Design for Manufacturing and Assembly

Design for additive manufacturing is adopted to help solve problems inherent to attaching active personal sampler systems to workers for monitoring their breathing zone. A novel and parametric 3D printable clip system was designed with an open source Computer-aided design (CAD) system and was additively manufactured. The concept was first tested with a simple clip design, and when it was found to be functional, the ability of the innovative and open source design to be extended to other applications was demonstrated by designing another tooling system. The clip system was tested for mechanical stress test to establish a minimum lifetime of 5000 openings, a cleaning test, and a supply chain test. The designs were also tested three times in field conditions. The design cost and functionalities of the clip system were compared to commercial systems. This study presents an innovative custom-designed clip system that can aid in attaching different tools for personal exposure measurement ...

Recent researches on building construction and deconstruction seem to suggest that, from a theoretical point of view, the criteria for buildings' connection selection might lead to scenarios of total material recovery and would allow the closing of the material loop cycle.
This paper presents the first step of a research that aims to create a knowledge base about the relation between buildings' connections and material recovery. As in Architecture were building design is often approached with top-down strategies, main literature consulted also presents a top-down thinking in building connections and joining framing were these themes hardly are the central focus. Therefore, as an alternative, a bottom-up or inductive approach to buildings' connections is necessary in order to obtain a more solid knowledge support on the topic. Connections' classifications need to be linked together in order to form a larger view of connections
complexity and related issues.

Satisfactory weatherproofing of buildings is vital to maximise their design life and performance which requires the careful design of external sealing technologies. Systems commonly available have served well in conventional construction however with many prefabricated systems emerging in the building industry new and novel means of weatherproofing between panels and modules need to be developed purpose specific to this application. This paper presents a holistic and fundamental methodological approach to Design and Development of waterproof seals and has been applied specific for prefabricated panelised and modular systems. Two purpose specific weatherproof seals are finally presented. Flow charts of the overview of the suggested methodological approach and the processes within which include DfMA that have been incorporated into understanding and developing seals for this practical application. These strategies have enabled a resourceful and holistic set of processes that can be adapted and used for similar forms of product research in new and developing areas of construction such as prefabrication. The design and development process is thoroughly investigated and has resulted in an exploration of the technical challenges and potential solutions which take into consideration factors from installation limitations to building tolerances. Keywords: panelised and modular prefabricated construction; weatherproofing and waterproofing; sealing joints of façade components and walls; Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA), design and development

The development of new methods for design for manufacture and assembly, the need to incorporate quality during the design phase and the recent focus on transparent design work and communication have all created a need for a more structured approach to design. The approach has been addressed by the software DFMA. DFMA is a structured method of analyzing a product and reducing the number of parts, improving their manufacturability and ease of assembly, in order to reduce product cost and manufacturing time. A washing machine was modeled using the software SOLIDWORKS and then a DFMA analysis was performed on it to compute the cost of manufacturing and assembly taking into consideration the most optimal processes. The final cost of the washing machine has been found out to be Rs 16,530/‐. The suggestions for redesign have been proposed along with the scope of future work.

The realization of Modular Construction (MC) is impeded by several barriers, e.g., initial investment, logistics constraints, and negative perception. Design, a profoundly creative process to alleviate difficulties in the built environment, is prospected to enhance this construction method. Under this circumstance, many guidelines, recommendations, and avoidances have been proposed to design. However, every coin has two sides. This research, therefore, argues that MC also provides new design opportunities, which have not been yet extensively investigated. It does so by comprehensive literature review and detailed archival study of successful case studies. The result unveils that although MC, by nature, may impose several design limitations, e.g., design simplification, standardization, and limited dimension, it can also serve demands and construct an outstanding architectural design by, for example, a composition of three-dimensional unit, mass customization, and product prototype. This research creates a balanced view of MC in a design process, and highlights the new approach for further design and research development in this discipline.

The increasing demand for robotized productions in the industrial sector entails the need for improvement of the robotic arms’ structures. The major criteria for the development of robot arm links are the stiffness and strength enhancement subject to mass reduction as well as cost and time elimination. Towards this direction, this work indicates an integrated methodology of developing robotic arm links considering the design and manufacturing concurrently. This methodology is implemented by lightweight strategies in conjunction with design for additive manufacturing (DFAM) methods. Initially, the Stäubli RX90BL robot arm case study is chosen and reverse engineering methodologies are applied in order to discover the design information of the robot arm links. Alongside, a new strategy for the three-dimensional design reconstruction is introduced, which is named ReCAD. In turn, the redesign of the robotic arm geometry is obtained by using the Solidworks and the Catia V5 software packages. Thereupon, the additive manufacturing (AM) technology is chosen for the production of the robot arm’s links. Actually, AM offers design freedom by means of DFAM methods and tools subject to DFAM constraints. Thereafter, the robot forearm link is redesigned to be manufactured by means of the selective laser sintering (SLS) additive manufacturing technology. SLS process could create cost effective industrial robot arm structures by using the powder processing technology. Advanced powder alloys based on aluminium imply low weight to stiffness and weight to strength ratio.  Accordingly, the SIMP method of topology optimization is utilized in order to obtain the optimum design of the robotic arm. Considering the topology optimization capabilities, constraints and restrictions for AM the resulted robot forearm structure meets the requirements which were possessed in the development specifications. Actually, the proposed methodology is evaluated by weight reduction of the forearm design while the strength and stiffness retained the same. The breakthrough in this work is the development methodology of an industrial robot arm link via the SIMP topology optimization method in conjunction with the metal additive manufacturing technology subject to the design for SLS additive manufacturing capabilities and constraints.

As multi-layered accounts, the publication ‘Design at the Doorstep; Design Approaches for MSMEs’ brings to the fore the typical characteristics and concerns of the Indian MSMEs and scope for design intervention in this crucial sector of the economy. While demonstrating the design intervention approaches that are appropriate and contextual to this sector, it highlights the role of academia in developing such sector specific solutions and approaches. And it portrays the design journey to scale up this unique approach across the country.

Through this publication, the author informs the wider audience about the advantages of adopting design as a business strategy, and above all, the role of design and professional designers to raise the bar of quality of products of MSMEs to create better value in international business.

Mechanical Engineering: An International Journal (MEIJ) is a peer-reviewed, open access journal that addresses the impacts and challenges of Mechanical Engineering. The journal documents practical and theoretical results which make a fundamental contribution for the development of Mechanical Engineering.

Onion is densely produced crop in India. The harvesting of onion crop is laborious work and requires huge amount of manpower and time. As a part of harvesting of onion, root and shoot has to be trimmed manually, this is a labour oriented process. One of the main reasons of low productivity is low level of mechanization and less technology utilizatio n. Machine for cutting root and shoot is not available in India and imported machines are expensive and an Indian farmer cannot afford such high price. Farmers incur financial loss because of non-availability of manpower. The purpose of the work is to " des ign and develop a prototype of onion root and shoot cutting machine " that can cut the root and shoot of onion once fed into the machine. This mechanization will also reduce unit cost of production through higher productivity. The major objective of this work is to reduce total expenses and dependency on labours and to increase the net revenue at an affordable price.

This article for Estonian magazine MAJA advances the argument that what we consider  “digital” in architecture, may in fact be analog. Architects have consistently misunderstood the nature of the digital, and have mainly based their argument on “the affordance” of computer controlled machines to create differentiated forms. This analog approach to digital manufacturing has led to a situation where architecture is reduced to a surface and disconnected from the actual economic and political implications of digital manufacturing tools. The article develops a series of arguments and discussions about the relationship between “the digital” and architecture. It advances the criticism that “we have never been digital”  - not as a negative, counter-argument, but as something propositional, continuing the project of the digital in architecture in the long run - post 2008. The text advances the Digital and Discrete, as a propositional argument for another way to think about the digital and architecture, driven by the notion of a digital building block. It is an invitation to leave the surface behind, to recolonise the depth of architecture, fundamentally questioning how it is produced, distributed, and given form. Apart of the more architectural questions related to syntax and part-to-whole relations, a focus on digital production beyond mere formal differentiation sets up a discussion about the potential social agency of these tools. It enables the possibility for  architects to engage the digital in a larger social discussion. At the same time, the focus on parts, composition and syntax keep this discussion firmly grounded in design. In the digital-discrete, the political engagement is integrated : digital fabrication tools are understood as a way to engage with modes of production and therefore also social and political ideas. Rather than an isolated conversation about material behaviour and structural performance, architects can use their understanding of digital workflows to contribute ideas to a vivid cultural and political debate about the future of capitalism, automation, the status of the city, housing etc.

Resumo: Questões relativas à montagem de componentes são fundamentais para a concepção e o desenvolvimento de novos produtos durante o processo de projeto. Os princípios do DFMA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly) destacam a ideia do " uso mínimo de fixadores separados " e, neste cenário, a aplicação de conectores snap-fit tem se mostrado uma alternativa interessante para cumprir tal requisito e otimizar o projeto. A crescente evolução e popularização dos processos de Manufatura Aditiva (MA) potencializam o desenvolvimento de peças funcionais e a produção de protótipos para encaixe e montagem. Na literatura são encontrados estudos que exploram esta aplicação somada à fabricação e à análise de snap-fits, mas envolvendo uso de equipamentos e tecnologias MA de alto custo ou a moldagem por injeção. Este artigo busca, portanto, realizar um estudo exploratório de aplicação da impressão 3D por extrusão e de baixo custo na fabricação de um gabinete para placas eletrônicas, cujas partes são unidas por snap-fits. Duas concepções foram projetadas e fabricadas em Poli (Ácido Lático) (PLA), sendo a principal diferença entre elas o uso de menores ou maiores folgas entre os elementos de encaixe, com o objetivo de verificar as limitações do processo e da máquina. As peças foram analisadas através da aquisição de imagens macro, avaliação dimensional e escaneamento 3D. Os resultados indicaram que a tecnologia é favorável à aplicação proposta, porém foram identificados problemas quanto a tolerâncias dimensionais, falhas de deposição, e fraca adesão entre camadas, que devem ser mais bem explorados em estudos futuros. Palavras-chave: DFMA, impressão 3D, baixo custo, snap-fit, PLA.

This research presents a framework to integrate Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) approach in the Italian Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) context, based on Building Information Modelling (BIM). DfMA applications in UK and Singapore are presented and a structured process is proposed and adapted to the Italian market. Two adopted frameworks are presented: the RIBA Plan of Work 2013 (adapted for DfMA) and the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore BIM for DfMA. Both have been used to link DfMA downstream activities (procurement, fabrication, transport and installation) to upstream activities (brief, option appraisal and concept design), reaching comparisons and integrations of these processes with traditional design process adopted in Italy for public developments. A revised DfMA workflow for Italian AEC sector is developed. A case study (a kindergarten in Italy) is analysed in its DfMA peculiarities and used to test the proposed flow of information requirements and to identify shortfalls or improvements in the current processes. The proposed framework is integrated and compared with the existing design process acknowledged by the Italian Government for public buildings. The results confirmed the need for precisely structured procedures in delivering an off-site-oriented project. The framework presented guided the production, collection and organisation of data at each stage to integrate DfMA solutions into the project, while the proposed process confirmed its applicability. This research opens to scenarios of gradual implementation of DfMA-related processes, including different building sub-systems to enhance the framework and process content with additional lessons learnt.

In the context of environmental emergency of which the construction sector is one of the main causes – since it consumes 40% of the (embodied and operational) energy and produces about a third of the total waste – and due to the ambitious objectives set by the international community and by many countries to reduce the environmental impact of buildings during their whole life cycle, this paper wants to make a contribution to the understanding of the state of the art on cycle-based research activities, sustainable experiments and good practices that the building industry and the academy have implemented in recent years.  In particular, it refers to cycle-based theoretical and experimental actions involving process and product innovations at different scales (‘macro’, ‘meso’ and ‘micro’) of the built environment. They are capable of overcoming the traditional linear approach to use an approach aiming, on the one hand, to extend the service life cycle, and on the other, to evaluate new bio-based materials, easily renewable and with a low embodied energy. In the end, the paper highlights the problems that currently hinder its dissemination and identifies possible research actions that can favour, with the contribution of Architectural Technology, the transition to this new paradigm.

his paper presents a comprehensive analysis to examine the effectiveness of the Boothroyd Dewhurst Method for
Assembly that is used to enhance the product design process. The Design efficiency of Lamp holder B22 was calculated by
analyzing the number of necessary parts, manual handling time and manual insertion time. The product is then redesigned,
considering the manufacturing and assembly aspects and a comparative study using Boothroyd Dewhurst Method was carried
out between the original design A0 and modified design A1. Therefore, the modified design of Lamp holder was proposed to
increase the design efficiency by minimizing the number of parts and incorporating multiple parts to single part. As a result, the
design efficiency of modified design of Lamp holder has increased from 20.23% to 24.73% of around 4.5%.

The generalized use of computers in industrial automation and the consequent need for connectivity among them resulted in the use of computer networks as building blocks supporting communications in CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing) and related technologies (CAD (Computer Aided Design), CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing), CAPP (Computer Aided Production Planning), other). The industrial networks are evolving and present alternatives for the functional levels of the manufacturing environment. In this paper we present the technological alternatives for the industrial networks following the open systems model and we discuss the use of non-standard solutions. The MAP (Manufacturing Automation Protocols) and TOP (Technical Office Protocols) architectures, the field-bus, the FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) and the corporate connectivity are issues discussed.

Featured Application: The customizable clip system opens new possibilities for occupational health professionals since the basic design can be altered to hold different kinds of samplers and tools. The solution is shared using an open source methodology to allow for distributed manufacturing of the free designs.

Abstract: Design for additive manufacturing is adopted to help solve problems inherent to attaching active personal sampler systems to workers for monitoring their breathing zone. A novel and parametric 3D printable clip system was designed with an open source Computer-aided design (CAD) system and was additively manufactured. The concept was first tested with a simple clip design, and when it was found to be functional, the ability of the innovative and open source design to be extended to other applications was demonstrated by designing another tooling system. The clip system was tested for mechanical stress test to establish a minimum lifetime of 5000 openings, a cleaning test, and a supply chain test. The designs were also tested three times in field conditions. The design cost and functionalities of the clip system were compared to commercial systems. This study presents an innovative custom-designed clip system that can aid in attaching different tools for personal exposure measurement to a worker's harness without hindering the operation of the worker. The customizable clip system opens new possibilities for occupational health professionals since the basic design can be altered to hold different kinds of samplers and tools. The solution is shared using an open source methodology.

Photonic systems typically consist of components and subassemblies whose functions may be categorized as optical, electronic, or mechanical. In the present study, it is demonstrated that unlike mechanical assemblies, building optical assemblies typically involves only a few parts, but a large number of alignment/adjustment operations. So, the techniques of design for assembly (DFA) that are based on identifying and eliminating parts that are deemed unnecessary do not provide insight into design of these systems for efficient assembly. In this paper, we propose a new methodology to evaluate the suitability of a photonic system design for efficient optical, electronic and mechanical assembly. The intent of the methodology described in this paper is to focus attention on parts, processes and part types for time and cost efficient assembly. The methodology developed in the present paper is demonstrated using a commercial fiberoptic switch manufactured by Astarte Fiber Networks, Inc

The basic principles of design for assembly (DfA) are well established. This paper presents a short review of the development of DfA approaches before presenting a new tool in which these principles are packaged for use in teams, both in an industrial and an educational context. The fundamental consideration in the design of this tool is to encourage wide team participation from across an organisation and is thus physical rather than software-based. This tool builds on the process developed by Appleton whilst at the University of Cambridge. In addition to the traditional analysis of component fitting, feeding and fixing, this process also encourages the team to explore how this relates to the overall assembly flow and specifically the achievement of throughput targets. The novel approach is an improvement to established methods and encompasses an original assessment tool and its delivery process that includes custom designed post-it notes and simple check lists for scoring. The process is demonstrated in a single case study in an Indian firm.

Background and Aim: Assembly lines are associated with health risk and musculoskeletal disorders, particularly in the upper limbs. The aim of this study was to analyze three risk factors of posture, duration and force by using the postural ergonomic risk assessment (PERA) method in the workers of the assembly unit of automobile parts. Material and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the assembly unit of one of the auto parts manufacturing industries. Using the occupational task analysis method, task identified in one hierarchical task analysis (HTA) was divided into a set of sub-tasks. Risk factors of posture, duration and force were assessed by PERA method for each task. Results: Based on hierarchical task analysis, the vehicle assembly task included four sub-tasks of deburring, washing, vacuum testing and packaging which consisted of a total of 15 operations. Based on the risk factor analysis, we found the greatest risk of force in loading operations and the most awkward posture in sub-task of deburring and packaging. The risk level was estimated high and unacceptable in all three sub-tasks of washing, vacuum testing, and packaging. Conclusion: Factors of force, posture and duration of work contributed to unacceptable risk in the loading operations of the cylinder head on the pallet and placing it inside the carton. Using tables with adjustable height (reducing the vertical distance between origin and destination) and rotating plates at all angles, together with reducing the exposure time to risk factors by rotation programs for workforces can prevent forward and lateral trunk and neck bending and reduce unacceptable risk levels.

The technique of DNA fragment assembly tries to reconstruct the original DNA sequence from a large number of DNA fragments where each fragment consists of several hundred base-pairs long. DNA fragment assembly technique is much needed because the current technology like gel electrophoresis, cannot produce direct and accurate sequence of DNA molecules longer than 1000 bases.. However, most genomes are much longer. Originally, the short fragments of DNA molecule was assembled by hand, which results in error-prone as well as inefficient. The shotgun sequence technique first cuts the original DNA molecule into several pieces.. But the problem with shot gun sequence technique is that the division of DNA molecule into pieces is achieved by cutting the molecule at random places. These short pieces are then processed with gel electrophoresis technique to find the DNA sequence of that piece. Once all the pieces are identified with the sequence, they need to be reassembled to get the original DNA sequence of the molecule. This problem is called DNA fragment assembly problem. Most of the assembly algorithms tries to examine all the pairs thereby creating a set of candidate overlaps followed by forming an approximate layout of DNA fragments, and finally creating a consensus sequence. All the existing methods of DNA fragment assembly rely on heuristics because the fragment assembly problem is NP-hard. The algorithms developed to solve this problem till now are based on genetic algorithms, greedy algorithms and nature inspired algorithms such as ant colony optimization, artificial bee optimization technique, cuckoo search algorithm. The proposed project aims at developing a deep recurrent neural network which takes the DNA fragments as input and produces the DNA Sequence.

There is a huge difference when the car engine running without a silencer and with a silencer.  It is an important part used to reduce noise and to purify exhaust gas in cars by using some pretty neat technology. In most all cases, the silencers are made to meet the laws of sound. This information are taken from the internet and literature.

In the context of academic organizations, a technology transfer refers to the mechanism through which the institutions produce new technologies. Technology transfer may be accomplished in two ways: selling proprietary intellectual property to businesses or forming start-up firms. Universities, businesses, state and national economies and society as a whole prosper from successful technology transfer. Every institution, school, and university as a whole would benefit from the establishment of university industry links and a Technology Transfer Policy. It is critical to promote partnerships and strong collaboration between universities and industries that encourage realistic information development while also facilitating technology transfer. Students must be nurtured and equipped with realistic skills, which can only be accomplished by near collaboration and win-win agreements between universities and businesses in general. As a result, Ethiopia's educational system has placed a premium on university-industry linkages and technology transfer, resulting in the establishment of offices in all public universities throughout the region. The aim of this analysis is to evaluate the success of technology transfer and innovation in western Oromia, Ethiopia. To determine the root cause of the issue, quality tools: Cause effect diagram and Parato diagram was used in this analysis. Mitigation techniques were designed to prevent recurrence of known poor performance areas (weaknesses), as well as a planning structure that traces the area's goals.

The article deals with a case of an industrial plant for which a balanced mix of flexibility and production slenderness is sought together with high quality, transparency and production effectiveness. The study is based on virtual plant assessments (by means of virtual engineering) and considers industrial artefacts (automotive components) aiming at economics of scale figures on short horizons, but undergoing fast updating requests of high flexibility of new hybrid and electric vehicles; the sought solution profits of shop-floor resources modularity and robotic cells use; example simulation issues are given, and the advantages, offered by the use of digital twins, are analyzed.