PPE Flashcards
List the 6 Rs of sustainability and give an example to illustrate each
•Reduce-e.g. Cut down on the amount of fuel consumed by a car to reduce emissions
•Reuse- use a ‘bag for life’ that can be used again and again instead of single use plastic bags
•Recycle- Make a can out of aluminum that allows the material to be used multiple times
•Repair- fix a broken alarm clock instead of throwing it away
•Refuse to use tropical hardwood for a piece of furniture
•Rethink-Ride a bike to school instead of trying to improve car fuel efficiency.
List five non-renewable energy sources
• Coal - Mined from beneath the ground
• Oil - Drilled from beneath the ground or seabed
• Natural gas - Extracted from beneath the ground
• Shale gas - From fracking
• Nuclear - Requires radioactive metals
List five developments in modern enterprise
• Crowdfunding – Gaining investment from a large group of people e.g. Kickstarter
• App design
• Virtual marketing - Using the internet to raise
awareness of products
• Virtual retail - Using the internet to sell products
• Cooperatives – Companies owned by their workforce
• Fairtrade – Used on cotton, coffee etc. and guarantees that the producers (e.g. the farmers) have been paid a fair price for their work.
List three ways to ensure dimensional accuracy
• Set appropriate tolerances - Specify how precise each component needs to be
• Use CAD/CAM - Using a computer to design and make components can ensure accuracy
• Use production aids - Jigs, templates and formers ensure accuracy
List and define five mechanical properties of materials
• Strength - The ability to withstand a force (compression, tension, shear, bending, torsion)
• Hardness - The ability to resist abrasion or indentation
• Toughness - The ability to absorb energy through impact without fracturing
• Malleability - The ability to deform under compression without cracking
• Ductility - The ability to be stretched or drawn into a thin wire without snapping
State eight factors that influence the selection of materials when designing products
Aesthetics
● The appearance such as the shape, form or colour
Cost
● How much the material costs to buy and how it relates to the price of the final product
Social and ethical issues
● Whether the use of the product harms groups of people and whether it is produced in ethical conditions.
Availability
● How easy it is to source raw materials and relevant stock forms.
Fashion
● Whether a material is popular and desirable at any particular time
Sustainability (i.e. the environment)
● The impact that the material has on the environmental considering the extraction of raw materials, the processing and disposal.
List three benefits of using standard components (e.g. standard nuts and bolts)
• Can be bought in bulk - This is usually cheaper
• Can be easily replaced - They are usually
available from many suppliers
• No need to spend time and money designing own - These use the specialist knowledge of another company
List five ways in which designers can have a positive and negative environmental impact
Positive
• + Using renewable materials
• + Using recycled and recyclable materials
• + Reducing energy consumption
Negative
• - Overuse of finite resources
• - Built in obsolescence
• - Using fossil fuels to manufacture products
Describe using words and diagrams how MDF is made
- Trees are felled
- Logs and debarked, debranched and
chipped - Adhesive resin is sprayed onto the chips
- Chips are laid out into a mat and are compressed into thin sheets by rollers
- Sheets are dried and trimmed to the desired shape
Describe using words and diagrams how acrylic rod is produced
- Crude oil is drilled from beneath the ground or the seabed
- Fractional distillation is used to separate the crude oil into different compounds
- Cracking breaks down long hydrocarbon chains into smaller, more useful ones
- Polymerisation then combines the short hydrocarbons into the required polymer
- Polymer is extruded into rods
Define the following classifications: hardwood, softwood and manufactured board
• Hardwood - Wood from a deciduous tree (that loses its leaves in winter)
• Softwood - Wood from a coniferous tree (that doesn’t lose it needles in winter)
• Manufactured board - Wood fibres, chips or veneers bonded by adhesives into sheets
Define the following classifications: Ferrous, non-ferrous and alloy
• Ferrous – Metal that contains iron and therefore rusts
• Non-ferrous – Metal that does not contain iron and therefore does not rust
• Alloy – A mixture of one pure metal and at least one other element
Define the following terms: thermoplastic, thermoset and elastomer
• Thermoplastic - A polymer that softens and can be remoulded repeatedly when heated
• Thermoset - A polymer that, once set, cannot be softened and remoulded by heat
• Elastomer - A polymer with elastic properties (i.e. a rubber)
Define the following terms: composite material and smart material
• Composite material - A combination of two or more materials, combined to produce a material with enhanced properties
• Smart material - A material whose properties (e.g. colour) change in response to a change in its environment (e.g. temperature).
List five thermoplastics, three thermosets and two elastomers
Thermoplastics
• PET - Bottles, fleeces
• Polypropylene - Cheaper injection moulded
products
• Polystyrene - Disposable coffee cups,
packaging
• ABS - Quality injection moulded products
• Acrylic - Car lights, baths, display stands
Thermosets
• Urea formaldehyde - Pan handles, plug sockets
• Melamine formaldehyde – Kitchen worktops
• Polyester resin - Glass reinforced plastic
products (boats, cars, furniture)
Elastomers
• Liquid silicone rubber (LSR)- Kitchen utensils
• Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) - Toothbrush
grips, remote control buttons
