Design environment for the design of mechanical drive units

All the phases of the design process (from conceptual design and analysis to the preparation of design documentation) which represents the information required in the process of manufacturing technical systems should be integrated in the design environment. The paper discusses the conceptual design phase, which is the most important phase of the process of designing mechanical drive units. The conceptual design of a mechanical drive unit is based on the basic model of conceptual design, supplemented by control procedures which can be set using knowledge about the general structure of a mechanical drive unit (or a technical system in general). This structure has to be defined in advance. The results of the mechanical drive unit conceptual design are the structure of the mechanical drive unit at the level of building blocks, and the associated flexible function structure. An advantage of designing using the model of conceputal design is the flexible function structure, which enables single-functional or multifunctional building blocks to be used. The environment can assist the design engineer in the creation of innovative and variational design. After the conceptual design has been completed, the dimensions of the chosen building blocks have to be determined. These are then tested by stress strain analyses and calculations, which are carried out using the modules of the integrated design environment. The design of mechanical drive units is usually the job of one design engineer.