Micael Derelöv

Engineering Design Methodology for Bio-Mechatronic Products

Four complex biotechnology products/product systems (a protein purification system, a bioreactor system, a surface plasmon resonance biosensor, and an enzymatic glucose analyzer) are analyzed using conceptual design principles. A design model well‐known in mechanical system design, the Hubka‐Eder (HE) model, is adapted to biotechnology products that exemplify combined technical systems of mechanical, electronic, and biological components, here referred to as bio‐mechatronic systems. The analysis concludes that an extension of the previous HE model with a separate biological systems entity significantly contributes to facilitating the functional and systematic analyses of bio‐mechatronic systems.

Qualitative modelling of potential failures: on evaluation of conceptual design

Abstract Decisions made during the conceptual phase of the design process are crucial for long-term economic success. The correction of late-identified failure is often both difficult and time consuming, and may have a negative effect on performance. In the prevalent design methodologies, there are shortages concerning systematic and objective methods to evaluate solutions with respect to weak spots and errors, especially early in the design process. The objective of this article is to strengthen the evaluation methodology by examining the possibilities to identify potential problems within conceptual solutions, and to develop a means that facilitates the evaluation regarding this matter. The results presented in this article may be divided into two parts: a descriptive part where a generic approach of modelling the failure behaviour is proposed and a prescriptive part where a foundation of a methodology for identification of potential failure is outlined.