Product Design and Manufacture MEng

An intermediate module covering the key environmental and sustainability issues of relevance to energy supply and use, materials consumption, and product design/manufacture. Topics include:

1. Drivers for sustainability, including patterns of energy use, material consumption, waste generation, and associated environmental impacts in UK and globally.
2. Circular economy and efficient materials use.
3. Energy use in the context of mechanical and manufacturing engineering systems.
4. Life cycle assessment of engineering activities and cost-benefit analysis.

Building on Industrial Design and Professional practice from the first 2 years of the programme, the third module continues to explore the field of Industrial design in more depth. Linked directly with the two projects within BEng 3rd Year Projects, the module provides an opportunity to practice implementing some of the theory learnt about sustainable design and Engineering analysis, to a real-world design problem.

• Topics within this module include:  
• Sustainable Design
• Bioplastics + Biodegradable plastics
• Commercial considerations of sustainability
• Young's modulus + stress and strain
• Finite Element Analysis (FEA) Theory
• FEA Drop Testing
• FEA Static Tests

Within this module we build on the materials and manufacturing knowledge developed within the first two years of the programme, with a particular focus on Polymers and the Injection moulding process; a heavily utilised manufacturing process by Product Designers. Consideration of part/component design for this manufacturing technique shall be explored in depth, and this shall be practiced in a design project that runs alongside this module. Later in the module other material and manufacturing areas will be looked at such as timber selection and metal casting.  

• Component design and optimisation for injection moulding
• Advanced Polymer selection
• Mold Flow Analysis within Solidworks
• Part costings
• Understanding mold design - core and cavity design
• Timber selection, production and manufacturing methods
• Metal selection and casting techniques

The module comprises of two projects. In the first project, students will be able to use ‘People Centred Research’ to find creative approaches to difficult problems. In the second project, students will be able to detail a simple product for manufacture by injection moulding. You’ll spend 12 hours in practicals and four hours in further activity sessions each week when studying this module.

The module comprises of 2 projects, developing a number of different themes that run through the discipline. Through practical design work the students will be faced with the problems of managing different constraints and producing cohesive design proposals. The students will develop their skills in receiving design briefs, managing time and resources, and presenting design solutions. The module has a particular focus towards the design of components for sheet metal processing, and an advanced understanding of users.

A thorough understanding of Human Factors/Ergonomics is critical to the successful design and implementation of products, workplaces, jobs and systems. This module focuses on the physical characteristics of people (e.g. body size, strength, flexibility, vision and hearing abilities) and considers how to account for an individuals fundamental needs, capabilities and limitations. Ultimately, such an understanding will lead to products, workplaces, jobs and systems which promote productivity, health, safety, comfort, etc. 

The syllabus covers: Structure and functioning of the human body; anthropometry (human body dimensions) and product/workplace design; biomechanics (loadings on the human body); work-related upper-limb disorders; manual materials handling; risk assessment for work-related musculoskeletal disorders; designing and assessing environments to account for visual, acoustic, thermal and vibration factors.

The aim of this module is to provide students with detailed knowledge of the various Additive Manufacturing technologies including specific design, material and process principles. Students will gain an insight into current and future applications as well as the research developments required for the advancement of this technology.

This module will cover design, processing and material aspects of Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing technologies, as well as the current and potential applications of the technology in a wide variety of sectors. Topics covered will include:

• commercial and experimental systems
• material requirements
• design for Additive Manufacturing
• software and systems

This module will provide you with a thorough understanding of cognitive ergonomics and the way in which the consideration of cognitive ergonomics can impact on human performance in the workplace.

In this module you will start to develop one of the key skills for an engineer – that of being able to program. You will gain the skills required to analyse, design and implement solutions to practical engineering problems through the use of computer aided design tools and the development of software based solutions.

TBC

This module examines, in-depth, the processes used for joining metallic (e.g. steel, aluminium and titanium alloys) and non-metallic (e.g. polymers and fibre reinforced composites) materials. 

Topics covered include:

• mechanical joining
• adhesive bonding
• soldering and brazing
• solid state joining (friction welding and diffusion bonding)
• fusion welding (arc welding and the many classes thereof, resistance, electron beam and laser welding)

The fundamental characteristics of the various processes are examined along with procedures for practical applications. The origins of defects within joints and methods needed to control or eliminate them are also considered. The mechanical behaviour of joints is analysed, as is the effect of joining on the microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of the base materials. Other features such as residual stress and distortion are addressed. Attention is also given to appropriate design for manufacture in a modern manufacturing context.

Method and Frequency of Class:

 Method of Assessment:

The aim of the module is to introduce students to the fundamental concepts of manufacturing automation, present key automation technologies in manufacturing and their advantages and limitations.

The module will introduce the relevant theoretical background and fundamental concepts of different automation approaches and technologies. The focus will be placed on the role of sensors, CNC machine tools, industrial robotics and programmable logic controllers within different manufacturing contexts. Methods and indicators for quantitative production performance and cost analysis will be covered as well.

A broad-based module covering the chemistry, material properties and manufacturing methods relevant to polymers. Topics include:

1. Polymer structure
   
2. Viscoelasticity, time-temperature equivalence
   
3. Rheology of polymer melts, heat transfer in melts, entanglements
   
4. Properties of solid polymers, yield and fracture, crazing
   
5. Manufacturing with polymers, extrusion, injection-moulding
   
6. Design/processing interactions for plastic products

The module will give students in-depth understanding of technical capability of modern manufacturing processes in relation to product design. The aim of the module is to develop students’ abilities to understand and assess the capability of single and combined manufacturing processes. You’ll spend two hours in lectures and two hours in seminars each week when studying this module.

A broad-based module covering the chemistry, material properties and manufacturing methods relevant to polymers.

Topics include:

• Polymer chemistry and structure
• Routes to synthesis, polymerisation techniques, practical aspects of industrial production
• Viscoelasticity, time-temperature equivalence
• Rheology of polymer melts, heat transfer in melts, entanglements
• Properties of solid polymers, yield and fracture, crazing
• Manufacturing with polymers, extrusion, injection-moulding
• Design/processing interactions for plastic products

For human factors/ergonomics work, simulation tools can enable designers, managers and end-users to experience products and systems in realistic, interactive environments. Such advancements have significant cost implications, enabling designs and their implications to be visualised early in the development lifecycle. In addition, virtual/augmented reality and other advanced human-machine interfaces (HMIs) are being developed in many different industries (e.g. transport, defence, manufacturing, healthcare, media) to support different user needs (e.g. for safety, training, education, entertainment).

This module will provide students with the knowledge and skills required to understand and utilise computers as Human Factors tools for understanding peoples’ interactions with new technology. Moreover, the module will consider HMIs that are increasingly common in modern life and frequently designed and evaluated using simulation techniques. The module is a mix of practical and research-oriented content and students will make extensive use of the simulation facilities (e.g. car, airplane, operating theatre) and on-going research projects within the Human Factors Research Group and elsewhere in the university.

Topics include:

• virtual reality technologies/environments/interfaces
• augmented reality
• fidelity and validity of simulators
• presence factors for simulation
• understanding and minimising simulator sickness
• multimodal interfaces including the use of natural language and gesture interfaces, computers and collaborative/social interfaces, accessibility, in-car interfaces