Ebook: Case Studies in Advanced Engineering Design

Shortly after we almost simultaneously moved to our current academic positions in the Delft University of Technology and the National Technical University of Athens respectively, and finding ourselves both engaged in very similar ways in the field of engineering design, we resolved to undertake, next to our longstanding scientific research collaboration dating back to our PhD studies at the National Technical University of Athens, also some joint dissemination efforts to bring our industrial and academic networks and institutions closer together and instigate a valuable cross-talk at a European level. Case Studies in Advanced Engineering Design (CSiAED), first the symposium and now this book, have been fruits of this.

After the symposium, the first in an envisioned series, we were fortunate to have Dr. Rajabalinejad, a new assistant professor in Christos' team, join our editorial effort and help with an otherwise unwieldy process of collecting and laying out materials. Without him we would, no doubt, still be looking helplessly at these same materials.

During this time, we also joined our forces with those of other enthusiastic peers in European academia and founded the European Academic Network of Product Engineering (EAN-PE), promising to take our joint research and dissemination efforts even further.

With the 2^nd CSiAED now about to take place in Athens 2 1/2 years after the 1^st, the present book therefore arrives at a time when the vision behind it has consolidated much more and it looks like a critical mass has been reached.

At the same time, we must not fail to acknowledge those who, in the fledgling beginnings of CSiAED, contributed with their inspiration, ideas, support and work:

We would like to extend our gratitude towards Prof. Dr. Cees de Bont, Prof. Dr. Michel van Tooren and Prof. Dr. Tetsuo Tomiyama of the Delft University of Technology and members of the Platform Delft Design & Engineering for their strong support and contribution to the original symposium, and towards Prof. Karel Luyben, Rector Magnificus, also for his kind support.

From the Product Engineering team organising the event special mention is due to the many efforts and good initiative of Mr. Marco Bolleboom, Project Support Officer. Initial transcriptions of some of the audio recordings were executed by Mr. Nikolaos Kazazakis and Mr. Amin Amani, lecturers and PhD candidates.

Lastly, and most of all, the editors would like to extend their grateful acknowledgement of the substantial effort, time, investment and enthusiasm from all the invited speakers and authors and their respective organisations, who eagerly helped make the CSiAED symposium a reality and without whom this unique account of proceedings could never have existed.

May 2013

Christos Spitas

Vasilios Spitas

After an introduction about CERN, a brief description of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) it is reviewed. Pros and cons of a few advanced engineering design cases are taken in consideration together with the involvement of the European Industry. The conclusion is that the LHC project has been an important driving force for Innovation in European Industry.

This chapter presents a part of the experience during the effort in Prisma Electronics to design and develop an innovative system for vessel monitoring, diagnosis and prognosis. The process of product development is shown to be driven from the market and the technological background of the company, and the important role of clear vision and effective communication is illustrated.

This chapter focuses on the analysis performed by ADAM SA

ADAM: Application of Detectors and Accelerators to Medicine.

After a brief introduction on proton therapy and on LIGHT, the case study is presented

Refer to chapter ‘Mechanical Optimisation of a RF Coupling System for a Medical Linac through FMEA’ for further information both on LIGHT and on proton therapy.

The ColorWave 600 printer was introduced in 2008 and this paper presents the design of the carriage, which transports the print heads accurately up and down the printer. Positioning of the print heads, especially self-positioning, and thermal aspects are discussed which have largely shaped the design of the carriage.

In this section, a case study on system optimisation applying Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) methods is reported: the radiofrequency (RF) coupling system of a linear accelerator for proton therapy treatments is the topic of the analysis.

In subsection 6.1, a general overview on hadron therapy, mainly proton therapy, is given; the advantages in using this medical treatment are highlighted, focusing on the growing need for cancer care, and pointing out solutions to bring proton therapy to patients using innovative systems as a response to the increased demand for cancer treatment.

In subsection 6.2, basic concepts on Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Criticality Analysis are described, with emphasis on the Tasks Identification and the Risks Evaluation Methods.

In subsections 6.3 and 6.4, all the FMECA phases required for the optimisation of the RF coupling system, from the previous version dated 2001 to the up-to-date version of 2010, are investigated. Final conclusions are collected in subsection 6.5.

The case study concerns the design and development of the Dyneema® product line and specifically its application in ballistic protection. The first part is about the yarn and the second part is about the ballistics. Why is there a difference? DSM has developed the yarn for a general market, so for all the markets being it ropes, being it nets, being it cut resistance, but also ballistics. That is where it started off with. After having the basic yarn, we moved into the applications and then it was found out that specific applications require changes to be made in the yarn, but also the value chain and approach to project management.

The presentation narrated the development of advanced radars for weather monitoring. It closely traces the cause-and-effect relationships that drive advanced engineering design from societal problems to science to design and product development to address the original societal problems. The case study shows how engineering design works on the basis of scientific models, specially developed to analyse and parameterise the phenomena employed in the design.

This case study of the Multi-sensor Aerospace-ground Joint Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Interoperability Coalition (MAJIIC) project is an illustration of how large-scale system-level engineering design can be addressed in a multinational coalition. It is the objective of the engineering design process to align goals, stakeholders and technologies in an effective architecture. The key role of standardisation is illustrated in a distributed environment, and a spiral development process is adopted through different project phases in time.

In this article we introduce additional insights obtained during the symposium proceedings, which included a survey as well as workshops. Furthermore, we attempt a first study of the presented cases to identify common patterns, learn from them what aspects of the design methodology the industry places its attention on, and draw potentially useful conclusions about the nature of engineering design, as practiced today in the industry.