Engineering Design
Lead Author(s): Saylor Academy
Source: Saylor
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A question pack on engineering project design.
This content is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Engineering drawings are important because they:
produce an artistic interpretation of a design for marketing.
convince customers that work is being done.
fully and clearly define requirements for engineered items.
help the brainstorming process by taking engineers away from calculations and thinking artistically.
What commonly makes the design process difficult?
An ill‑designed problem or purpose
Open‑ended design problems with a wide variety of potential solutions
An ill‑structured problem, which cannot be solved with simple algorithms
All of the above
What is engineering design?
The production of a drawing, which shows the function and workings of a thing or device to be built or made
A systematic process for things/devices whose form and function achieve stated objectives given certain constraints
The thought process of an engineer when formulating an idea to pursue
A loose set of rules meant to constrain the decision making process to guarantee a predetermined outcome
Which of the following is NOT a part of the design process?
Marketing the final product
Generating design concepts
Prototyping and simulating a design
Identifying the problem
Why is an analysis‑based design approach important?
It proves you have learned the material in previous engineering courses.
It allows you to demonstrate the validity of a design, both internally and to your customer.
It is time consuming and provides a billable expense to charge your customer.
It allows you to step back and reflect on various design ideas.
Designing for assembly is a process that includes all but which of the following?
Minimizing tolerances
Identifying part relevance
Identifying the assembly process steps
Estimating the cost of assembly
Materials design charts:
allow for final selection of materials.
show balances of material properties.
usually only show particular material subsets.
All of the above
Unidirectional assembly entails:
assembling a product by adding parts one by one from the same direction.
designing parts that have symmetry so orientation during assembly is less crucial.
Both A and B
None of the above
What is poka‑yoke?
Designing for efficient joining and fastening by removing screws and bolts
Designing a product so that it can be assembled in multiple subassemblies
Creating products without sharp or fragile components that are risks to assemblers
Mistake‑proofing a product design and assembly
When considering materials selection:
manufacturing is a secondary concern compared to performance.
aesthetics are of little importance compared to mechanical properties.
the selection process doesn’t change whether designing for a system or a component.
the function of the product will heavily dictate potential choices.
Which of following is not an example of a process selection issue?
Wood cannot be processed by molding to shape.
Refractory metals cannot be processed by high pressure casting.
A steel casted part may be too heavy for a product design.
Machining of composites can detrimentally harm anisotropic properties.
Which of the following is most true when choosing the material and processing method?
There is normally a perfect material for every design, although it may take a great deal of research to find.
The selection procedure should not start until a preliminary design has been finalized.
Priorities will need to be ranked and trade‑offs will have to be made.
Constraints should come from cost alone.
Which of the following is not a valid factor in processing selection?
The capability of a given material to be shaped to a geometry
The ability of two materials to be joined at given geometries
The environmental resistance of a chosen material
The necessity and capability of surface treating of materials
Which of the following is not good advice when designing for assembly?
Reduce the number of parts to as minimal a number as possible to achieve the design.
Try to use flexible parts and interconnectors to make tolerancing easier.
Use common, standardized parts whenever possible.
Design for parts orientation and handling.
Which of the following is the least likely source to yield information for final materials selection?
Manufacturer’s literature
Textbooks
Databooks
Internet sites
A prototype is best defined as:
a physical representation of a completed final design.
anything that approximates any aspects of your final product or design.
Both A and B
None of the above
An engineering test requires all but which of the following?
A model of the device to be tested
A testing facility or testing space
Instrumentation suitable for reasonably measuring variables and outcomes
A full prototype to test
At a minimum, a device should be tested across a range that represents:
the expected median and extremes of the operating conditions.
the expected median and extremes as determined by the factor of safety applied to the operating conditions.
Both A and B
None of the above
Concept generation is all of the following, except:
a defined process.
a predictable process.
a process capable of being taught and learned.
a simple, inexpensive process.
Design metrics should:
only be expressed as objective points with unit‑based numerical ranges
include both practical and impractical considerations
incorporate only the most important design criteria
be derived from customer needs
Design requirements in product design specifications must:
reflect the customer’s needs.
differentiate the product for the competition.
be technically and economically feasible.
All of the above
During design optimization, we describe the different designs through which of the following?
Objective functions
Design variables
Constraints and design requirements
Computations
Evaluation methods include all of the following except:
metric derivation.
a review of the drawings and simulations.
physical inspections of a prototype.
operational tests of a physical prototype
Genetic algorithms, simulated annealing, and tabu searches are all examples of what?
Gradient‑based optimization methods
Heuristic optimization methods
Both A and B
None of the above
In the brainstorm process, team members should not:
have a designated facilitator.
allow interruptions.
agree on a final stop time.
stop at increments to evaluate the ideas.
Quality assurance testing is best defined as a method that:
validates that a design will perform adequately with the least desirable material or subassemblies designated.
demonstrates the validity of a design to solving the required needs.
investigates the performance of a design over time or repeated operation.
None of the above
Target values for the metrics as defines the product design specifications should be derived from all but which of the following?
Benchmarked competition
Expected competitor’s future capabilities
The target market segment
None of the above
The concept screening process should entail which of the following?
Developing a selection matrix
Rating and ranking the concepts
Selecting a concept for further refinement
All of the above
What is engineering design?
The creative and iterative method of conceiving and developing components, systems, and processes
The integration of engineering, basic, and mathematical sciences to achieve work under constraint
Both A and B
None of the above
What should be done with collected customer needs after a research period?
Hold until later design stages for comparison to the initial prototype
Organize into a hierarchy based on difficulty to incorporate, so that the most challenging tasks can be ignored
Organize into a hierarchy alphabetically, so as not to impart bias on importance
Organize into a hierarchy with a numerical ranking system related to importance
When deciding upon a concept during the selection process, which of the following is most important?
Making sure an experienced designer controls the decision‑making process
Not forgetting the customer’s expectations and needs
Making sure the manager has the final say in the decision‑making process
Ignoring cost
When developing the Statement of Work, which of the following should not be included?
A description of what will and won’t be done to accomplish the design
A time frame of the work and tasks to be accomplished
A complete list of metrics the team will undertake to incorporate into the design
None of the above
Which is the following is not a valid factor to consider when determining whether to prototype or simulate?
The role a full‑scale prototype plays within the acceptance of a design
The cost of developing a prototype
The time it will take to develop a prototype
None of the above
Which of the following are not steps taken in the engineering design process?
Developing a marketing model for selling a product
Conducting research
Defining a problem
Analyzing possible solutions
Which of the following best defines a situation when engineering models should be used?
To help select a design concept by determining its basic facility
To optimize an already selected and developed design concept
Both A and B
None of the above
Which of the following is an accurate description about a Statement of Work?
It should not include figures or diagrams.
It should be descriptive and complete in breadth.
It should include definitions for all technical terms.
All of the above
Which of the following is most true about engineering estimates?
They are often more useful than exact answers.
They are useful through every aspect of the design stage except concept generation and selection.
They should be used minimally throughout a design project because they lack an absolute solution.
None of the above
Which of the following is not a benefit of prototyping?
It helps the design team learn of the detrimental effects of the design decisions.
It reduces the need to estimate and model concepts during the design project.
It provides milestones to help explore whether the project is on schedule.
It helps communicate design ideas with team members, managers, customers, and so forth.
Which of the following is not a true statement about the concept selection process?
You should look for new concepts during the process.
The results of the process are all that should be documented.
You will most likely not have enough information to make a completely informed decision.
None of the above.
Which of the following is not a true statement about estimations and modeling?
The two approaches are closely related.
Estimations should not be used when modeling and exploring the validity of results.
The accuracy and fidelity of necessary results will determine whether to estimate or model.
Engineering modeling can be used in the estimation process.
Which of the following is not a valid class or type of prototype?
Experimental development work
Final part design and assembly determination
Pilot production/limited capacity scaling
None of the above
Which of the following is not an example of a potential hindrance to the brainstorming process?
Judging ideas generated
Performing an insufficient external search
Creating too many ideas
None of the above
Which of the following is not included in the background section of a Statement of Work?
A description of the problem and context
A description of why the problem exists
A description of how the end result will be used
A description of the defined needs of the customers as researched
Which of the following needs to be defined or given in order to perform a size optimization of a structure?
Shape
Topology
Both A and B
None of the above
Which of the following would not be considered an effective way of learning customer needs?
Interviews with customers directly
Engineering comprehension and intuition
On‑site observations
Surveys and focus groups
Which of the following would not be considered good advice for brainstorming?
Accept all ideas without providing feedback.
Generate a large number of ideas.
Do not worry about the feasibility of the ideas.
Do not build on other ideas; only present new ones.
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Course Designer: Michael Fuqua