INTRODUCTION TO

ENGINEERING DESIGN
College of Engineering
Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University

1
 LECTURE 11
CONCEPT GENERATION AND
EVALUATION

2
 INTRODUCTION
So far you should know how to:
• Interpret the needs and analyze them
• Specify the objectives (primary and secondary)
• Determine the human factors
• Formulate the constraints and criteria
• Conduct a morphological analysis and generate
concepts.
Today you will learn how to:
• Evaluate alternatives through the
weight-and-rate technique
This will be covered through a “solar oven” design
example

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THE DESIGN CYCLE
1
Customer

2
Need
10 Define
Evaluate
Problem

on
9 3

Fo
ati

Pr ul
rm
Implement Search

nt

ob ati
me

lem on
ple
Im
4
8 Criteria
and
Plan Problem Constraint
solving s

5
7 Alternativ
Decision e
Solutions
6
Analysis

4
The Solar Oven Example
It is required to design a solar
oven. The oven should be simple,
easy to manufacture, inexpensive
and
highly effective A well
Understood
problem
-Learn about heat
transfer
-Learn about solar
ovens
Needs

The first step is not about finding

solutions; It is about
understanding the problem
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 HEAT TRANSFER
It occurs through one of three modes when a ΔT
exists
1. Conduction: Heat travels from atom to atom of a
solid
Example: Doorknob is hot if fire is on other side
2. Convection: With a gas or liquid, the heat
propagates as molecules move
Example: When you open the door of an oven, the
3. Radiation:
temperatureA heated surface increases
in the kitchen emits
electromagnetic waves which
carry energy away from the
emitting object
Example: Heat felt from a brick
wall that has been in the sun all
day 6
UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM

∆𝑻 = 𝑻𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒏 −𝑻𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕

Criteria:
• Maximize ∆𝑻
• Minimize Cost

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 KEY IDEAS

• Sunlight contains energy

• You want a solar oven that gets as hot as
possible (highest temperature in oven
chamber)
• You want your oven to receive solar energy
easily
• You also want your oven not to lose the solar
energy it has captured

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 NEEDS

• Low Cost
• Maximum Temperature
• No lenses
• Size of chamber (partition)
• No preheating
• Presence of a thermometer
• High simplicity
• …

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SOLAR OVEN HEAT TRANSFER

∆𝑻 = 𝑻𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒏 −𝑻𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕

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TIME = 0

Cover

Time = Shortly after

Cover is Removed

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TIME = A LONG TIME AFTER “0"

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 SUMMARIZING WHAT WE KNOW
• We want the largest ΔT we can get for a
given cost
• To get a larger ΔT, we need either to:
1. Increase Power in (get more sun into
the oven)
2. Decrease Power out for a given ΔT
(reduce the rate at which energy is
leaving the oven)

∆𝑻 = 𝑻𝟐-𝑻𝟏

∆𝑻 = 𝑻𝟐-𝑻𝟏

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 INCREASING POWERIN

Solar Intensity = 1,000 W/m2

What determines Powerin:

• Window Size
Increase the area • Sun Intensity
• Window Thickness
• Angle light hits window
• Color of oven Wall*

To increase Powerin :
• Bigger window
• Thinner window*

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DECREASING POWEROUT FOR A GIVEN
ΔT?

Energy leaves the oven through:

• Radiation
(back out window)
• Conduction and Convection
• back out window
• sides of oven
• bottom of oven

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 DECREASING POWEROUT FOR A GIVEN ΔT?

Heat Transfer Via Window

• About 25 W /(m2 °C) when T inside oven = 150°C
• About 12 W/(m2 °C) for a thicker window

Heat Transfer Via Sides and Bottom

• About 1.5 W/(m2 °C)
More heat is lost through window
• Therefore, you want a smaller, thicker window to
keep heat in!
• Some good insulation on sides and bottom

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PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

• To increase Powerin
• Increase window size
• Decrease window thickness
• To decrease Powerout
• Decrease window size
• Increase window thickness
• Conflicting objectives? well, this is
Engineering Design; you must make
tradeoffs (compromise)

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Solar Oven Concept Generation
(Brainstorming)

Single Flat Reflector

No Reflector Parabolic

4 Flat Reflectors 4 Flat Reflectors

Open Corners Closed Corners

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 Concept Evaluation
• Characteristics of Engineering Decisions
• Multiple criteria
• Criteria are of different importance 1
• Criteria are conflicting
Customer
Need
10 2

• Multiple interested parties

Define
Evaluate
Problem

ion
9 3

Fo
Pr ul
tat
Implement Search

rm
ob ati
n
me

lem on
• Use a Decision

ple
Im
Matrix: 8
4
Criteria

A simple decision
and
Plan
Problem Constraint
solving s

approach to weigh
pros and cons 7 5
Alternative
Decision Solutions

applying weight and 6

Analysis

rate concept
(multiply and sum)
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APPLYING WEIGHT-AND-RATE

• Features/attributes of the solar viewed

important:
Direct Energy into Oven
Easy to Manufacture
Room for Error in Aim
Hold Energy in Oven
Durable
…
• Keep attributes as independent as possible!*

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 WEIGHTS
• To determine the importance of each attribute,
we use a simple approach based on weights that
sum to 100
Direct Manufac Holding Total
Energy turability Flexibility Energy Weight
in Oven
Scenario 1:
Compromis
25 25 25 25 100%
e
Scenario 2:
Most light in
40 5 15 40 100%

Scenario 3:
Easy to
20 40 20 20 100%
make
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 RATES

• Once alternative concepts are determined,

rate each attribute for each alternative
concept on a scale from 1 (worst) to 10 (best)

• For the solar oven example,

we will only use three
alternative concepts* and
four attributes
• Normally, you would have
more concepts and more
attributes

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 RATING THE CONCEPTS
• Let us use the “most light in” Scenario
• This scenario uses weights (40,5,15,40)
Direct Manufact Holding
Energy urability Flexibility Energy in Score
Oven
Weights 40  5 15 40

Concept 1: 1 10 5 3
No reflector  285
Big window 40 50 75 120

Concept 2: 4 8 7 6
1 reflector 545
Small 160 40 105 240
window
Concept 3: 9 2 4 4
Parabolic 590
360 10 60 160
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 RATING THE CONCEPTS
• Let us use the “compromise” Scenario*
• This scenario uses weights (25, 25 , 25, 25)
Direct Manufact Holding
Energy urability Flexibility Energy Score
in Oven
Weights 25 25 25 25

Concept 1: 1 10 5 3
No reflector 475
25 250 125 75
Big window

Concept 2: 4 8 7 6
1 reflector 625
Small 100 200 175 150
window
Concept 3: 9 2 4 4
Parabolic 475
225 50 100 100
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 FINAL REMARKS

• Decision matrices (weight-

and-rate) are helpful tools for
exploring trade-offs
• Use more than one scenario
and do not be driven by a
single-objective mentality
• You do not necessarily have
to use the one with the
highest score

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THANK YOU

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