Mechanical Engineering Perspectives, Part 1: Material Costs, Function, & Durability

This article originally appeared in DesignNews on June 27, 2022.

This article shares examples and tips to help you think holistically about your materials selection from start to finish to ensure future success in developing your product.

Senior Mechanical Engineer Adam Smith is working with DesignNews to produce a six-part series titled “Mechanical Engineering Perspectives for Efficient, Integrated Commercial Product Design.”

When thinking about product design and development, it’s common to immediately focus on developing what we see and experience in a product. While UX and UI design are critical to product success, the less-visible mechanical engineering functions can be the workhorse driving innovation through to successful commercialization. In this series, Smith shares insights and tips on how mechanical engineering supports the transformation of product ideas into reality by working in sync with all disciplines throughout development.

Here is an excerpt from part one:

Understanding important material properties—like which stainless steel is the most corrosion-resistant, or which plastic has the highest dielectric strength—yields valuable insight on how to approach difficult engineering hurdles, but this doesn’t always provide the most appropriate solution. The most popular materials are not always adequate. You may find that the most obvious electrical isolator is too brittle to survive the proposed physical environment, or the most-corrosion-resistant metal doesn’t provide the yield strength to return to its nominal shape after being exposed to the maximum prescribed loads.

Check out the full article on DesignNews to learn more about material costs, function, and durability when it comes to developing your product for success. Click here to view our mechanical engineering & design partnership with ocular manufacturer Lumithera.