Safe-life design

In safe-life design products are designed to survive a specific design life with a chosen reserve.

Safe life is particularly relevant to metal aircraft, where airframe components are subjected to varying loads over the lifetime of the aircraft which makes them susceptible to metal fatigue. In certain areas such as in wing or tail components structural failure in flight would be catastrophic.

The safe-life design technique is employed in critical systems which are either very difficult to repair or may cause severe damage to life and property. These systems are designed to work for years without requirement of any repairs.

The drawback is that products designed with a safe-life approach are over-built or allocated more resources than they are expected to need, which may be uneconomical. In order to maintain the designed safety, they will have to be replaced after the design life has expired, while they may still have a considerable life ahead of them. To counter these drawbacks, alternative design philosophies like fail-safe design and fault-tolerant design were developed.

Communication design	Advertising Book design Corporate design Exhibit design Film title design Graphic design Motion Postage stamp design Print design Illustration Information design Instructional design News design Photography Retail design Signage / Traffic sign design Typography / Type design Video design Visual merchandising

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Interaction design	Experience design EED Game design Level design Video game design Hardware interface design Icon design Immersive design Information design Sonic interaction design User experience design User interface design Web design

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Approaches

Tools
Intellectual property
Organizations
Awards

Tools	AAD Architectural model Blueprint Comprehensive layout CAD CAID Virtual home design software CAutoD Design quality indicator Electronic design automation Flowchart Mockup Product design specification Prototype Sketch Storyboard Technical drawing Web design program Website wireframe

Intellectual property	Community design Design around Design patent Geschmacksmuster Industrial design rights European Union

Organizations	AIGA Chartered Society of Designers Design and Industries Association Design Council International Forum Design The Design Society Design Research Society

Awards	European Design Award German Design Award Good Design Award (Chicago) Good Design Award (Japan) Graphex IF product design award James Dyson Award Prince Philip Designers Prize

Safe-life design

See also