Blog Entry 5

Hello guys!!!

I am back after a long time of not blogging. I know you guys missed my blogs and the various interesting information I used to share with you guys. Well, this is going to be a really fun journey, so sit back and enjoy, as I share more interesting information with you guys!!!!

After the school holidays, I had indulged in a lot of activities and lessons in this module. Some of these lessons that play a significant role include the Material For Design, Design for Material and the sustainable design lessons.  Well, first let me tell you guys about the Material for Design lesson.

Materials For Design

Have you always wondered about how a material is always chosen to make a certain product? Well, it does not just happen in a blink of an eye,  as a lot of research, planning and experimenting is done to chose the material best suited for the product. Well, we had learned about this in detail in this lesson. 

The knowledge of materials is very important to chemical product design. Selecting a material, specifying the shape, then choosing a manufacturing process are the three problems that are involved with a chemical product.

We had learned about the 3 stages of material selection process. Step 1 included defining the material requirement for the design. Step 2 included selecting and evaluating the candidate material. Step 3 included choosing the most economical material. 

Our group were tasked to select materials for the handle for a razor blade , as well as the material for the razor blade. For step 1, we had to come up with a table which consists of  the function, the constraints and the objective for the razor blade handle and the razor blade. 

Here are the 2 tables we did. After this, we moved on to step 2. For step 2 and step 3, we came up with 2 tables, using COWS method, for the handle of the razor blade, and the razor blade. 

	Options
Criteria	Weightage	ABS Plastic	Polyethylene	Polypropylene	Polycarbonate
Density	40%	1070 kg/m3$$$$   Score: 4  4 × 40% = 160%	1330 kg/m3$$$$   Score: 5  5 × 40% = 200%	931 kg/m3$$$$   Score: 4  4 × 40% = 160%	1200 kg/m3$$$$   Score: 5  5 × 40% = 200%
Tensile Strength	10%	40.9 MPa  Score: 3  3 × 10% = 30%	49.2 MPa  Score: 3  3 × 10% = 30%	29.2 MPa  Score: 2  2 × 10% = 20%	64.2 MPa  Score: 5  5 × 10% = 50%
Young’s Modulus	20%	2300 MPa  Score: 4  4 × 20% = 80%	3290 MPa  Score: 5  5 × 20% = 100%	1680 MPa  Score: 2  2 × 20% = 40%	2390 MPa Score: 4  4 × 20% = 80%
Corrosion resistance	20%	Good  Score: 3  3 × 20% = 60%	Excellent  Score: 5  5 × 20% = 100%	Excellent  Score: 5  5 × 20% = 100%	Excellent  Score: 5   5 × 20% = 100%
Cost	10%	$1.50/lb  Score: 4   3 × 10% =        30%	$0.7725/lb  Score: 5  5 × 10% =        50%	$0.2263/lb  Score: 5  5 × 10% =        50%	$1.60/lb – $1.90/lb  Score: 4  4 × 10% =        40%
Score	100%	360%	480%	370%	470%

Thia table is for the handle of the razor blade. From the table, polyethylene has the highest score, causing it to be the chosen material for the handle of the razor blade.

	Options
Criteria	Weightage	Stainless Steel 304	Carbon Steel	Aluminium	Titanium	Stainless Steel 316
Density	20	8000 kg/m3    Score: 1  1 × 20% =  20%	7850kg/m3    Score: 1  1 × 20% =  20%	2700  kg/m3  Score: 5   5 × 20% =  100%	4500 kg/ m3  Score: 3   3 × 20% = 60%	7930 Kg/ m3  Score :1  1 × 20% =  20%
Corrosion Resistance	25	Excellent    Score: 5  5 × 25% =  125%	Poor    Score: 2  2 × 25% =  50%	Excellent    Score: 5  5 × 25% =  125%	Excellent    Score: 5  5 × 25% =  125%	Excellent    Score: 5  5 × 25% =  125%
Ultimate Tensile Strength	25	505 MPa    Score: 4  4 × 25% =  100%	685 MPa    Score:5  5 × 25% =  125%	90 MPa    Score: 1  1 × 25% =  25%	950 MPa    Score: 5  5 × 25% =  125%	550 MPa    Score: 4  4 × 25% =  100%
Young’s Modulus	20	193-200 GPa  Score: 5  5 × 20% =  100%	200 GPa    Score: 5  5 × 20% =  100%	69 GPa    Score: 1  1 × 20% =  20%	106 GPa    Score: 4  4 × 20% =  80%	164 GPa    Score: 4  4 × 20% =  80%
Cost	10	$0.56/lb  Score: 5  5 x 10% = 50%	$0.23/lb  Score: 5   5 x 10% = 50%	$1.19/lb  Score: 4   4 x 10% = 40%	$30.00/lb  Score: 3   3 x 10% = 30%	$0.78/lb  Score: 5   5 x 10% = 50%
Total	100	395%	345%	310%	420%	375%

This table is for the material selection for the razor blade. Based on this table, the material that is the most appropriate for the razor blade is titanium, as titanium has the highest score of 420% .

Reflection

After attending this lesson, I have learned a lot of new interesting things and important things. The COWS selection criteria was no alien to me as I had already learned about the COWS selection criteria in previous modules such as CP5090 and CP5201. However, this time, in this module, I had to find the functions, constrains and the objectives of the razor blade and the razor blade handle. Finding the constrains, functions and the objectives were difficult as a lot of thinking was needed to ensure that the they were correctly written. Although my group members and I had a lot of different answers, we had made sure to take note of the best answer. For example, the function of the handle of the razor blade was first written as ' allow the user to grasp onto razor blade ' . However, we realised that it was more important that the handle feels more comfortable to use and can be easily manipulated . Therefore, we had changed the function of the razor blade handle to  ' Allows the user to grasp onto the razor blade comfortably and easily manipulate it. ' . This taught me to be more specific in the future, as this showed that I had not understood the source fully, which might result in loss of marks. In the future, if I were to encounter situations like this, I would be more specific and not be vague. When we figured out the objective of the material, the constrains and the function of the material was easier to identify. Moreover, this also helped me to find the criterias for the COWS selection method. Overall, this method of the constrains, the function and the objectives, was extremely useful as it helped my group members and me to expand our thinking , as well as to make our thinking process easier. It helped us to expand our research, producing more efficient results. From this lesson , if I were to encounter situations where I have to make use of the COWS selection method, I would definitely make use of this table .

Design for material and Sustainable Design

For the next lesson, we did design for material and sustainable design.

Reflection

Firstly, the lesson started in a very unique and interesting way. We had learned about the evolution of hair dryer. It was mind blowing to see the changes and improvisations that the hair dryer had been through from 1890 to 2022. If not for the continuous changes, the hair dryer would not have been a tremendous success.We were tasked to find a material which can be used as a replacement to a material in an existing product without any significant changes in the design. Moreover, we also had to enhance the functionality of an existing product through some changes in the design. We took a long time to think about the material as we had no clue about what material to choose. We had not done anything like this in previous modules and thus, we were very new to this. We were also very hesitant to make rash decisions as we were afraid that it would not turn out to be right. We considered many materials such as Green Blade, Poron , Nanostone and Fortron FPS. However, when we were thinking of the material replacing the other material, we had difficulty in thinking about the product as we were not able to fully develop the idea . This made me reflect on my skill sets that I had learned in previous modules such as CP-5202, as this showed that I did not possess the sufficient skill sets to develop my ideas fully. After enhanced searching of materials, my group decided to chose liquid wood. Liquid wood, also known as Arboform, is a possible replacement for plastic, as it is non-toxic and biodegradable. Arbofoam can be used to replace plastic, especially in liquid containers. Secondly, we had to figure out how we could increase the functionality of the product. We decided to use a helmet as the product. The arboform is used to replace the polycarbonate, which is used to make the outer covering of the helmet. Arbofoam is biodegrabable and is also extremely tough, making it suitable for the outer covering of the helmet.  helmet. For sustainable design, my group decided to use a food container as the product. Usually, a food container is made of polyethylene. However, in this case, the food container is made of arbofoam . This would ensure that the product is sustainably produced. Usually after usage, these plastic containers are discarded. However, they are not biodegrable and end up as waste. On the other side, using arboform is beneficial as the material is biodegradable. Even after disposal, the material will not end up a waste. During this lesson, I have learnt about a lot of new materials, as well as their applications , drawbacks and properties. For example, Green Blade is a handmade decorative veneer that is 100% natural and composed of banana trunk fibres. It can be used as the decorative choice of veneer in interior fittings, furnishing, decorative applications, fashion accessories and packaging. It is not suitable for heavy duty requirement. It is 100% natural. Moreover, I had also learnt to improve my researching speed as there were many material that we had selected and had to look through the information given about the material, in a short period of time. I also had to research more about the material on other websites. This also helped me to improve my skills of finding for credible information about the certain material. More importantly, I also learned that the selection of the material is not just based on how the material benefits the user and is suitable for the product. It is also based on how the material impacts the environment. If the material were to be thrown away after usage, it would be accumulated as waste if the material cannot be reused or is non- biodegradable. It would provide a negative impact to the environment. Before the next lesson, I would want to read up and do more research on more materials to ensure that I have a better understanding of the applications of materials in the real life scenario and the wonders they can perform.