Why Don't Engineers Design Products to Last Longer?

The engineering concept of design lifetime.

Do engineers design products with a limited lifetime just so they will need to be replaced? In this video I describe the engineering principle of design lifetime. I have worked in engineering design in the wind industry for the past 8 years, and I will explain some of the reasons why engineers use a design lifetime in this industry and others.

Topics covered include:
- how long does a wind turbine last?
- how wind turbine subsystems are interrelated
- what are the critical components that prevent wind turbines from lasting longer
- how making some components stronger can actually cause a shorter overall lifetime
- what is fatigue loading and how does it affect how long a wind turbine lasts
- how the fast pace of technology evolution affects design of long lifetime products like wind turbines

I published a written version of this topic on Medium:
https://uxdesign.cc/are-wind-turbines-designed-to-fall-apart-so-that-they-need-to-be-replaced-2a45c16c0d6f

These two YouTubers kindly gave permission for me to use their footage:
Elezher https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUPC6mxsz_4WX32ria35Myw
Replacing the chassis of Nissan Frontier 07 (Timelapse)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t_szmp3m0Q&t=2s

Kym Chapman https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv34wsteqTZJmukt5Q5Wsug
Wind Turbine - Blade Bearing Exchange
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC5Qxa81XSs&t=3s

Image/ footage credits:
Yallourn power plant (modern photo)
Stephen Edmonds from Melbourne, Australia / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

Microwave oven
Free Stock Footage by www.videezy.com

Видео Why Don't Engineers Design Products to Last Longer? канала Engineering with Rosie