Design Definition and 74 Discussions

A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process, or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product or process. The verb to design expresses the process of developing a design. In some cases, the direct construction of an object without an explicit prior plan (such as in craftwork, some engineering, coding, and graphic design) may also be considered to be a design activity. The design usually has to satisfy certain goals and constraints, may take into account aesthetic, functional, economic, or socio-political considerations, and is expected to interact with a certain environment. Major examples of designs include architectural blueprints, engineering drawings, business processes, circuit diagrams, and sewing patterns.The person who produces a design is called a designer, which is a term generally used for people who work professionally in one of the various design areas—usually specifying which area is being dealt with (such as a fashion designer, product designer, web designer or interior designer), but also others such as architects and engineers. A designer's sequence of activities is called a design process, possibly using design methods. The process of creating a design can be brief (a quick sketch) or lengthy and complicated, involving considerable research, negotiation, reflection, modeling, interactive adjustment and re-design.

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  1. C

    Looking for ways of joining metal and plastic

    i have a plastic handle and want to join it with a metal body. i can join it with heat stacking method i have find a product who done done that. is there any other way to join permenently?
  2. Al-Layth

    How do Engineers Calculate the Dimensions of their Design Ideas?

    You have a design problem statement, which gives you numerical specifications for performance, spatial constraints etc, and you have finally come up with some mechanism ideas you synthesised into a machine concept. You’ve sketched your design’s parts and the final assembly. So: How do you now...
  3. Al-Layth

    Mechanism Ideas for: Rotary Action-input Pump?

    I'm trying to come up with a design for a handheld pump that will be used to suck diesel from a car's fuel tank. There's definitely going to be a pipe dipping into the fuel tank, and there's definitely going to be a human manually operating the pump. I'm trying to think of a mechanism that...
  4. A

    Chemical plant design and construction

    Got some good resources on Chemical plant design and construction. A Chemical plant design and construction. B Chemical plant design and construction.
  5. Nickf_Zar

    Agitator Torque Calculation

    Hi All, I must calculate the torque and for an agitator motor. An anchor type agitator/scraper, removing crust off the edge of a tank. My instinct is the max or startup torque will be = (Moment of Inertia) x (Angular Acceleration) + (Drag force of the submerged impeller)* Max radius +...
  6. H

    Two Omni Wheel Robot

    Hello! I have a somewhat complicated robot project that I've simplified here to hopefully get a quick answer. I want to build a robot with two omni-wheels that looks like the following (not drawn to scale), where the black is the omni wheels at 45 degree angles and the blue is the robot body...
  7. MUZE

    Could a blimp shrink into a plane?

    I can imagine a frame within a blimp/hybrid airship so when the hydrogen inside the blimp is recaptured the skin retracts to form a wing. As the blimp travels faster it shrinks, the buoyancy giving way to the lift from its wing shape to a point in which it is no longer a blimp, but a plane. What...
  8. J

    Rocket Torpedo Design Problem

    1. A CO2 canister with the following dimensions will be used. 2. A shell was designed to house the CO2 canister, and the coefficient of drag was calculated to be 0.33 3. The constant thrust required to move the torpedo at approximately 1ft/s was found by using a free body diagram to generate...
  9. S

    How to decide which component is best in terms of stress and deformation?

    Summary: In terms of stress, strain & deformation, what is better for a given component. 1) low stress or high stress 2) less strain or large strain 3) less deformation or large deformation? Some dimensional changes were made in an existing component to study how these changes effect the...
  10. ramadhankd

    Shredder Cutting Area Calculation

    Hello everyone, I'm trying to design a plastic shredder machine, but I'm stuck on how to determine the cutting area of my shredder. I've already made some research, and I think that the cutting area depends on the blade thickness and the plastic thickness. As for why the blade thickness is...
  11. Christoffer B

    Imperfections in magnet pole pieces

    Hi all, I'm fairly new here. I'm currently designing an as-homogene-as-possible permanent magnet for low-field NMR and similar experiments. I'm on a fairly tight budget, and having finally found pole pieces for my magnets, I got them even though they have a small saw cut in the edge. approx. 5...
  12. A

    Tennis ball launcher

    I have a project which consists in making a tennis ball launcher for training kids (6-12 years), but there is a catch, the mechanism can't have any elastic parts (springs, bands, rubber). It has to be purely mechanical. I need help
  13. S

    Is the use of null an anti-pattern?

    I remember a while back someone told me that there exist programmers who don't believe in null. I thought that was a crazy idea. Until recently, as I've gotten better at OOP and have figure out that if my object has a property that is allowed to be set to null, it usually means that I am not...
  14. A

    Engineering Road to R&D department

    I am going to graduate this year with a bachelor in electrical energy engineering, i am very passionate about designing and fixing problems, i would love to work in the R&D department of some multi-national company, but i don't know where to start. What qualifications do they usually ask for...
  15. S

    Event-driven system and subscribers missing events

    Let's say I have a service that publishes events, like eo ("Bought 100 shares of AAPL") e1 ("Bought 100 shares of T") e2 ("Sold 500 shares of TSLA") and there exist stateful services subscribing to the events and whose state depends on the events being processed successfully and in the correct...
  16. S

    Microservices architecture disaster

    Let me describe the problem I see as an engineer when a business wants to create microservices out of its "monolith" (a term used derisively to describe an existing service that works quite well). You have X that you want to divide into A, B, C, or maybe A, B, C, D, E. So you want to create 3...
  17. EelAnes

    What is the coefficient of drag on a flat surface?

    What is the coefficient of drag on a flat surface? Note: The body is in free fall The object has 2 wings planform (it's a paper helicopter), which is flat The object's wing spin in a circular motion (anti-clockwise) during free fall
  18. O

    How to design a motor with a given set of requirements?

    Let's suppose we are given a set of requirements and we are to design a motor that meets them. Requirements are: 3 phase synchronous, 480v, 50Hz and of hysteresis type and alnico is the only available option and it should deliver a 0.6N.m output torque. Dimensions should not exceed 150 mm and...
  19. W

    Engineering Grounding Op-Amp circuit exercise

    Homework Statement 2. Homework Equations 3. The Attempt at a Solution For the first set of questions: I've worked through to part 6), at which is I encountered my first problem. I'm not entirely sure what the question is asking. Is it as if there would be a capacitor between...
  20. polytechnophile

    Electrical Design Case Studies

    Can anyone recommend a place to find case studies in electronics design? I am looking for concrete examples of the engineering process from requirements definition through PCB layout. As a physicist who designs instrumentation I would like to improve my improve my design process and employ more...
  21. SilverJW

    I Designing Rehabilitation Equipment for an Upper Limb (arm)

    Before I ask my question, here's a little introduction of myself. I am a college student studying in Bioengineering, so I've been tasked to create an equipment to help rehabilitation for upper limb (any point of the upper limb, doesn't have to be the entire upper limb). So I have this initial...
  22. M

    Engineering Books about machine design

    Hi. I have a problem and I will be so grateful if someone can help me with this. I would like to know are there books that are similar to P.Orlov: Fundamentals of machine design 1,2 and 3. The book should include pictures of what is wrong and better solution of certain design. Thank you in...
  23. malak

    I Michelson interferometer dimensions

    hi i want to design michelson interferometer device for measuring small distance movement i am using laser diode with a wavelength 635 nm and power 3 mw can anyone tell me how can i decide the dimensions (from source to beam splitter , for beam splitter to fixed mirror , from beam splitter to...
  24. Kaura

    Disc Golf Launcher

    For my Engineering class I have to work with three other people to design a device that launchers a disc golf. So far we have a basic design plan but we are unsure if it is actually viable. Essentially there will be a platform that holds the disc in place and will be propelled by 2 to 4...
  25. Paddyster

    Diffraction Gratings design

    Hi, I'm doing my third year project on diffraction gratings and patterns and analysaing them via computer software and Fourier transforms. I'm going to design my diffraction gratings this week and then create them via taking a picture with a disposable camera and using the negative film. What...
  26. Xeno777

    How do I calculate the forces on a guitar stand (Tripod type)

    I want to build a bass guitar stand for my guitar using wood, I'm modelling it after the image shown. The alterations I'm making are to increase the height of the legs , to place an attachable weight below the stand . This will allow the stand to have a lower center of mass and will greatly...
  27. Cathr

    Engineering Can one successfully be an Engineer AND a Physicist?

    What I meant in the title is Theoretical Physicist (character limit). A year ago, when I decided to get a Physics bachelor degree, I was 100% sure I'm going to do theoretical research. Since high school, I was always searching stuff about particle physics, relativity and other topics on the...
  28. L

    Bearing design problem

    Homework Statement Homework Equations I made the calculation and i got an unrealistic solutions, I hope that someone could help me with it. ;)
  29. Sanchayan Ghosh

    How to further metrology study from machine design approach?

    Hello, I have metrology in my 4 semester in Bachelor's of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering. However, the books that we get (Engineering Metrology, R.K Jain,) give only a brief principle of how the instruments work. I want to further my study of this subject with an intention to design...
  30. S

    Ultraviolet Laser Beam Shaping With Constraints

    Homework Statement Homework Equations Lens equation 1/f = 1/d_o + 1/d_i Minimum Gaussian beam spot 2*w_0 = ((4 * lamda * F)/(pi * D)) Where: w_0 = beam waist (half beam diameter) lambda = wavelength F = focal length of lens D = diameter of incoming spot Don't forget to match units. Let...
  31. NihalRi

    Underground living: Which project idea is better?

    Hello, Physics forum community.I have a project for an intro to engineering class in which I must design a system to solve an environmental problem. This class is only an introduction so I'm not sure how detailed and specific our work has to be. I must have been feeling very sci-fi at the time...
  32. Kaura

    Engineering Software for Mechanical Simulations

    I am a first year Mechanical Engineering Major I am wondering if there are any good computer program that I could use to simulate the physics and properties of potential designs The other day I saw something about Da Vinci's famous cryptex and this peaked my interest into designing and building...
  33. Z

    Automotive Calculation of energy storage system for PEV

    Hi, My teacher asked that i should design a efficient energy storage system for a plug-in electric vehicle. I have no idea how i can use some equations for designing this type of car. The requirements are in below; Test cycle range: 140 miles Test cycle energy: 260Wh/mile at the output of the...
  34. mattyboson12

    Material selection for vehicle leaf spring

    Homework Statement I've gone though a material selection process to pick the optimum material for a rear leaf spring suspension for a vehicle (~700mm long) and I've selected the top 10 materials based on fatigue, fracture, toughness, cost, yield etc: -Stainless steel, martensitic, AISI 440B...
  35. Sanzmatic

    Misc. What kind of projects can I do at home?

    Hello, i am a high school student who is interested in physics. Me and my friends want to build something cool. Can be anything related to science. Nothing too complicated but nothing too easy. Something interesting and safe. No dangerous suggestions please. I do not have any qualifications as i...
  36. thunderstrike33

    Vector Loop Method Need Help

    How would you write the vector loops and geometric constraints for this mechanism?
  37. NARESH NULU

    How to use partial factors

    Hi everyone my name naresh. I'm doing post graduation, currently working on my project. I've completed all the calculations for it, but i have a small doubut. I've designed a mobile truck loader for which I've taken partial factors 1.35 and 1.5 for dead load and live load respectively. but BS EN...
  38. R

    Engineering Mechanical engineer but experience only in startups

    Hi, I am a mechanical engineer who has worked only in start-ups, for past 3 years. Main experience is Mechanical design CAD with bit of FEA. Problem is I want to move to a more traditional company. I had had an interview with one of the largest oil and gas company for role of design engineer in...
  39. S

    Engineering Continuum Mechanics or Design/Manufacturing?

    Hi, people of PF I'm trying to decide between concentrating on continuum mechanics or design/manufacturing for my master's degree. My goal is to ultimately work in the industry, so design/manufacturing seems to make a lot of sense. However at the same time, continuum mechanics (and physics in...
  40. Divya Shyam Singh

    Why is the addendum of the gear kept equal to the module?

    In general calculations of gear design, addendum is taken as a factor of the module of the gear such as equal to module or 0.8 times the module and dedendum is taken as 1.25 times the module. Why are both these defined in terms of module? How did we reach to this conclusion?
  41. jley18

    I bet my friend I could design a circuit with no background

    Hey everyone! This is my first post here so take it easy on me! Before I get into the circuit I'll give a little backstory here. I'm a business student at a US college right now and I have a good friend who is a Biomedical engineering student. We were arguing about whether or not I would be...
  42. B

    Engineering Zener voltage controlled circuit design

    Homework Statement Homework Equations V0=Vsrz/Rs+rz+VzoRs/Rs+rz-ILrzRs/rz+Rs The Attempt at a Solution I formulated 4 cases for voltage inputs of 11 and 13.6 V and 0 to 100 mA. The zener current has to be between 3 and 30mA or 103 and 133mA. How can the current be maintained in thes two...
  43. M

    Help with design project

    Hello! I am a civil engineering student and have been tasked with creating an enrichment object for elephants at the national zoo in DC. I don't know much about pulleys, and am wondering if there are some mechanical engineers out there who could give me some hints on how to achieve this! My...
  44. bpcaddy

    Automotive Crash Test Software

    For my senior project i plan on litening a vw rabbit car. 1981. Any software that i could uuse to model the care and provide great data on how i could improve the safety after i cut it up to lighten it? Thinking adding roll bars or something.
  45. siansoft

    Designing a Pneumatic Filling Machine

    Hi All I'm designing a pneumatic filling machine and I'm looking for this parts in the photo attached so please can anyone knows where can i found it? Thank You
  46. S

    Can a flywheel add torque?

    Hello guys, I am working on designing a flywheel to couple to a generator however i have a small problem and i have low knowledge in flywheels I have a pinion rotating at w = 14.13 rad/sec and torque Tpinion = F*Rpinion = Mass of inertia *alpha pinion All is known I can find Tpinion euqal...
  47. G

    Designing a go cart

    Hi, i am a student of bachelors of mechanical engg. (2nd year). I want to build a go cart. But i don't know the basics. I don't know a thing about automobiles. I am learning the catia software for designing. But i don't know what kind of "calculations for go cart" must be required to design the...
  48. E

    Drawn tubing or extruded bar

    I have a hollow 2024-T3 rectangular bar and need to check its mechanical and physical properties. So i went through the MIL-HDBK-5J, and it have 3 choice for this material; 1. Sheet 2.Drawn tubing 3.Extruded Bar,rod,and shapes. so for hollow rectangular bar, which one should i choose. 2 or 3...
  49. D

    Book or free video course on alternator design

    Hi All, Does anyone perhaps now of a book or free video course on alternator design, Like where I can learn about how to design alternators? Sorry if I posted the question in the wrong "apartment" of the site. Thanks Dilan
  50. D

    How to design discrete circuits for transistor beta changes?

    In my circuits/active devices course we had to make amplifier designs with various type of transistors (BJT, JFET, MOSFET). In each design the transistor beta parameter played an important role in deciding which resistors to use in the final amplifier circuit. This beta parameter changes widely...
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