Engineering philosophy…

tomassab@gmail.com, +45 50105868

  1. Make sure no one dies.

  2. Win funding.

  3. Pass certification.

  4. Professional sales content.

    tomassab@gmail.com,

    +45 50105868

AS7502 - Australian railroad standard is very clear about what loading conditions the structure has to be tested for.

And there is pretty much no other option, other than using FEM, to verify all the welds, pins and bolts for all of the loading cases.

The chassis has to be fatigue safe. And they no longer allow to certify things based purely on “physical test” results. Numbers must be provided.

It is not a big job. A few weeks for the numbers and simulations… and then a few back and forward messages with the certification office. But you have to allow the engineer to do his job. Without “blocking” the communication chain with excessive management…

The fastest and cheapest way is to do it right - on the first try…

The extra bonus is - the simulations and fast calculations generated FUNDING. The reviewers could see the thing will pass eventually, the clients stopped threatening they will cancel - ship back all 50 units… time to do the job was financed.

EN 51115 - is my favorite example of a “weaponized” standard.

A potential client approached me to design the spring for a railroad stopper - bumper. After looking at it for 20h, running the numbers and simulations, I found that they will be forced to use a special type of steel, which seems to be manufactured only in Germany. I’m holding the required geometry to myself for now…

The spring will need to have a special profile (square), it will need to be custom rolled, and then pre-stressed. There is no way to satisfy the requirements of EN51115 - in any other way. The standard is calibrated to precisely restrict the size of the component, to make the diameter of the spring small enough, to force you to use one of the highest strength, extremely rare grade of machining steel on the planet.

So… if they can afford the most expensive steel and a custom built factory for it. They probably are able to pay the “real money” - to the engineer who can design the whole factory, all the procedures AND the product.

The product is now in Sweden. And keeps selling / working. I was called in an emergency, when the original concept catastrophically failed, bent in half, touched the floor (and 3 months of 3 people time were wasted).

It took 1 week to find a solutions, 1 week to get it ready for manufacturing, and 1 week to manufacture. 3 weeks total - from concept to a working product. EN1993 + fatigue resistance, and a complex loading history.

The result:

  1. less weight (30% less material).

  2. More strength (3x stronger).

  3. Faster to manufacture (less than 1/2 time to manufacture compared to the “original”: less welds, less bolts, less plates)

  4. As a Bonus - early drawings used to recover confidence of the client’s client. Secure extra funding - to get the job done.

During review of the full product - the Rear Under Protection (RUPD) was put into question by reviewer. And they were correct.

It took another 5 days to verify and solve the detected problems. Advanced simulations required - sequential damage accumulation, in aluminum beam (a car crash test!). And - Success. The heavy truck is now on the road, certified… it is safe and it works well :)

Thermal analysis

PED (Pressure equipment directive) asks for numbers. Numbers must be made for:

  1. operation pressure

  2. design pressure (+fatigue +thermal)

  3. Test pressure

  4. Rupture pressure

    EN13445 is one of my favorite standards, because low risk containers are fully FEM compatible to certify :)

Also - it is often plausible to remove 70% of manufacturing operations, and increase manufacturing speed by 4x, while reducing weight of a structure… when it is optimized, by a professional.

The project where my numbers produced CE marking for American clients - are NDA. Non disclosure agreement. So I attach a demo version here of what it looks like to investigate a heat exchanger :) Furnaces, pyrolysis stations… all those are fascinating. Stainless steel, SS316L is a fantastic material… doesn’t harden when welded. Super reliable.

Managing the tasks - is best done by the person who “does the tasks”. Managers ask you “how long it will take” so if you do not work on 4 projects at once in 4 different clients - you can do without having 4 managers on top of 1 worker.

Experience, intuition - provide realistic time estimates. Within 10% precision. With precise detection of problematic points, “decision making” points. Let me manage myself and get extra large savings:

  1. Less hours - allowing the person who “does the job” to “pick the tools” - which they know very well and can use max efficient.

  2. Less people - a person with “fundamental knowledge” of material properties and manufacturing processes is able to calibrate simulations and do the numbers for LARGE VARIETY of materials. Standards… which means you DO NOT NEED 2X and 4X more people, different “specialists” for “different tasks”. Physics is all the same. And material models - differ only in parameters for 95% of all problems…

Combining the two : fundamentals of physis + work experience - allows to do things substantially faster… this “fair play” approach, allowing “the one who knows to do what he knows how to do” consistently produces 16x lower cost. Reliable. And budget friendly.

Consult with the engineer, a real engineer… the solution finder…

save yourself >1600% of “overhead” cost…

Small / silly hobby projects.

More experience, more ideas…

For more examples visit my YouTube channel.

Tomas Sabaliauskas, TomasSab@gmail.com, +45 50105868