In order for a mechanical engineer to be a good machine designer (and later the manufacturer), he must be interested in artistic design as well as functional design. In other words; machine design is the artistic side of mechanical engineering.
When I think of design, I first think of architecture, which I respect very much, and architects who practice the art of architecture. Secondly, I think of fashion designers. Like architects, they design their own intellectual creativity (creations) and present them to the users’ taste. These works created by architects and the creations created by fashion designers have attracted the admiration and interest of people throughout history. Of course; It is necessary to remember with respect the creators of works of art, such as sculptors and composers of musical works.
Our business is mechanical engineering; However, in order for a mechanical engineer to be a good machine designer (and later the manufacturer), he needs to be interested in artistic design as well as functional design. In other words; machine design is the artistic side of mechanical engineering.
When looking at the great master Sinan’s Selimiye Mosque in Edirne or the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, people admire these works more for their artistic aspects than for being a mosque (functional feature). The same can be said for machines. Like a passenger plane floating in the air, a general boat floating in the sea, sometimes an automobile and sometimes a train carrying passengers.
The common features of these seemingly dissimilar works or creations are that besides serving people, they evoke good feelings such as admiration, love and beauty. Machine designers should aim to evoke these feelings with their designs. E.g; The ironing machine in the hands of a lady ironing clothes should be as elegant and beautiful as herself.
Mechanical design is a very special part of mechanical engineering.
The following meaning can be drawn from this introduction of our article: Mechanical design, besides being the main job of mechanical engineering, is a very special part of it and definitely indispensable. A machine should first arouse visual admiration in the user, and then satisfaction because of seeing its work well; this is primarily the machine designer’s job.
Let’s talk a little bit about the machine design part of mechanical engineering, which covers a very wide and diverse field. Let’s try to give correct information to the readers by keeping our framework limited to the design and production of our own machines.
A machine designer has to abide by the following principles when starting the machine design he has undertaken:
1. It must be functional: a machine; It is the feature of having all the features of doing the job that the task and the users of this machine want, as they want. To give an example of a sewing machine, two layers of fabric should be tied together with fine threads and the tightness of this tie and similar properties should be adjustable. Even if there are changes such as the type of fabric and thread sewn, if the fabric being sewn is used for clothing, it should look good and fulfill this task well for a long time.
2. It should be ergonomic: It is the ability of the machine to be used easily without physical distress. When the user looks at the machine; Liking, liking and enjoying to use or to be in this group is also included in this group. To give a different example, besides keeping the food cold in the refrigerator in your kitchen; The door is easy to open and close, the interior parts are suitable for putting food containers, easy to clean when necessary, well-lit and the internal temperature can be adjusted, etc. It should have many features.
3. Service life should be sufficient: For those who have acquired artistic characteristics, the life cannot be limited; however, it is an important rule for the machines we use most of the time. Especially for machines consisting of many elementary parts or mechanisms, life is important. It is a vital concept in air, sea or land vehicles and the machines we call the ‘engine’ that move them.In this sense, the feature of easy supply and replacement of elementary parts or mechanisms of a machine that has been manufactured and put into service of humanity is tired or malfunctioning for some reason. It’s like replacing a car’s tire or a petrol engine’s valve with a new one.
4. It should be easily available: It is one of the very important features of the machines. The issue is better understood when we compare a domestic sewing machine with a passenger plane. In addition to the features mentioned above, the sewing machine should be cheap enough to be easily supplied by families. Passenger aircraft, on the other hand, is a machine that can be bought by people very rarely. Therefore, it is used jointly by communities. Each use should be so cheap that; this machine should be easy to use even by people who do not own it.
Although the basic principles that must be followed while designing a machine have been tried to be given here, the designer has to take into account the other necessary special purpose of use of the machine he designed, other than these and not discussed here.
In recent days, thinking machines (autonomous), which is the subject of the developed world, will naturally have some features beyond these principles.
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