Start designing?

[kreuk]

Hi everyone, I've just started getting involve in FSAE. I don't know how to start to design a thing. I'm interested in cooling system, so would anyone help me or share your experience how to start designing a cooling system or even any other things?

cheers

[kreuk]

Hi everyone, I've just started getting involve in FSAE. I don't know how to start to design a thing. I'm interested in cooling system, so would anyone help me or share your experience how to start designing a cooling system or even any other things?

cheers

[Matt Gignac]

First things first, you gotta figure out exactly what the cooling system has got to do (task clarification) (how much heat it needs to reject, what kind of flow rates are involved, yada yada yada).

Then, come up with a few very general concepts (e.g. single pass water radiators, double pass water radiators or air-cooled engine, general positioning of the whole system). Either using decision making matrices or just process of elimination, you'll narrow it down to one design.

The comes detailed design, basically where you decide what components will be used, where they go, do a few calculations, maybe some FEA or CFD, and improve it if you think you can.

Then manufacturing, testing, maybe re-visiting the design phase if improvements are to be made.

That's the basic steps to it, and can pretty much be applied to any design project.

[Z]

Never designed anything before?

Matt's advice sounds good, but if you follow it you'll probably never get anything built.

Try this:
1. Spend tomorrow building whatever it is you want.
2. Spend the next day testing it - it probably won't work so it'll be a short day.
3. Repeat 1 & 2 at least ten times.
4. By now you're getting pretty depressed. Try a short cut - SIT DOWN AND THINK ABOUT IT! Identify what didn't work (most of it), and what, if anything, did.
5. Go back to 1, avoiding the bad stuff and using more of the good.
6. Most important! Try to remember what the original problem was, and don't fix problems that aren't there.

Congratulations! If you got through 4/5/6 you are now designing stuff and not just monkeying about (although I've met some monkeys who have outsmarted highly qualified engineers).

BUT!! If you're looking for a job then you'd be better off following Matt's advice.

[Urvina]

Hi Kruek,

This is the first year that anyone at my University has ever tried to enter a contest this big before, so we are strating to learn everything at once and I try not to think about having to design stuff.

But, we have to, and SOON. This is an engineering project and you can only benefit so little without going through the process of putting all your work into FEA/CAD/CFD...etc.

I haven't learned how to use it, but I was lucky to meet with the team leader from WWU, James Waltman. He showed what his team had on their program and explained how helpful it was. Its complicated to me, but so is everything that I have never learned anything about. As soon as you just start learning about it and practice with it, it won't be so bad.
Just talk to someone in a department that knows these systems and they can teach you.

Another good thing about it is that it can give you structural info on anything part that put into it. I don't know what you're studying, but if it is engineering then I know this will help you understand a lot.

good luck,

Erin Urvina
University of Alaska Anchorage
FSAE '06 Team Leader