Design and development of a new laboratory chamber furnace

Elite Thermal Systems Ltd is a leading manufacturer of electric laboratory chamber furnaces in UK. With the increase in product competition, the company needed to develop a new laboratory electric chamber (LERC) furnace design. To achieve this, the company initiated a knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) scheme. This research which is an integral part of the KTP was aimed at developing a new laboratory furnace design. During this development, a "FrontEnd Process" development lifecycle was followed. The specified product capacity was 6.2L as defined by the product organisation. The development was initiated with market research. This included interviewing and tabling results of 30 furnace users followed by a competitor analysis. A quality functional deployment (QFD) matrix was also developed prior to the formation of the initial product specifications. A range of concepts for the prototype design were analysed in selected subassemblies. The optimal overall design concept was selected upon preparation and analysis of concept screening matrices developed for product subassemblies. The finalised overall concept resulted in a novel furnace assembly design which includes a unique modular mono structure and a power assisted door mechanism for the user. Prototyping was carried out using basic in-house tools. Thermal, mechanical and performance analysis on the prototype was carried out which led to further design improvements. A combination of finite element tools were also used in validating the design. The final design presented in this thesis provides final specifications for the preproduction model. The proposed final design provides a range of unique advantages in product design, ergonomics, maintenance and costs involved. Specific performance advances are made in thermal and manufacturing aspects of the design in achieving low product case temperatures and thermal control performance.