Engineering Design
Engineering design requires the engineer to configure the correct process, materials and associated processes required to meet the goals of an engineering process.
Engineering design encompass the process design as well as the actual design of the article or device required. In mechanical engineering terms, the brief may be to design an industrial valve that is required to operate in an oil pipeline underground. Such a project may involve liaison between several engineering departments or companies working on different parts of a common project.
Coordination of the valve design will depend very much upon the very detailed specification of the pipeline in which it is due to be fitted, the frequency and extent of its operation, the material of the pipeline, the anchor points, the typical operating parameters (such as temperature and pressure) and the projected life expectancy of the components.
The engineering design process will seek to coordinate efforts of the entire engineering team involved with the project. Timeframes must be set up and several proposals of different designs must be submitted and discussed in conjunction with senior engineers and project managers.
An over-design factor must be determined and safeguards and backup system in the case of component failure must be planned. Servicing requirements, frequency and costs must be projected and the design must be elegant, efficient and cost-effective, while meeting all operational, durability and wear parameters.
Only then can pen be put to paper, so to say, and the design of the valve can start. The engineer then puts his knowledge of material theory to use to select the appropriate material type and gauge, while planning the manufacturing process. Of course, a whole production line is to be designed from scratch if multiple components is to be manufactured. Only the engineering team can comprehend the size of effort, planning, engineering design and time is required to design a process and component that appears simple to the layman.