercise and references.

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The purpose of this guide is to enable the user to determine the optimum dimensions and to specify the sprung force closure of a disc cam mechanism, which produces the required output motion, whilst satisfying the kinematic constraints imposed by the maximum pressure angle and profile curvature. Cam mechanisms are used to convert a simple input motion, such as a shaft rotating at nominally “constant” speed, into a complex output motion. The output motion from cam mechanisms is versatile as the displacement, velocity and acceleration are all controlled accurately; it can also include stationary periods. Each movement can be specified independently of the remainder of the operating sequence. Besides the familiar application of the cam-operated valves of petrol engines the mechanism is used in textile manufacture, automatic assembly, wrapping machinery and many special-purpose devices. This guide assumes that the procedure given in SEED Design Guide “Planar Mechanisms” has been followed. Books and commercial software packages, which cover the design, dynamics and strength of most configurations of the cam mechanism, are cited in “Sources of Information“.

The guide includes the sections:

• Prepare the Timing Chart
• Construction and Operation
• Terminology
• Dimensions and Notation
• Output Motion
• Non-Dimensional Parameters
• Cam Laws
• Cam Law Selection
• Minimum Cam Size From Kinematic Constraints
• Space Constraints and Configuration
• Application of a Spreadsheet
• Optimum Cam Size
• Force Closure
• Dynamic Design

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This document forms part of the SEED curriculum development series of publications and is principally intended for use by teachers and lecturers of engineering design in the preparation of teaching material for the topic of detail design. It addresses a strategy for the teaching of detail design rather than the specific procedures involved in the detail design of a product. The message it aims to present is equally applicable to mechanical, electrical, civil and other engineering disciplines. Consequently the term ‘product’ as used throughout the document should be interpreted as referring to buildings, processes, systems, circuits etc. as well as consumer and industrial artefacts. Similarly, ‘manufacturing’ should be interpreted as also referring to construction.

The report provides an introduction, topic definition, rationale, educational objectives and chapters on when taught, detail design curriculum, teaching and assessment and a bibliography and references.

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The purpose of this procedural guide is to enable the user to determine the attributes of an appropriate shaft coupling for a mechanical power transmission system and hence to select one from a manufacturer’s catalogue. It has been compiled as part of a series which covers typical elements of a system. It deals with the coupling of two shafts which are co-linear, or very nearly so. It does not cover shaft-hub connections, clutches, universal joints or torque limiters. The guide gives details of the selection procedure, types of shaft coupling and misalignment and factors affecting coupling selection.

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Connections can either be obtained as standard components from a manufacturer’s catalogue or alternatively specially designed and manufactured. Smaller sized connections tend to be more readily available from catalogues and larger, less used types tend to be produced as specials. This guide is only concerned with the selection and subsequent use of standard components. It enables the user to specify the attributes of a connection to meet specific needs and then to select a connection from those offered by manufacturers. The types of connections most commonly used are illustrated and discussed. The guide takes a practical approach that ensures the technical suitability of connections for specific applications. Technical considerations usually indicate a number of viable possibilities so cost may well be the decisive factor influencing the final selection.

The guide looks at whether your connection is really necessary, common connections, how to determine the operating conditions, how to specify the factors that influence the choice of connection, the performance required, and the type of connection. There is also a worked example, a list of major manufacturers, a bibliography and suggested further reading, and notes on the design of Shaft-Hub Connections.

[Description and screenshot taken from the SEED Curriculum for Engineering Design page for this guide. (c) The Design Society used under the terms of their (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) license.]