Session 2010/2011 2

SMC4523AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING DESIGN

SynthesisGenerating and developing design solutions

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kamarul Baharin TawiDr. Nurulakmar Abu Husain

A structured approach to overall design process comprises three phases:

Formulation

•Identifying needs/requirements and specifications of the design problem. •The

result of design formulation is sometimes referred to as the design brief or, more simply, the definition of the design problem.

Synthesis

•Identification of one or more design solutions consistent with the requirements defined during formulation and any additional requirements identified during synthesis.

Evaluation

•Interpreting a partially or completely specified design description for conformance with expected performances.

•This phase of the design process often includes engineering analysis.

Ref: Maher, M. L. (1990) Process Models for Design Synthesis, AI Magazine Vol. 11 No. 4 pp. 49-58

Week Lecture/Studio Topic / Content

1 1 - 2Introduction & Project Description

Design needs and requirementsIdentifying and establishing needs and requirements

2 - 33 - 6

Design needs and requirements (cont.)Developing problem statements

Establishing design specifications

4 - 7 7 - 14Synthesis

Generating and developing design solutions

8 MID SEMESTER BREAK

9 - 11 15 - 20Analysis

Detail design analysis(functional, strength, reliability, safety and cost)

12 -13 21 - 24Evaluation & optimisation

Improving details

14 - 15 25 - 28 Report and Presentation

16-18 REVISION WEEK AND FINAL EXAMINATION

Formulation

Synthesis

Evaluation

SMC 4523

SYNTHESIS

Synthesis: creative act or process of generating ideas for design proposals : finding possible solutions for subproblems and building up

complete designs from these : combining, mixing, compounding of anything – whether ideas or

beliefs, substances or parts, activities or processes – into a new whole

Commonly considered the hallmark of design

Without ideas, there is nothing to analyse or to choose between!!

Senses of synthesis

Sunthesis(Collection)

Suntithenai(To put together)

Ref: Chakrabarti, A., Engineering design synthesis: understanding, approaches, and tools.

SCAMPER

SCAMPER

Substitute

Combine

Adapt

Magnify/Modify

Put to other purposes

Eliminate

Rearrange/Reverse

SYNTHESIS

Synthesis: creative act or process of generating ideas for design proposals : finding possible solutions for subproblems and building up

complete designs from these : combining, mixing, compounding of anything – whether ideas or

beliefs, substances or parts, activities or processes – into a new whole

Commonly considered the hallmark of design

Without ideas, there is nothing to analyse or to choose between!!

Senses of synthesis

Sunthesis(Collection)

Suntithenai(To put together)

Ref: Chakrabarti, A., Engineering design synthesis: understanding, approaches, and tools.

SCAMPER

Generation of design alternatives and selection of better ones based on incomplete information

SYNTHESIS appears repeatedly throughout a design process

Senses of synthesis

ABSTRACT REPRESENTATION

REFINED SOLUTIONS

BRAINSTORMING!!

BRAINSTORMING

• Free flowing idea generation technique• Write down all ideas as they are presented• No judging or pre-selecting• Encourage everyone to participate• Work list to point of “exhaustion”• Evaluate list on objective / subjective criteria

Form of design solution is identified.

Experienced designers resort to trial and error LESS FREQUENTLY than novice designers when

they synthesize designs

A designer considers a design space that contains the knowledge that is used to develop the design

solution.

What happen during synthesis?

Developed and expanded as s/he gains experience

Ref: Maher, M. L. (1990) Process Models for Design Synthesis, AI Magazine Vol. 11 No. 4 pp. 49-58

A design solution /concept is an idea that is sufficiently developed to evaluate the physical principles that govern its behaviour

confirming that the proposed solution will operate as anticipated

Design solutions /concepts must be refined enough

to evaluate the technologies needed to realize themto evaluate the basic form / architecture of themto evaluate their manufacturability

Rough sketch Diagram Notes

Design solutions generation

EVALUATION

Re

pre

sen

tatio

ns

Enough detail must be developed so the functionality of the idea can be ensured

If you generate one idea, it will probably be a poor idea

If you generate twenty ideas, you might have one good idea

Designers tend to take 1st idea,refine to final solution

GENERATE MULTIPLE

CONCEPTS/IDEAS