IB Design Technology 3.3 Physical Modelling Questionbank

A product designer is evaluating the impact resistance of a new protective casing for a smartphone. They construct a physical replica of the casing and embed miniature sensors inside it to record the specific forces and vibrations experienced during a series of laboratory drop tests.

Which type of physical model is being utilized in this scenario?

The global packaging industry generates over 140 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, primarily derived from non-renewable petroleum. New international agreements, such as the UN Plastics Treaty, are compelling manufacturers to find sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics. In response to these pressures, designers are focusing on clean technologies utilizing algae-based polymers.

Algae-based bioplastics are carbon-neutral and biodegradable. Although biological plastics were first prototyped in the early 20th century, they remained largely ignored by the mass market until the recent focus on environmental resource management.

Clean technologies in this sector aim to reduce the carbon footprint of production while ensuring that the end-of-life stage does not contribute to oceanic pollution.

Mock-up

Instrumented model

Scale model

Aesthetic model

Mock-up

Instrumented model

Scale model

Aesthetic model

(a) Outline one way in which public perception of environmental issues encourages the industry to adopt bioplastic technologies.

(b) Suggest two factors that contributed to early bioplastic innovations being categorized as shelved technologies throughout the 20th century.

(c) Explain the role of international legislation, incremental innovation and end-of-pipe technologies in minimizing the ecological footprint of the packaging sector.

Aesthetic model

Mock-up

Scale model

Instrumented model