Catalog Section Finder

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About This MicroSim

Ten question cards are the kind a sales or application engineer fields in a day: a maximum speed, a shaft and bearing size, the RPM and BHP at a duty point, bearings and grease for a hot airstream, where a motor mounts, which damper modulates, whether lifting lugs are standard, a line's airflow range, an overall height, and a paragraph for a project specification. The learner assigns each card to one of ten catalog sections, in the order a Twin City Fan catalog uses them:

Key	Section	What it contains
1	Overview	Models, diameters, airflow and pressure range, arrangements, certifications
2	Construction Features	How the impeller, housing, shaft and bearings are built
3	High Temperature Modifications	Temperature bands, bearing and lubrication requirements, derating
4	Arrangements	Picture and paragraph for each arrangement offered
5	Options/Accessories	Guards, bases, dampers, inlet vanes, flanges, seals, doors, drives
6	Engineering Data	Maximum RPM, impeller weight and WR² by size and class
7	Material Specifications	Housing gauges, shaft diameters, bearing types, bare fan weights
8	Performance Data	Printed RPM and BHP tables by model and size
9	Dimensions	Drawings and dimension tables by arrangement and size
0	Typical Specifications	Specification paragraphs ready to copy

Each card has exactly one correct section. The cards come in a shuffled order and each has two attempts. Only the first attempt is scored: a correct first try reads "✓ Correct:" with the reason; a wrong one reads "✗ Not quite." with the reason, marks the section you tried, and lets you try once more without score. After a second miss the correct section is named. The placed card then appears in its correct section as a chip: solid with ✓ for a first-try success, dashed with ✗ for a first-try miss.

The running score reads "First-try correct: n of 10". Mastery is 8 of 10 on the first attempt. After the tenth card the summary gives the score, the mastery line and every card missed on the first try with its reason. Start over reshuffles all ten cards and clears the score.

Remember the structural difference the chapter stresses: Catalog 902 prints performance tables, Catalog 300 does not (it points to the Fan Selector software). The Performance Data section exists only in catalogs that print tables.

How to Use

1. Read the question and decide what kind of answer it needs: a yes/no on what can be built, an engineering limit, a construction detail, a duty-point reading, or a drawing.
2. Point at a section, or Tab to it, to read its description in the strip above the sections. Reading descriptions is exploration and is never scored.
3. Press the section button (or its number key). Read the feedback; after a first-try miss, try once more.
4. Press Next card and continue. After the tenth card read the summary, then press Start over for a fresh, reshuffled deck.

Keyboard: keys 1 to 9 and 0 assign the card to that section; Enter goes to the next card, shows the summary after the last card, and starts over from the summary. Tab and Space or Enter work on every button.

Data label: "Source: TCF Catalog 300 (Apr 2024), Catalog 902 (Nov 2017)", shown at the bottom left of the drawing.

Iframe Embed Code

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this to your HTML:

<iframe src="https://moroshek.github.io/FanTASTIC-textbook/sims/ch26-catalog-section-finder/main.html"
        height="640px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Learning Objective

The learner will classify ten customer questions by the Twin City Fan catalog section that answers them, getting at least 8 of 10 right on the first attempt (Bloom: Understand, verb: classify).

Audience

Adult professional development: new application engineers, sales staff, representatives and facilities staff.

Duration

10 minutes

Prerequisites

Product catalog, catalog structure, engineering data, material specifications, performance data and typical specifications, all defined in the sections "The Product Catalog" and "Catalog Structure" of Chapter 26.

Activities

1. Sort (5 min): Assign all ten cards. Before each one, say aloud which kind of answer it needs: can it be built, how will it perform, or what will it look like on the job.
2. Review (3 min): Reread the reason for every card you missed. Compare question 1 (maximum RPM) with question 3 (RPM at a duty point): why do they live in different sections?
3. Practice (2 min): Press Start over and sort the reshuffled deck without the descriptions.

Common Misconceptions Addressed

• Every catalog has printed performance tables: Catalog 300 has none and points to Fan Selector; the Performance Data card uses Catalog 902.
• Maximum speed is found in the performance tables: question 1 lives in Engineering Data, by size and class.
• Dimension pages can be used for construction: the Dimensions feedback says the tables are not for construction; certified drawings are required.

Assessment

• Running score "First-try correct: n of 10"; mastery is 8 of 10 on the first attempt. Second tries and descriptions are not evidence of mastery.
• Follow-up question: a customer asks for the WR² of a BC-SW size 445 Class III impeller to check motor starting. Which section, and why not the material specifications?

References

1. Chapter 26: Reading Catalogs and Performance Tables - product catalog, catalog structure and the three-questions worked example.
2. Twin City Fan Product Catalogs - current editions of Catalog 300 (BC backward inclined fans, April 2024) and Catalog 902 (RB radial bladed industrial fans, November 2017).
3. FanPedia: The Fan & Blower Encyclopedia (PDF) - the encyclopedia the catalogs take precedence over.
4. p5.js - the JavaScript library used to draw the sorter.