A new paradigm is slowly making its way into society, affecting our material practice as designers. Materials selection in design and product development has for a long time been dominated by a purely technical approach, mainly focusing on properties and performance. With the increasing evidence of climate change, waste and pollution, environmental effects, we are slowly realizing that unsustainable consumption of materials is no longer an alternative. Previous studies of material practices, both within design educations and the design profession, has primarily dealt with the development of material related methods. This thesis has focused on gaining an in-depth understanding of material practices within design processes, in order to develop a pedagogical framework that facilitates the development of reflective material practices in design education. There are four primary aims of the research presented in this licentiate thesis: (1) ascertain obstacles in the traditional ways of teaching materials to design students, (2) to bridge the differences in language, research culture and pedagogic approaches in design education, (3) to investigate current professional material practices in industrial design, and (4) to develop a new material framework for teaching reflective material practices for design students. During the project, the material framework has been tested and evaluated in two mandatory material courses with first and second year bachelor students from Product Design education over a period of four academic years. A comparative case study was conducted with five design consultancies. The qualitative interviews were transcribed and analysed using category zooming. The outcomes of this research are: (1) a new pedagogic framework for teaching materials to Product Design students in higher education, and (2) insights into professional practices of selecting and designing with materials. The pedagogic model A Material Framework for Product Design is designed to facilitate the development of reflective material practices in design education. The Framework consist of four levels: (1) a pedagogical foundation based on Experiential Learning theory that provide a framework for how to approach teaching and learning, (2) designing and structuring learning activities, (3) creating learning environments that facilitate learning activities, and (4) defining learning objectives, assessment of learning outcomes and detecting signs of learning. The main insights from the study of professional practices suggest: (1) that risk management has a major influence on the material selection process, (2) that negotiations of project boundaries in the ‘fuzzy’ pre-design phase has crucial influence on the risk management aspect of the material criteria activities, and (3) a lack of awareness, that design briefs usually outline material criteria expressed as sensorial characteristics, which are later translated by engineering into final material criteria used for the material selection process. The findings implies that design students would benefit from developing reflective material practices in design education.

The study addresses the topics of climate adaptation and sustainability in coastal areas, using Oceanhamnen in Helsingborg as a case study. The research examines the measures taken to adapt the area to climate change and evaluates the sustainability considerations in the planning. The theoretical framework for the study is based on future scenarios assembled from international organizations and Swedish authorities. Within the study, the three different methods literature analysis, observation, and interviews are simultaneously utilized to address the research questions. The results indicate that climate adaptation measures have been taken into account based on the latest future scenarios during the planning stage of Oceanhamnen. However, future scenarios evolve over time, and this does not necessarily ensure the maintenance of the area’s climate adaptation in the future. / Studien behandlar ämnena klimatanpassning och hållbarhet inom kustområden, som ett fallstudie med Oceanhamnen i Helsingborg som utgångspunkt. Arbetet undersöker vilka åtgärder som har tagits för att klimatanpassa området och hur hållbart det har planerats. De teoretiska ramarna för studien är framtidsscenarier som har sammanställts från internationella organisationer och svenska myndigheter. Inom studien används de tre olika metoder litteratur analys, observation samt intervju parallellt för att besvara frågeställningarna. Resultatet visar att klimatanpassningsåtgärder har vidtagits med hänsyn till de senaste framtidsscenarierna under planeringsstadiet av Oceanhamnen. Dock ändras framtidsscenarierna med tid och detta behöver inte betyda att områdets klimatanpassning bibehålls i framtiden.

I detta arbete undersöks lämpliga materialval och tillverkningsmetoder för medicintekniska produkter, specifikt för SwiftVitals - en sensorenhet utvecklad för att mäta livsviktiga kroppsfunktioner som EKG och syremättnad i blodet. De vanligaste polymererna och tillverkningsteknikerna inom medicinteknik har analyserats med avseende på de höga krav som ställs på medicintekniska miljöer, däribland mekanisk styrka, kemisk resistens, vattenbeständighet, resistens mot UV-ljus och klimatavtryck. Särskild uppmärksamhet har ägnats åt att balansera tillverkningskostnader mot prestanda och hållbarhet för att föreslå de mest kostnadseffektiva och funktionella alternativen för serieproduktion. I rapporten förklaras även viktiga regulatoriska överväganden som CE-märkning och EMC-kompatibilitet, vilka är avgörande för medicintekniska produkters säkerhet och effektivitet på marknaden. Genom detta arbete ges Stixon AB konkreta rekommendationer för material- och metodval för prototypen av SwiftVitals. / This report examines suitable material choices and manufacturing methods for medical devices, specifically for SwiftVitals - a sensor unit developed to measure vital body functions such as ECG and blood oxygen saturation. The most common polymers and manufacturing techniques in medical technology have been analyzed with respect to the high demands placed on medical environments, including mechanical strength, chemical resistance, water resistance, UV resistance, and environmental impact. Focus has been placed on balancing manufacturing costs with performance and durability to recommend the most cost-effective and functional alternatives for serial production. The report also highlights important regulatory considerations such as CE marking and EMC compatibility, which are crucial for the safety and effectiveness of medical devices on the market. Through this work, Stixon AB is provided with concrete recommendations for material and method selection for the prototype of SwiftVitals.

In light of increasing mandates to incorporate close reading of primary source historical documents at the elementary level, this study explored the reading difficulty level of the US Constitution with preservice elementary teachers using a traditional cloze assessment procedure. While best practice pedagogy of social studies has long included thoughtful reading of primary sources, new language arts guidelines situate the analysis of primary documents within formulaic quantifiable frameworks, often problematic to the pre-service teacher. With implications for reading and social studies, this paper explores several relevant issues to both pre-service teachers and the elementary classrooms they will teach in.

Formsprutning är en tillverkningsmetod somställer krav på produkters utformning. För att göra en lämplig ingötsplacering räcker inte alltid riktlinjer utan en produktspecifik analys kan vara nödvändig. Materialval kräver en tydlig kravspecifikation och kan med fördel göras i samråd med en materialexpert. Riktlinjer för Design for manufacturing and assembly inkluderar bland annat rekommendationer för formgivning. Detta kandidatarbete strävar efter att hjälpa produktutvecklare att tidigt i produktutvecklingsprocessen ta hänsyn till tillverkningsaspekter. Baserat på litteraturstudier, intervjuer och fallstudier har riktlinjer tagits fram för materialval, design for manufacturing and assembly och formgivning för formsprutning. Arbetet är avgränsat till att endast titta på formsprutningsbara termoplaster. Arbetet, som genomförts vid Linköpings universitet, är en del av projektet Säkra monteringsverktyg som resulterade i ett portabelt dödmansgrepp. Defallstudier som genomfördes inom projektetbehandlar värdering av koncept utifrån produktionsperspektiv, materialval och formsprutningsanalyser i programmet Moldflow. Arbetet resulterade i riktlinjer för applicering av metoden design for manufacturing and assembly, formsprutningsanpassning samt materialval. Fallstudien i Säkra monteringsverktyg utmynnade ien värdering av koncept utifrån produktionsaspekter, ett materialval baserat på projektets kravspecifikation och rekommendationer för produktens utformning med syfte att optimera dess tillverkning. En slutsats av arbetet är att produktionsanpassning av produktens utformning bör ske tidigt i utvecklingsprocessen. En annan slutsats är att besök i industrin, hos exempelvis ett formsprutningsföretag, leder till bättre förståelse av vilka krav som behöver uppfyllas för att en produkt ska vara möjlig att producera. Om simuleringsprogram för formsprutning finns bör det användas i kombination med riktlinjer för produktutformning. Ytterligare en slutsats som gjorts är att materialval underlättas genom tidig kontakt med materialleverantörer. Materialvalet baseras på kravspecifikationen och därför bör kraven tydliggöras och dess rimlighet kontrolleras innan materialvalet sker. / Injection molding is a manufacturing method that requires specific features to attain manufacturability. Gating suitability requires analysis and mere guidelines do not always provide the correct gate placement. Material selection requires a pronounced specification and is preferably supervised by an expert. Guidelines concerning design for manufacturing and assembly include, among other things, recommendations directly affecting the shape of the product. The aim for this bachelor thesis is to aid product developers and designers in taking manufacturing aspects into account early in the product development process. This is achieved by providing them with guidelines regarding material selection, injection molding, as well as design for manufacturing and assembly. The thesis is limited to thermoplastic materials suitable for injection molding and its results are based off thorough literature research, interviews and case studies. This bachelor thesis project, which is conducted at Linköping University,is a part of a project calledSafe manual assembly tools, and the resulting portable enabling device developed in Safe manual assembly toolsis used as case studies in this thesis. The case studies include: evaluation of concepts concerning manufacturability; material selection; and injection molding analysis through the software Moldflow. The thesis results in guidelines concerning design for manufacturing and assembly, injection molding and material selection. The case study is requited with concept selection suggestions, a selection of material that meets the specification of requirements stated in Safe manual assembly tools and design recommendations that aim to improve the manufacturability of the concept. This bachelor thesis concludes that design alterations striving to meet requirements for manufacturability should be made early in the devolpment process. Visiting the polymer-based product manufacturing industry offers better insight into which requirements that need to be fulfilled to make a product producible. Injection molding simulation software, if such is available, should be used in combination with design guidelines.The thesis also concludes that material selection is simplified through early contact with suppliers of material. Material selection is based off the specification of requirements and therefore requirements specified in the specification should be clarified and have their plausibility confirmed before the selection takes place.

In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden Holzwerkstoffe im statischen Biegeversuch und im Schlagbiegeversuch vergleichend geprüft. Ausgewählte Holzwerkstoffe werden thermisch geschädigt, zudem wird eine relevante Kerbgeometrie geprüft. Ziel der Untersuchungen ist die Eignung verschiedenartiger Werkstoffe für den Einsatz in sicherheitsrelevanten Anwendungen mit Schlagbelastungen zu prüfen. Hierzu werden zunächst die Grundlagen der instrumentierten Schlagprüfung und der Holzwerkstoffe erarbeitet. Der Stand der Technik wird dargelegt und bereits durchgeführte Studien werden analysiert. Darauf aufbauend wird eine eigene Prüfeinrichtung zur zeitlich hoch aufgelösten Kraft-Beschleunigungs-Messung beim Schlagversuch entwickelt. Diese wird anhand verschiedener Methoden auf ihre Eignung und die Messwerte auf Plausibilität geprüft. Darüber hinaus wird ein statistisches Verfahren zur Überprüfung auf ausreichende Stichprobengröße entwickelt und auf die durchgeführten Messungen angewendet. Anhand der unter statischer und schlagartiger Biegebeanspruchung ermittelten charakteristischen Größen, wird ein Klassenmodell zum Werkstoffvergleich und zur Werkstoffauswahl vorgeschlagen. Dieses umfasst integral die mechanische Leistungsfähigkeit der geprüften Holzwerkstoffe und ist für weitere Holzwerkstoffe anwendbar. Abschließend wird, aufbauend auf den gewonnenen Erkenntnissen, ein Konzept für die Bauteilprüfung unter Schlagbelastung für weiterführende Untersuchungen vorgeschlagen. / In the present work wood-based materials are compared under static bending load and impact bending load. Several thermal stress conditions are applied to selected materials, furthermore one relevant notch geometry is tested. The objective of these tests is to investigate the suitability of distinct wood materials for security relevant applications with the occurrence of impact loads. For this purpose the basics of instrumented impact testing and wood-based materials are acquired. The state of the technology and a comprehensive analysis of original studies are subsequently presented. On this basis an own impact pendulum was developed to allow force-acceleration measurement with high sample rates. The apparatus is validated by several methods and the achieved signals are tested for plausibility. A general approach of testing for adequate sample size is implemented and applied to the tested samples. Based on the characteristic values of the static bending and impact bending tests a classification model for material selection and comparison is proposed. The classification model is an integral approach for mechanical performance assessment of wood-based materials. In conclusion a method for impact testing of components (in future studies) is introduced.

Denna avhandling syftar till att undersöka vilka miljöfaktorer som bör beaktas vid val av material och tillverkningsprocesser samt att utforma ett föreslaget ramverk för att underlätta val av material och tillverkningsprocesser. För att uppnå syftet formulerades två forskningsfrågor. En litteraturöversikt genomfördes för att ge en teoretisk grund för avhandlingen och underlätta möjligheten att besvara forskningsfrågorna. Dessutom genomfördes strukturerade litteraturstudier för att besvara forskningsfrågorna om vilka miljöfaktorer som bör beaktas och hur ett ramverk kan utvecklas för att välja material och tillverkningsprocesser baserat på miljöfaktorer. De valda områdena för dessa studier inkluderade val av tillverkningsprocess, materialval och hållbara utvecklingsmål. För att underlätta utformningen av ramverket genomfördes en fallstudie och intervjuer på ett lokalt belysningsföretag. Dessa insatser gjordes för att ge insikter i de praktiska överväganden som ingår i att implementera ett miljömedvetet ramverk för val av material och tillverkningsprocesser. Studien innefattade en jämförelse av två olika tillvägagångssätt, nämligen livscykelanalys och "Multi-Criteria Decision-Making", för att avgöra deras effektivitet i att uppnå forskningssyftet. Detta resulterade i inkluderingen av livscykelanalys i det föreslagna ramverket. Dessutom analyserades intervjuerna för att få användbara insikter som kunde bidra till ramverkets utveckling. Ett ramverk utformades med hjälp av analysen av intervjuerna och den identifierade litteraturen. De miljöfaktorer som beaktades i ramverket var "Impact Categories". Dessutom validerades ramverket i en fallstudie. Diskussionen och slutsatsen inkluderar metoderna, resultaten och analysen, ramverksdesignen, ramverkets bidrag till FN:s hållbarhetsmål, forskningsfrågorna och etiska aspekter som behövde beaktas i denna studie. Det dras slutsatsen att Impact Categories är rimliga att beakta som miljöfaktorer och att det föreslagna ramverket fungerar i en verklig fallstudie. / This thesis aims to investigate what environmental factors to consider when selecting materials and manufacturing processes and designing a proposed framework to aid the material and manufacturing process selection. To facilitate the accomplishment of the purpose, two research questions were formulated.  A literature review was conducted to provide a theoretical foundation for the thesis and facilitate the ability to address the research questions. Furthermore, to address the research questions concerning which environmental factors to consider and how a framework can be developed for selecting materials and manufacturing processes based on environmental factors, structured literature studies were conducted. The selected topics of these studies included manufacturing process selection, material selection, and sustainable development goals. To aid in the design of the framework, a Case Study and Interviews were conducted at a local luminaire company. These efforts were undertaken to provide insights into the practical considerations involved in implementing an environmentally conscious framework for material and manufacturing process selection.  The study involved a comparison of two distinct approaches, namely, Life Cycle Assessment and Multi-Criteria Decision-Making, to determine their efficiency in achieving the research purpose. This resulted in the inclusion of Life Cycle Assessment in the proposed framework. Additionally, the Interviews conducted were analyzed to gain useful insights that could inform the development of the framework.  A framework was designed, using the analysis of the Interviews and the identified literature. The environmental factors considered in the framework were the Impact Categories. Moreover, the framework was then validated in a Case Study.  The Discussion and Conclusion chapter include the Methods, Results & Analysis, Framework Design, Framework Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals, the Research Questions, and the Ethical Aspects needed to be considered in this study. It is concluded that Impact Categories are reasonable to consider as environmental factors and that the proposed framework works in a real-life case.

Increasing demand for structural health monitoring in space highlights the need to make the creation of these systems more accessible. This study investigates the potential of additive manufacturing to achieve this goal by characterizing a self-sensing material made of a commercially available 3D-printed continuous carbon fibre filament. The results demonstrate the feasibility of converting the filament into a strain sensor with improved sensitivity compared to conventional foil strain gauges. Mechanical and electromechanical properties of the self-sensing material were characterized, including an ultimate tensile strength of 45.09 ± 3.45 MPa, a failure strain of 38.93 ± 3.41%, and a base resistance of 759.11Ω. The tensile gauge factor was calculated to be 467.06 ± 375.90 within the strain range of 0% to 3.8% with a linearity (R2) of 0.93. For the first time, a systematic literature review compares mechanical and electromechanical properties to enable material selection for mechanical design incorporating self-sensing material. The study highlights that the spread of material properties in a group of materials indicates how well-developed a material is for self-sensing purposes. This study advances our understanding of the feasibility of using additive manufacturing to create self-sensing materials for structural health monitoring systems and opens up new avenues for further research.