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DM 814 – Rapid Mechanical Design

Rapid Mechanical Design addresses all aspect of mechanical design, including consideration for end-of-life issues, with the focus and emphasis of the course being on rapid product development. In this course, the participants will be introduced to the various state-of-the-art methodologies and off-the-shelf tools and facilities for rapid design. The course will have an introductory section on a limited set of classical design topics in order to prepare the students for the in-depth discussion of the advanced topics on rapid prototyping.

Course Leader: Beno Benhabib, University of Toronto

Course Overview

Rapid Design addresses all aspect of mechanical design, including consideration for end of- life issues, with the focus and emphasis of the course being on rapid product development. In this course, the participants will be introduced to the various state-of-the art methodologies and off-the-shelf tools and facilities for rapid design. The course will have an introductory section on a limited set of classical design topics in order to prepare the students for the in-depth discussion of the advanced topics on rapid prototyping. The introductory topics will include: Manufacturing Management Strategies, Concurrent Engineering, Conceptual Design, and Design for X. The advanced rapid-design topics are categorized into virtual and physical prototyping. Virtual prototyping topics include: Geometric Modeling (including major CAD software packages), Computer-Aided- Engineering (CAE) Analysis, Engineering Optimization, Design of Experiments, and Virtual Reality. Physical prototyping topics include: Introduction to Polymerization, Sintering, Casting, and Chemical Machining, Material-Additive Layered Prototyping (including Photolithography, Sintering, Deposition, Lamination, and Laser-Induced- Fusion Based Rapid-Prototyping Systems), Material-Removal-Based Prototyping, and Reverse Engineering.

Activities & Schedule

The first module of this course will focus on accelerating the implementation of classical design methodologies, while the second module will deal with rapid-product prototyping issues. The instructors expect that each student will both be prepared for and attend all of the class sessions and participate fully in the group project. Active participation is critical since especially during Module 2 of the course class time will be allocated to the discussion of the group project and other outstanding issues and concerns. In addition to marking of the group and individual projects there will be an individual class-participation grade (about 20%) that will be based upon the student’s questioning of the material covered and contribution to in-class discussions.

Module 1: Increasing the Efficiency of Traditional Design Methodologies

Day 1
Introduction
  • Manufacturing Matters
  • Automotive Manufacturing Industry
  • Recent History of Computing Technologies
  • Manufacturing Management Strategy
  • International Manufacturing Management Strategies
  • Rapid Design
Work on Group Project: Redesign of a commercial product via dissection
  • Research on project
Day 2
Design Tools and Methodologies
  • Concurrent Engineering
  • Conceptual Design
  • Modular Product Design
  • Industrial Design
  • Axiomatic Design Methodology
  • Design for X
  • Group-Technology Based Design
Work on Group Project: Redesign of a commercial product via dissection
  • Dissection and Conceptual Design
Day 3
Virtual Prototyping
  • Geometric Modeling
  • Computer-Aided-Engineering (CAE) Analysis via Finite-Element Modeling
  • Engineering Optimization
  • Design of Experiments
  • Virtual Reality (VR)
Material–Removal Based Physical Prototyping
  • Introduction to Machining
  • Laser-Beam Machining
  • Principles of Workholding
  • Comparison of Machining to Additive RP Methods
Work on Group Project: Redesign of a commercial product via dissection
  • Synthesis and Proposal

Module 2: Rapid Physical Prototyping

Day 1
Introduction to Additive Manufacturing
  • What enabled Additive Manufacturing?
  • Plastics AM by polymerization
  • Plastics AM by deposition
  • Plastics AM by sintering
Work on Individual Project: Industrial Application of Rapid Design
  • Research on project
Day 2
Additive Manufacturing with Metals
  • Powder-bed consolidation processes
  • Powder deposition processes
  • Materials for metal AM
  • Energy sources for metal AM
Work on Individual Project: Industrial Application of Rapid Design
  • Research on project
Day 3
Additive Manufacturing with Metals
  • Post-processing and mechanical properties
  • Designing for metal AM
  • Case studies of metal AM
Work on Individual Project: Industrial Application of Rapid Design
  • Research on project

Course Evaluation

  • 40% – Group project from Module 1
  • 40% – Individual project from Module 2
  • 20% – Class participation

Recommended Reading

Benhabib, B. (2003). Manufacturing: Design, Production, Automation, and Integration. Marcel-Dekker/CRC Press.

Biography of Course Leader

Beno Benhabib, P.Eng.
benhabib@mie.utoronto.ca

Beno Benhabib is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering and in the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. His research interests are in the area of design and control of intelligent autonomous systems. He is also a member of the NSERC Canadian Network for Research and Innovation in Machining Technology. His research in the past 25 years was supported by over 100 Masters and Doctoral Students, as well as a large number Postdoctoral Fellows and Research Engineers, with an overall funding level of almost $4M. Their combined effort has resulted in over 325 international journal and conference publications, as well as several book chapters.