Engineering Feasibility and Concept Studies
Independent engineering assessment to establish whether a concept is credible, what could prevent it working, and what must be proven before you commit to detailed design, prototype spend or IP protection.
Speak with PTL’s engineering feasibility team led by Ian Gilbert, Managing Director.
You may have a promising idea, an ambitious performance claim or several possible technical routes for your engineering product or program.
PTL is here to help you test the engineering before significant expenditure is committed to detailed design, prototype manufacture, intellectual property or fundraising.
You will work directly with experienced engineers who can examine the underlying physics, challenge the critical assumptions and give you a clear view of whether the concept is ready to progress. This is typically an early, internally focused assessment. Where the conclusion must support formal external scrutiny, PTL’s Independent Technical Substantiation service provides the corresponding documented review.
A feasibility study should produce a decision
A useful feasibility study should do more than conclude that a concept “appears viable”. It should explain the conditions under which it could work, identify the assumptions that dominate the result and define what remains to be proven.
PTL structures each study around the decisions the customer needs to make. That decision may be whether to fund detailed design, commission a prototype, select between competing architectures, support a patent application or stop a technically weak route before further money is spent.
Call us today on 01273 466 666 or send us an email.
Testing the operating principle
PTL begins by understanding how the proposed technology is intended to work and what benefit it is expected to provide. Our engineers then test that operating principle against the physical constraints that govern it.
Depending on the concept, this may involve thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, structural loading, heat transfer, combustion, hydraulics, electromagnetics, dynamics or control. The objective is not to create a complete development model prematurely. It is to isolate the factors that determine whether the idea is technically credible, and where appropriate to compare with incumbent solutions.
Tools selected according to the technical risk
A feasibility study may begin with first-principles calculations, but PTL can use more advanced tools where they are required to reach a meaningful conclusion.
GT-SUITE and GT-Power can support thermodynamic, mechanical and multi-domain system assessments.
Ansys and FEMFAT can be used to investigate structural, thermal and durability limitations.
CONVERGE, Ansys Fluent and STAR-CCM+ can support combustion, airflow, heat-transfer and internal fluid-flow studies.
Simulink can be used where dynamic response, controls or system stability influence feasibility.
PTC Creo, Siemens NX, SolidWorks and Autodesk Inventor can support preliminary geometry, architecture and packaging studies.
The complete toolchain is not used on every assignment. The study is targeted at the uncertainties most likely to determine viability.
Comparing potential architectures
A concept may be physically credible but still have several possible routes to implementation. PTL can compare different mechanisms, operating cycles, motor arrangements, actuation methods, materials, manufacturing routes or levels of system integration.
The comparison is based on relevant engineering criteria, which may include performance, efficiency, size, controllability, durability, manufacturability and development risk. This helps the customer select a technical direction before alternatives become embedded in detailed design.
Assessing scaling and integration
Some concepts appear viable when assessed in isolation, but behave differently when developed into a complete product. Heat rejection may increase. Structural loads may become harder to control. Packaging may prevent the required component arrangement. A control strategy may rely on sensors or actuators that cannot achieve the required response.
PTL considers these interactions when determining whether the concept has a credible route beyond the initial operating principle.
The question is not only whether the idea can work. It is whether it can work at the scale, duty, environment and level of integration required for the intended application.
Separating evidence from assumption
PTL distinguishes between what has been demonstrated, what is supported by analysis, what remains plausible and what has not yet been established. This matters even at this early stage, because a feasibility conclusion often becomes the basis for the next round of resourcing, and a favourable conclusion should not depend on assumptions hidden inside calculations or simulation.
Where the concept remains uncertain, PTL will explain which calculation, model or physical test is needed to reach a stronger conclusion.
Where PTL can support you
You may be considering a new engineering technology or adapting an existing product to a substantially different application. You may need an independent view before committing internal resources, approaching manufacturing suppliers or presenting the concept externally.
The programme may also have stalled because several technical routes remain open or because the current evidence does not support a confident decision. PTL can provide a contained first-stage study that brings structure and evidence to that decision.
What you receive
The final output is normally a focused engineering report addressing the agreed technical questions. It may include the analysis basis, key assumptions, preliminary calculations, expected performance range, concept comparison, physical constraints and principal risks.
PTL can also define prototype objectives, validation requirements and recommended next stages for a technical programme. The conclusion will state what has been established, what remains uncertain and whether the concept should progress, change direction or stop.
Relevant experience
PTL has supported feasibility and concept work involving advanced engines, fuel systems, heat pumps, hydrogen machinery, electric motors, pumps, energy-conversion equipment, actuation systems and integrated mobility technologies.
This has included in-wheel motor concepts, alternative transmission architectures, harsh-environment machinery, novel thermodynamic systems and technologies requiring technical evidence before prototype or investment decisions.
These are programmes where assessing the interactions between components is just as important as establishing whether each individual element could work.
Ian Gilbert
Managing Director
Ian leads PTL’s operations and supports programmes that need experienced engineering leadership from concept through to production.
Call us today on 01273 466 666 or send us an email.
Speak with PTL’s feasibility team, led by Ian Gilbert, Managing Director
Ian leads PTL’s operations and the senior review of programmes requiring experienced engineering leadership from concept through development, drawing on a background at GEC, Ricardo, Lotus, AVL and Southwest Research Institute.
Share the intended operating principle, the evidence currently available and the decision the study needs to support. We will help you identify the critical engineering questions and define a proportionate first-stage assessment.
