The work of an engineer increasingly involves the use of powerful software modelling tools (virtual modelling). These tools allow us to predict potential manufacturing difficulties, suggest how a product or component is likely to behave in service, and undertake rapid and low cost design iteration and optimisation, to reduce costs, pre-empt failure and enhance performance.
This unit introduces students to the application of relevant Computer Aided Design (CAD) and analysis engineering tools in contemporary engineering. They will learn about standards, regulations and legal compliance within the context of engineering.
Topics included in this unit are: dimensioning and tolerances, standardisation and regulatory compliance (BS, ASTM, ISO, etc.), material properties and selection, manufacturing processes, 2D, 3D, CAD, solid modelling, one-dimensional and multi-dimensional problems, meshing and boundary conditions, and the finite volume method.
On successful completion of this unit students will be able to consider how to perform computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, develop finite element product and system models, explain the identification of faults in the application of simulation techniques and discuss the modelling method and data accuracy.
By the end of this unit students will be able to: