CONCEPT

Multi Service Chilled Beams (MSCB) are now one of the most popular systems in the UK and this brings interesting demands on the manufacturers who provide these systems.  One such area is the design, development and manufacture, and here Martyn Mills, Senior Design Engineer at TROX UK Ltd., discusses the scope of Autodesk Inventor.

From the days of drawing boards through to the early CAD systems many industries only used 2D images.  These 2D images made it extremely difficult to demonstrate a fully aesthetic product to the architect, and several meetings could take place to satisfy his requirements.  Once the outline design had been agreed a two dimensional section of the chilled beam profile would be produced.

The next step would be to manufacture a prototype.  To do this in steel would take time, and very often because the sample was required urgently polystyrene would be used to give a short length 3D reproduction of the size and profile.  These samples could then be mounted in a viewing area with mirrors to give the impression of a full length beam.  This process could be repeated several times before the project team would be satisfied that all design requirements had been met.

2D CAD was more of a draughting tool, but 3D CAD through Autodesk Inventor is a design tool, and this early prototype stage can now be eliminated as the architects 2D sketch can immediately be turned into a 3D image of the outline shape.  All of the other components such as lighting, the air slot, perforated return air passage, in fact anything that has an impact on the visual appearance can be rendered without the constraints of any engineering details, and the aesthetic appearance of the beam designed electronically before any material is cut.  The architect can then take this design and include it in a walk through of the actual office environment with his Autodesk suite of programmes.

Invariably the initial 3D outline shape is not quite what the architect requires and this could be subject to modifications of the profile.  These can be undertaken in minutes and a whole array of shapes and profiles can be quickly generated so that the architect has a wide choice of final design.

Once the shape of the beam has been narrowed down, say, to a maximum of two options, it is relatively easy for the beam to be manufactured from aluminium extruded sections which can be modified in the TROX proto-type area to replicate the required shape of the beam.  These initial samples are fitted with the lights and any other visible components but are basically a static model without any air conditioning, i.e. heating or cooling.

ENGINEERING

Once the aesthetics have been signed off the engineering details for the installation, maintenance, ductwork, lighting etc. have to be agreed with the design team.   This is a very much more dimensional process and all the features of the beam - all internal workings, all external components - can be viewed in 3D animation.   Before any material is cut it can be proved that all component parts are correct and everything fits together.  For example, maintenance may want to get into the valves so access must be provided and through the 3D animation this can be demonstrated how easily this can be done. 

MANUFACTURING

Once the engineering details have been completed the manufacturing detail of the individual components begins.

Martyn says: “With Autodesk Inventor we can now take the 3D image, put it back into 2D and communicate this to the machines that will punch, cut and fold the components.  This requires no human intervention, thus eliminating mistakes and speeding the whole process up.  For example with mass customisation you could have a project with 1000 MSCBs with virtually 500 different variants.  Clearly samples cannot be produced of all these variants and therefore you have to rely on the interface between engineering design and manufacturing to create a ‘right first time’ environment, which is the Autodesk Inventor”.  

PREFABRICATION

MSCBs by their very design need a high level of prefabrication and installation in the factory, and hence a great deal of coordination.

For example, the TROX sophisticated manufacturing management demands factory fabrication of its MSCBs on a ‘just in time’ basis.  With some of the components on long lead times, this can prove to be a huge logistical challenge.

The use of concurrent engineering means that designs can be reviewed and the installation details developed and specialist fitters can be trained on a specific project using projected 3D Inventor models. This allows any installation issues to be identified before the units are delivered to site.

TROX MSCBs enable bespoke engineering with standard components and this is particularly important in terms of manufacturing design. TROX MSCBs are built up from several sub-modules. Manufacture involves constructing the sub-modules in a factory and assembling them into working systems on site, something TROX can only do by using 3D design with Autodesk Inventor.

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