Design to connect

Abstract

Design to Connect is a cooperation between Howest University, Industrial Design Center and GhentUniversity, Laboratory Soete. The aim of the research is to create a methodology to support (industrial)designers to design mechanical connections and joining methods considering mechanical and user centredfactors in the total product life. This paper gives a short overview of the most important existing methods,guidelines and tools to design and select mechanical connections. It also situate the research project andits potential added value for product designers to the existing methods. Finally a basic framework fordeveloping the new methodology is created: Design to Connect (D2C).