Initial Design Phase Research Articles

Colour meaning and consumer expectations

AbstractDeciding a colour for a product is a significant task for designers to attract consumer attention and communicate brand messages. It requires an initial analysis that explores consumer expectations within the sector, and this information is then used to inform development of a product design. This article discusses the application of the product colour development process during the initial phase of product design. Using a case study approach, one particular product category—a dishwashing liquid product was selected based on the suggestion from a leading U.K. consumer goods manufacturing company that colour is a major design factor for this product category. In the first phase of the study, interviews and an online survey were carried out with consumers (to explore what elements are important when they purchase a washing‐up liquid product). In the second phase of the study, a colour meaning experiment was conducted to explore possible colours for dishwashing liquid packaging using a semantic differential method. The results show that yellowish and bluish green colours evoke positive responses while saturated and dark green colours are perceived more negatively.

Morphology in conceptual building design

As the effects of damage to our environment become all the more clear, there is an ongoing social transformation towards sustainability which will affect technology development and make forecasting more difficult. This calls for a holistic integrated design approach which, already at the initial conceptual design phase, requires the involvement of various design experts from different domains to form multidisciplinary design teams. In order to support these teams, a design method based on the use of morphological charts and a morphological overview was developed in cooperation with the Dutch professional organizations of architects and consulting engineers. This tool aids architects and engineers with their new role in the conceptual design phase, as it enables effective exchange of each discipline's perspective on the design task as well as structuring available domain knowledge. The method has been applied in the Master Program project “Integral Design”, at the Faculty of the Built Environment of the Technical University Eindhoven. The design support tool is part of a multidisciplinary program in which students work together with experienced professionals. The outcome shows that the design support tool facilitates a significant increase in the number of possible solutions generated by design teams, and it demonstrates that the morphological charts and morphological overview can be used as an analysis tool for evaluating the impact of different interventions during the conceptual phase of the building design process. This paper provides both a detailed discussion of the design support tool itself, and how the tool was utilized to determine the effectiveness of individual designers. The impact of various interventions is investigated, such as that of adding an experienced professional to a student's design team and the use of C-constructs based on the Concept-Knowledge theory of Hatchel and Weil, in order to further stimulate the generation of sub-solutions.

Process analysis for structural optimisation of thermoplastic composite component using the building block approach

Abstract The paper aim is to establish and optimise the prediction model of a thermoplastic fibre reinforced component designed and manufactured through an integrated injection moulding process (Hybrid Moulding). This is done by the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and then the process simulations, considering the composite material as an elastic anisotropic woven fabric to study the deformations undergone during the manufacturing process. The proposed methodology for creating the predictive model is fairly accurate, and it is a novel method which can be easily integrated and adapted into a components initial design phase. This optimisation technique can replace the expensive and traditional trial and error procedures during the design and prototyping phase, and it significantly decreases the time to build the final component. The final scope of the research is to simplify the product development phase of general lightweight automotive thermoplastic components by creating an innovative methodology for predictive modelling.

Error Analysis for Near-Field EMC Problems Based on Multipolar Expansion Approach

Devices using power electronics are ubiquitous today and they are unfortunately intrinsic sources of electromagnetic interference. To address these electromagnetic compatibility problems at the initial design phase, a predictive method based on multipole expansion in spherical harmonics of the near field around each device was developed. To determine the basic expansions of a given source, a dedicated measurement bench has been designed. In this paper, some important issues of this approach and the measurement bench are studied, especially the error analysis on the measurements and the inverse problems. Some experimental results are also shown in the end.

Core optimisation issues of MOX fueled ALLEGRO reactor

ALLEGRO is a gas cooled prototype reactor concept of fast neutron spectrum. It will be the demonstrator reactor of Gen4 Gas Cooled Fast Reactors (GFR) and it will be used to examine the viability of the GFR system and to test a new type of carbide fuel, which would be applied as the standard fuel of GFRs. As ALLEGRO is in its initial design phase, several safety issues need to be solved. In this paper two main neutronics related safety problems were examined. One of them is the outstandingly high reactivity worth of control and shutdown rods, thus modifications in the core design were needed. The second examined safety issue was the fulfillment of the shutdown criteria for the modified core design. The calculations were performed by the MCNP Monte Carlo based code. As a first approach, Pu content in central fuel assemblies was changed, thus the radial power distribution became flatter but the reactivity worth of control rods did not reduce significantly. Thus, further changes in the core design were needed. According to the results, modifications to the number and geometry of the absorber assemblies are suggested. The new modified core fulfills the shutdown requirements, with the application of control rods of significantly reduced worth in central positions and three new shutdown devices in outer positions.

Maintenance and operation costs model for university buildings

Costs of maintenance and operation are important part of the Life cycle costs. This paper describes development and validation of a new model for predicting average annual costs of maintenance and operations for the University buildings in Osijek with similar building characteristics. The model is developed based on historical cost data records obtained from 13 University buildings in Osijek for time period of 12 years starting from 1998. The model was tested at two new sets of data, in buildings outside of Osijek. The proposed operating and maintenance costs model requires reduced amount of data for predicting annual maintenance and operations costs of University buildings of similar building characteristics and highlights statistically significant data required for costs prediction. The model contains only few elements but yet can predict operating and maintenance costs. The proposed model enables maintenance and operations cost estimates already at the initial design phase.

Creativity in the Initial Phases of Architectural Design

Creativity is viewed as vital for all design actions; however, creativity in general with its related cognition processes has no general theory. Creativity used in architectural design is different than creativity in other domains. This research proposes certain activities of the initial phases of architectural design, in which the role of creativity is distinguished. The research proceeds to present a case study of two architectural design studios in which a VR environment is employed in order to in-vestigate the effect of VR use on the creativity in those design phases. A methodol-ogy of qualitative and quantitative analysis has applied. Various architectural design factors are neutralized to overcome the influence generated from human factors variation and design thinking prejudice in architectural design and the associated ac-tivities.

빌딩의 지속가능 에너지환경 분석 및 평가를 위한 기초 연구 : 주거용 건물의 에너지환경 실적정보를 중심으로

최근 건물의 에너지 소비량이 전체 에너지 소비량의 약 20.5%를 차지하면서 건물의 에너지 고효율과 저소비에 대한 관심이 높이지고 있다. 또한 에너지 분석 및 평가에 다양한 연구가 이루어지고 있다. 건물의 초기설계 단계에서 에너지 분석 및 평가를 수행하고 적용할 경우 매우 효과적인 것으로 알려져 있다. 그러나 초기설계 단계에서는 창면적비, 외피면적 등 개괄적인 수준의 정보를 이용하여 에너지성능을 평가하기 때문에 자재 및 설비 등의 상세정보가 포함된 설계를 기준으로 평가하는 실시설계 단계의 결과와 많은 차이를 보일 수밖에 없다. 지금까지 대부분의 연구들은 건물에 설치되는 자재 및 설비 등에 대한 상세정보가 명확해지는 실시설계 단계에서의 분석 및 평가에 관한 것으로 초기설계 단계에서 이들 정보를 보완하는 연구는 미흡하다. 따라서 건물의 생애주기 동안 발생되는 에너지환경 정보를 구축하여 확률/통계적 방법으로 초기설계 단계에서 분석/평가에 정확한 정보를 제공할 수 있다면 에너지환경 분석의 정확성을 향상 시킬 수 있을 것이다. 그러나 아직까지 국내에서 에너지 사용에 대한 실적정보가 구축된 사례가 없다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 에너지환경 실적정보 구축을 위해 에너지환경 분석에 대해 고찰을 수행하고 분석하였다. 그리고 연구의 결과로 건물의 생애주기 정보 구축에 활용할 수 있는 정보분류체계와 정보 개념모델, 그리고 에너지환경 정보의 취득 및 제공을 위한 서비스 개념모델을 제시하여 향후 실적정보 시스템 개발 연구의 기초 자료로 활용하도록 하였다. 본 연구의 결과는 실적정보 지원 관리시스템 구축에 활용되어 초기설계 단계에서 입력정보를 보완하여 분석/평가의 신뢰성을 높일 수 있을 것이다. 만약 실적정보가 구축된다면 초기설계 단계에서 에너지환경 분석 및 평가를 위한 확률/통계 혹은 인공지능 등의 방법에 학습데이터로 활용될 수 있을 것이다. The energy consumption of buildings is approximately 20.5% of the total energy consumption, and the interest in energy efficiency and low consumption of the building is increasing. Several studies have performed energy analysis and evaluation. Energy analysis and evaluation are effective when applied in the initial design phase. In the initial design phase, however, the energy performance is evaluated using general level information, such as glazing area and surface area. Therefore, the evaluation results of the detailed design stage, which is based on the drawings, including detailed information of the materials and facilities, will be different. Thus far, most studies have reported the analysis and evaluation at the detailed design stage, where detailed information about the materials installed in the building becomes clear. Therefore, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the energy environment analysis if the energy environment information generated during the life cycle of the building can be established and accurate information can be provided in the analysis at the initial design stage using a probability / statistical method. On the other hand, historical data on energy use has not been established in Korea. Therefore, this study performed energy environment analysis to construct the energy environment historical data. As a result of the research, information classification system, information model, and service model for acquiring and providing energy environment information that can be used for building lifecycle information of buildings are presented and used as the basic data. The results can be utilized in the historical data management system so that the reliability of analysis can be improved by supplementing the input information at the initial design stage. If the historical data is stacked, it can be used as learning data in methods, such as probability / statistics or artificial intelligence for energy environment analysis in the initial design stage.

Sustainable Design Approach: A case study of BIM use

Achieving sustainable design in areas such as energy-efficient design depends largely on the accuracy of the analysis performed after the design is completed with all its components and material details. There are different analysis approaches and methods that predict relevant values and metrics such as U value, energy use and energy savings. Although certain differences in the accuracy of these approaches and methods have been recorded, this research paper does not focus on such matter, where determining the reason for discrepancies between those approaches and methods is difficult, because all error sources act simultaneously. The research paper rather introduces an approach through which BIM, building information modelling, can be utilised during the initial phases of the designing process, by analysing the values and metrics of sustainable design before going into the design details of a building.Managing all of the project drawings in a single file, BIM –building information modelling- is well known as one digital platform that offers a multidisciplinary detailed design –AEC model (Barison and Santos, 2010, Welle et.al., 2011). The paper presents in general BIM use in the early phases of the design process, in order to achieve certain required areas of sustainable design. The paper proceeds to introduce BIM use in specific areas such as site selection, wind velocity and building orientation, in terms of reaching the farther possible sustainable solution.In the initial phases of designing, material details and building components are not fully specified or selected yet. The designer usually focuses on zoning, topology, circulations, and other design requirements. The proposed approach employs the strategies and analysis of BIM use during those initial design phases in order to have the analysis and results of each solution or alternative design. The stakeholders and designers would have a better effective decision making process with a full clarity of each alternative’s consequences. The architect would settle down and proceed in the alternative design of the best sustainable analysis. In later design stages, using the sustainable types of materials such as insulation, cladding, etc., and applying sustainable building components such as doors, windows, etc. would add more improvements and enhancements in reaching better values and metrics.The paper describes the methodology of this design approach through BIM strategies adopted in design creation. Case studies of architectural designs are used to highlight the details and benefits of this proposed approach.

Application of material assessment methodology in latent heat thermal energy storage for waste heat recovery

This study proposes a comprehensive and systematic methodology of Phase Change Materials assessment for Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage design, which comprises prescreening, ranking and performance objective examination based on Multi-Criteria Decision Making tools. Firstly, a large candidate pool is pre-screened with crucial boundary constraints. The materials are then ranked by employing the Analytical Hierarchy Process and Techniques for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solutions. Three distinctive objective functions are suggested to explicitly evaluate the performance of Phase Change Materials. Pareto solutions and Utopia points are additional tools in the performance objective examination. A good agreement observed between assessment results and a building thermal comfort simulation results from literature validated the proposed methodology. For the first time, performance assessment of Phase Change Materials with the methodology is carried out in an initial design phase of a Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage system for Waste Heat Recovery application in a cogeneration plant. The performance of prescreened PCMs is evaluated and the results provides a clear ranking list and quantitative performance indicators which will provide a high level of confidence in selecting the best performing materials during the design phase.

A fractional Fourier transform-based method to detect impacts between the bogie and the car body of a railway vehicle: A data-driven approach

Structural railway transport elements are typically designed to work for at least 30 years without undergoing major maintenance. However, real-life operational conditions present behaviors different to the model predicted during the initial design phase, which affects the lifetime of the elements in question. This is the case of first-generation railway vehicles which operates in the city of Medellín, Colombia, as the bolster beam presented cracks after 12 years of operation, possibly due to undesired impacts between the bogie and the pivot of the bolster beam. Monitoring vibrational signals would give some sort of an insight into impact phenomena; however, herein lies the problem, as they are difficult to identify using only vibration signals, occurring during time events that take place in a speed-varying system. In this article, the authors present a technique that automatically detects impacts using multiple in-between time/frequency representations, ranking them according to their capacity to discriminate between impact events. Our results show that the best representation for this data was the Fractional Cepstrum Transform at order 0.5 (auROC = 0.961), which outperformed the best pure domain descriptor by least 4%.

Preliminary design and off-design performance analysis of an Organic Rankine Cycle radial-inflow turbine based on mathematic method and CFD method

As a critical component of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system, the turbine selection has an enormous influence on the system performance. Challenges in the numerical modeling of radial-inflow turbines using high-density working fluids still need to be addressed in order to improve the turbine design and better optimize ORCs. This paper carries out the full design process of the R134a radial-inflow ORC turbine. The 1D design of the candidate radial-inflow turbine is presented in details. Furthermore, commercially-available software ANSYS-CFX is used to perform preliminary steady-state 3D CFD simulations of the candidate R134a radial-inflow turbine. Also a turbine model based on 1D analysis is performed for a number of operating conditions including off-design conditions. The performance prediction codes of an ORC radial-inflow turbine based on mathematic method and CFD method can be used to provide basic data for future detailed design, and predict off-design performance in the initial design phase.

Controlling smartphone vibration and noise

Vibration of the internal electronics components and its transmission to the casing has been known as a source of noise radiation that degrades the call quality of a smartphone. Here, we expand upon our previous work [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 137, 2293 (2015)] that employed the nearfield acoustic holography (NAH) for characterization of the smartphone radiated noise. The NAH, when used in conjunction with a vibration model of the smartphone, is shown to be a powerful tool for controlling the smartphone vibration and noise at the initial design phase. The vibration model is largely based on the classical plate theory and yields concrete guidelines on how to reduce vibration and the subsequent noise. The effectiveness of the technique is demonstrated using some of the smartphones currently available on the market.

Establishment of Rebar Quantity Estimation in BIM-based Initial Design Phase

Establishment of Rebar Quantity Estimation in BIM-based Initial Design Phase

Electromagnetic Interference Simulations for Wide-Bandgap Power Electronic Modules

A simulation methodology that incorporates cosimulation techniques using ANSYS EM tools is proposed to predict radiated and conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI) from power electronic modules. The radiated EMIs for a coplanar wire bonded and wire bondless power electronic modules are simulated and compared. The instantaneous power-levels conducting through the power devices in the wire bonded power module are significantly higher than those for the wire bondless power electronic module due to parasitic circuit element imbalance. These power-levels occur for a very short duration at the turn-ON and turn-OFF of the devices and can be considered as a potential source of radiated EMI emissions. Through the cosimulation technique, it is shown that the wire bondless power electronic module has a better electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) compliance compared with that of the coplanar wire bonded power electronic module. Conducted EMI measurements and simulations are also performed to predict the conducted EMI and validate the simulation methodology. The proposed cosimulation technique can be implemented during the initial design phase of power modules to reduce significant time to physically test module-level EMC/EMI.

Evaluation of side spillage for a hypersonic air intake using computational fluid dynamic techniques

Mass capture ratio of a hypersonic air intake is one of the most important performance parameters. However, no a priori estimate of its value exists for use in initial design exercise of a hypersonic vehicle. In the present work, an air intake of a non-axisymmetric scramjet engine, designed using stream thrust methodology, is studied using computational fluid dynamic techniques. A large amount of air mass flow rate is observed to spill from the sides, which is not accounted for in the initial design phase. In absence of even an approximate estimate of this spillage, computational fluid dynamic studies become the only available tool to evaluate the mass capture ratio. Simulations are also carried out with a side wall at the intake to stop spillage. Although mass capture ratio and static pressure at combustor entry improve, deterioration in other flow parameters such as static temperature, Mach number and total pressure is observed.

Probabilistic behavioural modeling in building performance simulation—The Brescia eLUX lab

Occupant’s behavioural patterns determine a significant level of uncertainty in building energy performance evaluation. It is difficult to account for this uncertainty in the design phase when operational and occupancy profiles are unknown. The relevant “performance gap” usually encountered between simulated and measured energy performance is clearly connected to biased assumptions in modeling, especially in the initial design phase. A probabilistic modeling approach is proposed to improve simulation reliability and robustness with respect to variability in occupancy patterns. The case study presented is the eLUX lab of the “Smart Campus” of Brescia University in Italy. Occupancy dependent input parameters such as air change rates (i.e. mechanically controlled ventilation) and internal heat gains (i.e. due to people, lighting and appliances) are described by means of probability distributions to obtain probabilistic thermal demand and load profiles as output. Probabilistic results enables a more reliable identification of energy saving strategies (operational and environmental settings) with respect to highly variable operating conditions. Further, simulation data are processed to obtain a weather-adjusted energy demand visualization, suitable for establishing a continuity between modeling in design and operation phases, with calibration purpose. Calibrated energy models can be used for several specific tasks in the operation phase, in particular condition monitoring, fault detection and diagnosis, supervisory control and energy management. For the case study presented, a detailed data acquisition scheme has been designed to enable an effective monitoring activity in the operation phase, aimed at experimenting model-based approaches for the tasks reported. The proposed research is the point-of-departure for a general activity aimed at assessing critically the issues of reliability and robustness of simulation results obtained with conventional modeling approaches, in particular with respect to occupants’ behaviour, exploiting at the same time the possibility of using measured data as a direct feedback to promote behavioural change.

Proposal of a framework for scale-up life cycle inventory: A case of nanofibers for lithium iron phosphate cathode applications.

Environmental assessments are crucial for the management of the environmental impacts of a product in a rapidly developing world. The design phase creates opportunities for acting on the environmental issues of products using life cycle assessment (LCA). However, the LCA is hampered by a lack of information originating from distinct scales along the product or technology value chain. Many studies have been undertaken to handle similar problems, but these studies are case-specific and do not analyze the development options in the initial design phase. Thus, systematic studies are needed to determine the possible scaling. Knowledge from such screening studies would open the door for developing new methods that can tackle a given scaling problem. The present article proposes a scale-up procedure that aims to generate a new life cycle inventory (LCI) on a theoretical industrial scale, based on information from laboratory experiments. Three techniques are described to obtain the new LCI. Investigation of a laboratory-scale procedure is discussed to find similar industrial processes as a benchmark for describing a theoretical large-scale production process. Furthermore, LCA was performed on a model system of nanofiber electrospinning for Li-ion battery cathode applications. The LCA results support material developers in identifying promising development pathways. For example, the present study pointed out the significant impacts of dimethylformamide on suspension preparation and the power requirements of distinct electrospinning subprocesses. Nanofiber-containing battery cells had greater environmental impacts than did the reference cell, although they had better electrochemical performance, such as better wettability of the electrode, improving the electrode's electrosorption capacity, and longer expected lifetime. Furthermore, material and energy recovery throughout the production chain could decrease the environmental impacts by 40% to 70%, making the nanofiber a promising battery cathode. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:465-477. © 2016 SETAC.

조선 기본구조설계 단계에서의 3D CAD/CAE 인터페이스 개발

The finite element modeling of a ship for hull structural analysis on the basis of new harmonized common structural rules (CSR-H) is to be extended to the cargo holds in fore and after body of a ship. Unlike the parallel middle-body where the external and internal features of hull are equal along to the longitudinal direction of a ship, in fore and after body, the external and internal features of hull vary linearly or even irregularly in forms of a surface or a curve along to the longitudinal direction of a ship. Thus, it needs lots of design man-hours for the modeling for structural analysis. In order to save man-hours in initial structural design phase of a ship, the specified 3D CAD system has been adopted in shipbuilding industry. Through the interface between CAD and CAE (rule scantling and direct strength assessment), design man-hour in initial design phase can be saved even under the environment of CSR-H.

Development of MQXF: The Nb<sub>3</sub>Sn Low-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\beta$</tex-math></inline-formula> Quadrupole for the HiLumi LHC

The High Luminosity (HiLumi) Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project has, as the main objective, to increase the LHC peak luminosity by a factor five and the integrated luminosity by a factor ten. This goal will be achieved mainly with a new interaction region layout, which will allow a stronger focusing of the colliding beams. The target will be to reduce the beam size in the interaction points by a factor of two, which requires doubling the aperture of the low-β (or inner triplet) quadrupole magnets. The use of Nb3Sn superconducting material and, as a result, the possibility of operating at magnetic field levels in the windings higher than 11 T will limit the increase in length of these quadrupoles, called MQXF, to acceptable levels. After the initial design phase, where the key parameters were chosen and the magnet's conceptual design finalized, the MQXF project, a joint effort between the U.S. LHC Accelerator Research Program and the Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire (CERN), has now entered the construction and test phase of the short models. Concurrently, the preparation for the development of the full-length prototypes has been initiated. This paper will provide an overview of the project status, describing and reporting on the performance of the superconducting material, the lessons learnt during the fabrication of superconducting coils and support structure, and the fine tuning of the magnet design in view of the start of the prototyping phase.