Search results for "Design Process"

Early-stage thermal performance design of thermo-active walls implemented in underground infrastructures

2022

Abstract Energy geostructures (EGs) represent an innovative technology in the sustainable energy agenda and are useful for satisfying the energy needs of the built environment. They are usually involving geostructures such as piles, walls, tunnels, shafts, and sewers. The application of such technology to infrastructure projects may have considerable thermal potential because of the large surfaces that can be thermally activated. This study focuses on thermo-active walls (energy walls, EWs), which are retaining structures used to sustain the sides of excavations. Key features related to their thermal design are examined, and a design methodology is proposed. The heat-exchange modes involvin…

DESIGN BY MATERIAL: FROM MATERIAL TO FORM THROUGH CAD MODELLING

2021

AbstractFor Aristotelian scholars, matter is identified as the subject of change, while form is the boundary of matter. Design is a process of bringing about change. From a design perspective, material is what an entity is made from; form is what makes a thing what it is. Based on the principle, “form is the boundary of matter”, this paper proposes a Design by Material method, thereby addressing the knowledge gap of a systematic method for designing according to material. This method is predicated on the material specification as the first input in the design process. A formal model is built in which the material acts as a trigger and driver for the design process. The method is implemented…

Parametric Hull Design with Rational Bézier Curves and Estimation of Performances

2021

In this paper, a tool able to support the sailing yacht designer during the early stage of the design process has been developed. Cubic Rational Bézier curves have been selected to describe the main curves defining the hull of a sailing yacht. The adopted approach is based upon the definition of a set of parameters, say the length of waterline, the beam of the waterline, canoe body draft and some dimensionless coefficients according to the traditional way of the yacht designer. Some geometrical constraints imposed on the curves (e.g., continuity, endpoint angles, curvature) have been conceived aimed to avoid unreasonable shapes. These curves can be imported into any commercial Computer Aide…

When industry and academia meet: the development of a robotized semiautomatic motorcycle transmission

2017

Abstract The development of the business - industry environment is unconceivable without the involvement of academia. On one hand, the universities can provide new perspectives and know-how which can be further translated into exquisite products and services for companies. On the other hand, the business environment can raise practical problems and challenges for academia, providing in the same time material support for finding solutions to these problems. This paper presents a successful partnership between business and academia materialized in the development of a robotized semiautomatic motorcycle transmission. Since the solutions existing on the market did not meet the specific requirem…

Benefits of Refurbishment

2013

Energy and environmental performances of buildings strictly depend on many factors related to the choice of construction materials, HVAC plants and equipment, design, installation and use. By definition, a building interacts closely with its environment. The interactions between building and climate, plants and users have to be taken into account. This aspect is evident in new buildings design process, but it is even more important in the design phase of an existing building renovation, during which actions of energy saving are developed. This chapter summarises the results of the energy and environmental assessment of a set of retrofit actions implemented in the framework of the EU Project…

Specifying Patterns for Mobile Application Domain Using General Architectural Components

2005

Software companies adopt patterns as a means to improve architecture and design practices. During recent years, the application of patterns has extended from general software applications to specific problem domains. In a new domain, suitable patterns fitting to the essential design problems in the new context need to be identified. In this paper, we introduce a general architectural model of mobile applications, which can be used to identify and organise essential patterns in mobile-application design process. This model is employed to construct a high-level architecture of a particular application. For each component of the architecture, the model may suggest candidate patterns that can b…

THE METAMODEL: A STARTING POINT FOR DESIGN PROCESSES CONSTRUCTION

2010

The construction of ad-hoc design processes following the Situational Method Engineering (SME) paradigm is currently carried out by adopting a set of phases for which, until now, no well defined techniques and guidelines have been established. The consequence is that organizations are very dependent on method designers' skills. In this paper, we propose an approach based on SME for constructing customized agent oriented design processes. Our approach adopts the metamodel as the most important factor leading to the selection and assembly of method fragments and an algorithm for establishing the instantiation order of metamodel elements. The algorithm makes the proposed approach repeatable a…

VirDe: A new virtual reality design approach

2008

Virtual reality (VR), even if it does not represent any more a novel technology, is one of the most powerful tool to help designers during the development of new projects. This is proved by very numerous research activities related to this field. In this research, we have studied a new way to approach the development of a product. We present the ongoing development of a system, called VirDe, acronym of virtual design, which can allow the designers to perform the whole design process, from the modelling phase to the finite element method (FEM) simulation analysis, in a virtual reality environment. This new method allows remarkable time and money saving in the overall product design process, …

Using FEM simulation to predict structural performances of a sailing dinghy

2017

The use of finite element method (FEM) tools is proposed to investigate the structural response of an eco-sustainable sailing yacht to different loading conditions, typical of those acting during regattas. The boat is, in particular, a 4.60 m dinghy with the hull and the deck made of an hybrid flax–cork sandwich and internal reinforcements made of marine plywood. A preliminary activity has consisted in the refitting of an existing model in order to reduce the hull weight and to improve performances during manoeuvrings. These tasks have been interactively simulated in the virtual environment of the boat CAD model, where longitudinal and transversal reinforcements were enlightened and the m…

2019

This article analyses the design, implementation, and evaluation of a nation-wide project to create a common digital solution for university teaching staff’s pedagogical training in Finland. During three years, eight universities collaborated in developing an online learning platform called UNIPS, the University Pedagogical Support system. The areas to develop were A) a learning platform based on technical design principles, B) pedagogical principles, and C) broadening the scope of offered studies. The results have been promising. With a carefully planned timetable, all participating universities were able to produce, test, and offer UNIPS modules in collaboration with other universities …