mechanical design · test engineering
In-house appliance certification test stand
Mechanical Design Engineering Intern · Midea America
Overview
Performance certification for a particular applicance at Midea America required a 3rd party test facility, an expensive and time-consuming process. I designed and built an in-house test stand enabling future in-house verification, wrote the accompanying protocol and documentation, and handed it off as a functioning, repeatable capability. The in-house capability saves $50K per test cycle.
What I did
I designed the apparatus in Creo. The main constraint was repeatability. I focused on minimizing part count, and ensuring straightforward assembly, guaranteeing consistent performance.
The airflow measurement components required custom fabrication, and were manufactured with a mix of metal machining and 3D printing. Once the test stand was assembled I validated it against the existing, verified 3rd party results, before finalizing the documentation.
The test protocol covers setup, instrumentation, sampling methodology, and acceptance criteria. I also ran a statistical sampling study to determine the right sample sizes and measurement frequency for the data to be defensible. The SOP was written specifically for handoff, and was made clear enough that the full-time team could pick it up without any overlap with me.
In parallel I was leading an intern group on separate prototype research and running thermal simulations on appliance components.
Tools
Creo for CAD and DFMA analysis. SLA/FDM 3D printing, and metal machining, for fabricated components. Standard instrumentation and data acquisition for validation.
Results
The stand works and is in active use. $50K saved per test cycle. Full documentation package handed off on time. Intern group deliverables shipped on schedule too.