Tools for Engineering Design 2
Group Design Resit
This is an exercise in communication, observation, design and effective teamwork. It will take place during the summer over three (3) weeks:
Design Brief
The client requires a tall and economic paper tower. It must be free standing and require no external support other than from the floor. The tower’s footprint must be contained within a square 500 x 500mm, and there can be no tension connection to the floor. There must also be a platform. in the top third of the structure that can hold a cookie of at least 10cm diameter.
Only the materials provided can be used to construct the tower. These will be:
· A4 paper
· Sellotape (or own-brand equivalent)
· Pritt Stick glue stick (or equivalent)
The client will judge the best tower based upon
(a) the theoretical efficiency, calculated using the equation below; and
(b) Dr Rush’s assessment of the completed tower’s aesthetic.
The efficiency, E, of the tower will be calculated using
where: E = tower efficiency
h = height of tower (measured from the floor, in metres)
s = integer number of sheets of A4 paper delivered to the construction site
Resource Limitations and Safety
Only one roll of tape or stick of glue will be available for each group. Scissors can be incorporated into the design so that paper can be tailored to your needs better.
The Construction, Design and Management (CDM) regulations place a legal obligation upon the designer to address all hazards during the construction, use, and decommissioning of a structure.
· When the surface of adhesive tape is exposed to air, construction operatives are subject to Adhesive Tape Exposure Syndrome, a chronic health condition that only appears ten years after exposure to adhesive tape. The manufacturer of the adhesive tape has therefore specified safe exposure limits that must be adhered to during construction. No piece of tape used in constructing the tower can be longer than 25mm, and the maximum exposed length of adhesive surface must not be longer than 100mm at any time.
· Construction safety is paramount during construction of the tower. Space on the construction site is tightly constrained by the other adjacent construction sites. All construction operatives must always remain on the floor. If equipment is required to safely construct your tower, this must be fabricated from the same materials as the tower, and will be counted when assessing the tower’s efficiency.
Design feedback during the resit three weeks:
Week 1 – Maximum of two emails asking for clarifications on the brief (emails to be sent to [email protected])
Week 2 – Asynchronous review of maximum of four A3 sides of drawings on the structural design and construction processes.
Week 3 – submission at end of week.
Your group must:
1. Complete all aspects of the design of the tower, including the structural design and the construction method.
2. Produce a complete set of drawings showing all aspects of the design of the tower and how it will be safely constructed. A maximum of 6 sides of A3 can be used.
3. Produce one A3 page summary of the questions and feedback you received during the design period.
4. On the front page of the drawings, you must give a list of the materials required, the height of the tower that has been designed, and the efficiency of the tower.
5. A load path diagram must be included.
6. The front page must be clearly marked with your group member names.
Every aspect of your design must be communicated solely through a set of drawings. They must communicate every aspect of your design and the construction method, and they must be clear, complete, and unambiguous.
GROUP ALLOCATION:
You will need to self-enrol in groups – this is done in learn under the groups tab.
Assessment
This work will be assessed as a contribution to your portfolio. However, this is an opportunity to understand our expectations during design projects, and to receive formative feedback on your work (during Week 5). The assessment criteria are shown in Table 1; they are similar to those set out in the Introduction to TED2, but modified for the design and build exercise.
Table 1: Design Assessment Criteria
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Fail
H-E
0-39%
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Pass
D
40-49%
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Excellent
A3
70-79%
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Excellent
A1
90-100%
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Quality of design solution
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The solution is not feasible or does not address the brief. The tower cannot stand up.
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The solution is feasible (i.e. the tower stands up), although perhaps does not fully address a minor aspect of the brief. The solution may be inefficient, or not easily constructed.
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An elegant design has been produced that clearly draws upon prior examples and results in a solution that exceeds the client’s expectations. All of the key problems associated with the design have been carefully identified and addressed. The solution is structurally efficient and safely and easily built. Material use is minimised, and the amount that can be recycled is maximised.
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A faultless design that addresses every aspect governing the design, including aspects that were not explicitly mentioned in the brief such as end of life decommissioning, recyclability, operative safety, provision of chocolate biscuits to the client, is fully justified, and demonstrates appropriate imagination, creativity and novelty.
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Clarity of drawings
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The drawings are incoherent, incomplete, or irrelevant. A poor standard of presentation. It is not possible to build a working tower using the drawings.
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The drawings give a basic coverage of the design and construction of the tower with no ambiguities or omissions. The essential design can be understood, but not all the necessary information has been included, or it is difficult to find. Assumptions may need to be made when building the tower.
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Communicates every aspect of the design and its construction. Unambiguous, clear, accurate, neat, complete in every respect.
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Truly professional and exemplary communication, with significant insight, originality, or creativity in communication.
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