Week 5 {20.5.2021}
Design for Materials
This week, we learned about the design for the material. To make a good product, using the correct ways to decide the materials is very important, different materials help to enhance the functionality of the product. We are supposed to select one of many materials that appeal to our group and research more about it and answer 2 burning questions:
- How can the material be used as a replacement to a material in an existing product without any significant changes in the design?
- How can the material be used to enhance the functionality of an existing product through some changes in the design?
In the conventional way of product design engineers, materials for design are utilized. This means that we would select a material that meets and exceeds product requirements, either functionality-wise or in the aspect of ease of manufacturing.
However, today we were told to look at product design from another point of view, using design for materials. This is related to the question of how “ Can we change the design of a product so that a particular material can be used?”
We were then taken through examples of design evolutions. Such examples included that of the Hair Dryer and Coca-cola packaging. After that, we started on our group activity of picking a material to study. Then identifying how we can adapt the design/ directly replace a material of an existing product. The end goal is to enjoy the attributes of the chosen material whenever possible.
The material our group chose to further research on was Paperfoam (Chemical name: Polyurethane Foam).
Firstly, we research the general description of paper foam, its properties, and opportunities of it being used and our findings are in the table below.
Thereafter, we proceeded to answer the 2 main questions.
Discuss among the group how this material can be used as a direct replacement to a material in an existing product without any significant changes in the design.
This material can be used as a replacement for rubber corner guards. As it is typically used as a packaging material, that can protect the object that it encases. Similarly, it can replace rubber corner guards, as we believe with proper thickness of tape material to back it up, can serve well in protecting the user from coming into harm. Typical usage of this material is in the case where there are infants crawling around, in which case, PaperFoam® would be a more environmentally friendly option to rubber and serves its function in protecting the infant from harm. Its non-scratching abilities also make it perfect for this purpose. It is shock absorbing and scratch proof, making it a suitable replacement for rubber.
Fig 1: Rubber Guard
Figure 2: PaperFoam
Discuss among the group how this material can be used to enhance the functionality of an existing product through some changes in the design.
PaperFoam® can be used to bolster the protective abilities of knee guards, PaperFoam® should be placed at the part of the knee guard where it is least flexible, particularly the top, bottom and middle of the kneecaps. This will serve as a shock resistive material when the user falls, mitigating the likelihood of joint related issues such as arthritis.
This additional layer of PaperFoam® will increase the functionality of the knee guard while preserving the integrity of its structure as it is shock absorbing and lightweight. This can be seen from its original function/usage as packaging material for electronics, cosmetics, medical and dry food. As PaperFoam® is lightweight it will not hinder the movement of the user.
Figure 3: Sketch of knee guard with additional layer of paperfoam
References:
2. https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/37/088/37088617.pdf
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