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Title: Mechanical considerations and design skills.

Abstract

The purpose of the report is to provide experienced-based insights into design processes that will benefit designers beginning their employment at Sandia National Laboratories or those assuming new design responsibilities. The main purpose of this document is to provide engineers with the practical aspects of system design. The material discussed here may not be new to some readers, but some of it was to me. Transforming an idea to a design to solve a problem is a skill, and skills are similar to history lessons. We gain these skills from experience, and many of us have not been fortunate enough to grow in an environment that provided the skills that we now need. I was fortunate to grow up on a farm where we had to learn how to maintain and operate several different kinds of engines and machines. If you are like me, my formal experience is partially based upon the two universities from which I graduated, where few practical applications of the technologies were taught. What was taught was mainly theoretical, and few instructors had practical experience to offer the students. I understand this, as students have their hands full just to learn the theoretical. The practical partmore » was mainly left up to 'on the job experience'. However, I believe it is better to learn the practical applications early and apply them quickly 'on the job'. System design engineers need to know several technical things, both in and out of their field of expertise. An engineer is not expected to know everything, but he should know when to ask an expert for assistance. This 'expert' can be in any field, whether it is in analyses, drafting, machining, material properties, testing, etc. The best expert is a person who has practical experience in the area of needed information, and consulting with that individual can be the best and quickest way for one to learn. If the information provided here can improve your design skills and save one design from having a problem, save cost of development, or reduce difficulty in manufacturing, then my writing effort will have been worthwhile. It is also my hope that you will freely provide others with design information that you have found beneficial to the less-experienced engineers. The result will be that as a whole, the designs will improve, and the development time will be shortened from start of the design to full system operation or deployment.« less

Authors:
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
932875
Report Number(s):
SAND2008-1124
TRN: US200814%%671
DOE Contract Number:  
AC04-94AL85000
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE; WEAPONS; DESIGN; EDUCATION; ENGINEERS; SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES; WEAPON AND/OR WARHEAD SYSTEMS*; Weapons systems-Design and construction.

Citation Formats

Alvis, Robert L. Mechanical considerations and design skills.. United States: N. p., 2008. Web. doi:10.2172/932875.
Alvis, Robert L. Mechanical considerations and design skills.. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/932875
Alvis, Robert L. 2008. "Mechanical considerations and design skills.". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/932875. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/932875.
@article{osti_932875,
title = {Mechanical considerations and design skills.},
author = {Alvis, Robert L},
abstractNote = {The purpose of the report is to provide experienced-based insights into design processes that will benefit designers beginning their employment at Sandia National Laboratories or those assuming new design responsibilities. The main purpose of this document is to provide engineers with the practical aspects of system design. The material discussed here may not be new to some readers, but some of it was to me. Transforming an idea to a design to solve a problem is a skill, and skills are similar to history lessons. We gain these skills from experience, and many of us have not been fortunate enough to grow in an environment that provided the skills that we now need. I was fortunate to grow up on a farm where we had to learn how to maintain and operate several different kinds of engines and machines. If you are like me, my formal experience is partially based upon the two universities from which I graduated, where few practical applications of the technologies were taught. What was taught was mainly theoretical, and few instructors had practical experience to offer the students. I understand this, as students have their hands full just to learn the theoretical. The practical part was mainly left up to 'on the job experience'. However, I believe it is better to learn the practical applications early and apply them quickly 'on the job'. System design engineers need to know several technical things, both in and out of their field of expertise. An engineer is not expected to know everything, but he should know when to ask an expert for assistance. This 'expert' can be in any field, whether it is in analyses, drafting, machining, material properties, testing, etc. The best expert is a person who has practical experience in the area of needed information, and consulting with that individual can be the best and quickest way for one to learn. If the information provided here can improve your design skills and save one design from having a problem, save cost of development, or reduce difficulty in manufacturing, then my writing effort will have been worthwhile. It is also my hope that you will freely provide others with design information that you have found beneficial to the less-experienced engineers. The result will be that as a whole, the designs will improve, and the development time will be shortened from start of the design to full system operation or deployment.},
doi = {10.2172/932875},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/932875}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2008},
month = {Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2008}
}