All materials - Specialist Technical Principles

What are the 5 forces

• Tension

• Compression

• Bending

• Torsion

• Shear

What is tension

• Pulling in opposite directions

What is compression

• Pressing down on a material

What is bending

• Bending in

• Creates compression and tension

What is torsion

• Twisting

What is shear

• Two parallel forces acting against each other

Ecological concerns with product design

• Deforestation causes loss of wildlife

• Mining causes loss of habitat

• Farming causes loss of habitat

  • Pesticides cause pollution

• Vehicles transporting materials cause pollution

 

What can you do reduce carbon footprint at home

• Use efficient house insulation to avoid turning on heating

• Use low energy lighting

• Turn off taps

• Car share or use public transport

• Take showers not baths

• Recycle plastics and paper

How can ‘product miles’ be reduced

• Use less packaging

  • Less packaging means more products can fit on a vehicle, reducing number of journeys

• Reduce length of journeys

  • Use distribution hubs

  • Move processing plants closer to the source of raw materials

How can products be designed in a ‘leaner’ way

• Use less materials or parts

• Design the product with parts that are easily separated for recycling

• Reduce packaging

• Use energy efficient manufacturing processes

Ways to reduce ecological issues (just papers and boards)

• Farm trees effectively to renew supply and reduce deforestation

• Recycle to reduce demand on raw material

• Use fewer toxic chemicals in processing

How do companies in Britain ensure health, welfare, and safety of employees

• Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

• Workers pay is protected due to minimum wage

 

What is fair trade

• Organisation that looks at the interests of farmers and workers to ensure they have good working conditions and are paid a fair price for their produce

How do companies ensure they do not have negative impact on others

• Companies that source local produce support other jobs in the wider community

• Products are designed to not be offensive

• Companies donate to charity

 

Explain the term global warming

• The unusually rapid increase in Earth's average surface temperature over the past century,

• primarily due to the greenhouse gases released by people burning fossil fuels

 

How is oceanic pollution caused

• When waste (e.g. Oil, plastic, chemicals) is dumped into the sea

• Happens when waste is dumped at sea purposefully

• Oil leaks from tankers

• Fertilisers from farms draining into the ocean

What are the 6 Rs

• Reduce

• Reuse

• Refuse

• Repair

• Rethink

• Recycle

What is reduce

• Customer: Use less, buy less, throw away less

• Designer: reduce amount of material and energy used in the product

 

What is reuse

• Customer: use your things again, repurpose or modify them if needed

• Designer: make the product multi purpose

 

What is refuse

• Customer: don't buy things you don't need

• Designer: don't choose materials that are bad for the environment, don't add unneeded packaging

What is repair

• Customer: don't throw away things, just repair them

• Designer: make spare parts readily available, allowthe product to be easily repaired

 

What is rethink

• Customer: think if you actually need the product

• Designer: rethink if there is a more sustainable way to do things, think if there's a way to minimise resources and processes used

 

What is recycle

• Customer: recycle everything you can

• Designer: use recycled materials in the product

What are the different scales of production

• One off

• Batch

• Mass

• Continuous

What is one-off

• Designs that are for single, unique products

• E.g. Wedding dress

• Also for prototypes

 

Pros and cons of one-off production

• Pros

  • High quality

  • Will fit the customer's wants exactly because it is made to their demands

  • Made by skilled-workers

• Cons

  • Expensive

  • Takes long to make

 

What is batch production

• When more than 1 unit is made at a time, in a set

• Made for a limited time

Pros and cons of batch production

• Pros

  • Meets seasonal demand

  • Materials can be bought in bulk

• Cons

  • Re-tooling machines for different processes may be costly

  • Batches must be stored

 

What is mass production

• Automated production in large factories

Pros and cons of mass production

• Pros

  • Low unit cost

  • Cheaper labour

  • Materials can be cheaper

• Cons

  • Initial set-up costs are high

  • Manufacture is halted if a production line breaks

What is continuous production

• When identical, high-demand items are produced 24/7

Pros and cons of continuous production

• Pros

  • You don't ever need to stop and start manufacturing process

  • Materials are cheap in high quantities

• Cons

  • Automation leads to staff redundancy

  • Little flexibility

What are production aids

• Items used to speed up manufacturing processes

 

Examples of production aids

• Patterns

• Jigs

• Templates

 

What are patterns

• Replicas of the product that is to made

 

What are templates

• They are used when you need to mark out the same point or shape onto a material a number of times

What are jigs

• Devices that hold work in place

• Used for drilling accurate holes in wood

 

Advantages of production aids

• Increase accuracy and quality

• Reduces costs

• Increases productivity

• Simplifies processes

What is tolerance

• Manufacturers set an 'allowable margin of error' to ensure that a part will still function as long as the part is within the tolerance range

 

What is quality control

• A system that is set up throughout the manufacturing process to check that parts and assembled products have been made within tolerance

 

What quality control test can you use with papers and boards

• Registration marks

  • Show that the printing has lined up correctly