Design Optimisation
When you search for "design optimisation", you'll often find software tools or statistical packages that promise to streamline your design process. While these tools have their place, true design optimisation isn't found in software alone — it's built on experience.
Optimising a design requires more than formulas and simulations. It demands deep knowledge of design, research and development, analysis, testing, verification, validation, and certification. Most importantly, it relies on lessons learned from previous projects—real-world results, recorded shortfalls, and practical improvements. Every iteration sharpens the next. That’s how genuine optimisation happens.
At Environmentally Sound, this is what we do best.
With decades of engineering experience across a wide range of industries and product lifecycles, we help companies bring smarter, stronger, and more reliable products to market. If we're not helping others design, we're improving their existing designs—drawing from a deep well of technical knowledge and engineering intuition.
The Foundation of Design Optimisation: Experience
Optimisation begins with understanding the design requirements:
Too often, issues arise because a requirement was missed or assumed. Here's a real-world example that illustrates the importance of experience in identifying and resolving such gaps.
Case Study: Electrical Distribution Box for Dassault Falcon 7X
Years ago, we supported the development of an electrical distribution box for the Dassault Aviation Falcon 7X. While this was an electrical system, our focus was on the mechanical aspects—particularly during temperature variation testing.
During testing, some critical electronic components operated just a few degrees below their maximum rated temperature. As any experienced engineer knows, running electronics near their maximum temperature rating drastically reduces lifespan.
What caused this?
Lack of convectional cooling. Dassault Aviation did not permit active cooling (i.e., no fans), so heat dissipation relied entirely on passive methods. Unfortunately, this wasn’t adequately captured in the original design requirements. As a result, thermal analysis was incomplete.
Had this requirement been defined up front, simulation tools like PTC Windchill could have identified the risk early. But analysis is only as good as its inputs. And this brings us to another insight…
Analysis vs. Reality: Bridging the Gap
More recently, while trialling Windchill on another electronics project, we discovered a common issue: teams were modifying analysis inputs without measuring the actual temperature of the printed circuit boards. The result? The simulations didn't reflect reality.
This is where true design optimisation makes the difference. It’s a continuous process, not a one-time phase. Experience teaches you to validate models, cross-check results, and align software predictions with real-world data.
Optimisation Through Mechanical Insight
Returning to the Falcon 7X example, there were several mechanical optimisation challenges:
Mechanical stress in the fabricated sheet metal box, due to:
Cooling inefficiencies, which could have been managed with early development testing and thermal simulation—if the requirements had captured the constraints.
The Real Process of Design Optimisation
So, what does it take to truly optimise a design?
Clear and complete design requirements
Iterative design, testing, and analysis
Verification and validation
Model updating – using real test data to improve your analysis models
Experience that bridges the gap between simulation and real-world performance
Only once your analysis accurately predicts test results can you begin reducing physical testing. That’s the key to faster development cycles, reduced costs, and truly optimised designs.
What We Offer
At Environmentally Sound, we offer:
Deep industry experience
A history of solving tough design challenges
Expertise in aligning simulation with physical testing
Support across the full product development lifecycle
Case Studies
Some of the projects we've improved include:
Electrical distribution systems in aerospace applications
Mechanical enclosures for electronics in harsh environments
Vibration and thermal performance enhancements for defence components
Structural analysis and fatigue improvement for automotive systems
(Full case studies available upon request.)
Ready to Optimise Your Next Product Design?
Let’s talk about how we can help—from concept to certification.
.png)
