Improvement of double skin air handing unit design for using and manufacturing in Thailand

Abstract

Study and recommendation of the double skin Air Handing Unit (AHU) design improvements for using and manufacturing in Thailand market. The improved AHU design that convene with the customer demands will be proposed as alternative to local manufacturer for product improvement opportunities. One of the existing problems in local existing product are insufficient thermal insulation and thermal bridges in design that cause some condensation at AHU exterior. Other problems are local material limitation that effect low structures strength and high precision production requirement of design that consume assembly time. Poor product quality leads to unsatisfactory of customers, lost of local competition, lost of local market share and lost of revenue. Local customer interviews and surveys are conducted to generate the actual Thailand AHU customer demands. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is implemented to transform customer demands for better product design. QFD/Pathway TM computer software is used as a tool in this design analysis. 3D CAD system is used in for this AHU design with the intention of increasing the Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and design robustness. Local regulations and international standard and design guideline is gathered for design improvement references. Results from the design analysis, customer demands are obtained. New design improvement concepts are generated and the best-generated design concept is selected. From the selected concept, AHU design is improved in following area: new structure design of AHU increases the strength, flexibility and knockdown capability, zero thermal bridge, capability of varying wall and floor thickness, reducing precision requirement of certain parts, new access door, coil serviceability and coil replacement. The preliminary product prototype is produced from 3D CAD graphics systems for management presentation. Mock up unit is built for design verification and sample product for management proposal