Managing Functional Coupling Sequence to Decrease Complexity and Increase Modularity in Conceptual Design

Conceptual design is the stage where the upstream objectives and downstream constraints meet, so both the ideality and practicality are important in conceptual design. Modularity supports designing complex system while the design can take advantages from the downstream resources. According to Axiomatic Design Theory (ADT), the design with the least complexity is the ideal design, and managing functional coupling sequence can lead to the minimal complexity of design concepts. In this paper, Design Coupling Sequence (DCS) was introduced to bridge the ADT and the modular design. The ‘precedence’ and ‘functional sets’ were defined in DCS to manage the coupled design concepts in order to support the modularity of the design concepts. The ‘precedence’ identified by the level of functional coupling helps realize the sequencing order. The two ‘functional sets’ were defined as the independent U-set: the collection of functionally dependent concepts, and the coupled C-set: the collection of the strongly coupled concepts. The faucet design case study shows how the DCS method and its strategy to decrease relative complexity and increase modularity, and the results between design by extra coupling elimination and design by the existing modules are compared. The DCS method bridges the design theory to design practice.

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Application of Interaction and Functional Coupling Rules in Configuration Design

Volume 3: 9th International Design Theory and Methodology Conference ◽

10.1115/detc97/dtm-3869 ◽

1997 ◽

Author(s):

Hans L. Johannesson

Keyword(s):

Design Theory ◽

Cooling System ◽

Axiomatic Design ◽

Functional Coupling ◽

Configuration Design ◽

Structure Model ◽

Modelling Techniques ◽

Axiomatic Design Theory ◽

Design Task Planning

Abstract In this work a procedure to identify and characterize functional couplings, previously proposed by this author, has been applied in configuration design of an expansion container of an automotive cooling system. The procedure is based on axiomatic design theory, function-means structure modelling techniques, the interaction characterization scheme proposed by Pimmler and Eppinger and two functional coupling definitions proposed by this author. The presented case study illustrates the use of the proposed procedure to identify and characterize functional couplings in configuration design. The result of the procedure is a function-means model of the design with interaction and functional coupling relations included in the model. When the functional couplings are known the structure model can be used as an aid for different purposes such as feasibility analysis according to the axiomatic design theory and design task planning.

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Conceptual Design Case Study: Equal-Channel-Angular-Extrusion Metalworking

Innovative Conceptual Design ◽

10.1017/cbo9780511612923.010 ◽

2001 ◽

pp. 157-183

Keyword(s):

Conceptual Design ◽

Equal Channel Angular Extrusion ◽

Angular Extrusion ◽

Design Case ◽

Design Case Study

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APPLICATION OF FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS TO THE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF INNOVATIVE HUMAN-POWERED VEHICLES

Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering ◽

10.1139/tcsme-2017-1034 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (3) ◽

pp. 489-497

Author(s):

Nien-Te Liu ◽

Chang-Tzuoh Wu ◽

Yung-Chun Lin

Keyword(s):

Conceptual Design ◽

Study Design ◽

Functional Elements ◽

Case Study Design ◽

Design Concepts ◽

Design Requirements ◽

Human Powered

The purpose of this paper is to propose a simple and quick process for creating new design concepts for human-powered vehicles. First, the design theme for an innovative bicycle is described. Next, the functional elements of the bicycle are selected according to the contents described in the design theme. Based on the design requirements, various spatial arrangements of the creative functional elements are produced. In the final step, we followed the flowchart of the creative functional elements constructed by this research and demonstrated a case study design.

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Exploiting Critical Path Method for Evaluation of Conceptual Design

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.97-101.4429 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 97-101 ◽

pp. 4429-4432 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mei Yan Wang ◽

Lian Guan Shen ◽

Yi Min Deng

Keyword(s):

Conceptual Design ◽

Critical Path ◽

Design Concept ◽

Design Evaluation ◽

Critical Path Method ◽

Design Concepts ◽

Critical Design ◽

Concept Evaluation ◽

Design Requirements

Conceptual design is a critical design phase during which initial design solutions, called design concepts, are developed. These design concepts must be evaluated to ensure they satisfy the specified design requirements and the most appropriate design concept must be selected. It is often difficult for the designer, especially for the novice, to make an appropriate design concept evaluation and selection. Existing work on design evaluation lacks an effective tool for evaluating the temporal performance of the design concepts. To address this problem, a Critical Path Method (CPM) from project management is adapted for design evaluation, whereby a CPM network is converted from a causal behavioral process (CBP) and the methodologies relating to CPM are also applied to design improvement. A case study of a lever-clamp assembly system is also presented to illustrate as well as validate the method.

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Building Numerical Design Matrix and Managing Functional Couplings for Concept Improvement of The Existing Product

MATEC Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/matecconf/201930100011 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 301 ◽

pp. 00011

Author(s):

Chu-Yi Wang ◽

Ang Liu ◽

Stephen Lu

Keyword(s):

Design Theory ◽

Design Concept ◽

Design Parameters ◽

Phase Method ◽

Functional Coupling ◽

Design Matrix ◽

Concept Generation ◽

Functional Requirements ◽

Axiomatic Design Theory ◽

Concept Improvement

Because parametric values are unknown during initial concept generation, the Axiomatic Design Theory uses the binary design matrix (DM) to represent the coupling relationship between functional requirements and design parameters. However, given an existing product, it would be possible to employ the numerical DM that has more detailed information than the binary DM to help improve the design concept. This paper proposed a two-phase method to create a numerical DM in phase I and manage the functional couplings in phase II for concept improvement of existing product. A decomposition-definition-levelling framework and the Puritan-Bennett’s 0-1-3-9 level rating are employed to evaluate the system impact of each functional coupling to create the numerical DM of an existing design concept. The Design Coupling Sequence (DCS) approach was extended to use the numerical DM to improve this design concept. Compared with other numerical matrices for product development and the structured approach by Su et al., our method is more generic and faster, providing useful details yet still able to maintain the dominance of the high-level couplings.

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A Study of Creative Design Based on the Axiomatic Design Theory

6th International Conference on Design Theory and Methodology ◽

10.1115/detc1994-0008 ◽

1994 ◽

Author(s):

Shinya Sekimoto ◽

Makoto Ukai

Keyword(s):

Engineering Design ◽

Design Theory ◽

Axiomatic Design ◽

Creative Design ◽

Creative Processes ◽

Design Concepts ◽

Automatic Teller Machine ◽

Axiomatic Design Theory ◽

Design Steps

Abstract This paper deals with creative processes in engineering design. The study is based on the axiomatic design theory (Suh, 1988, 1990). The creative processes involved in engineering design are not yet fully understood. However, it is an exciting theme to study how human designers can generate designs or design concepts that are superior to those currently possible in terms of performance, manufacturability, reliability, cost, etc. This paper first reviews the axiomatic design theory. Then, the creative processes in three different design steps are discussed based on the axiomatic design theory. The creative processes are illustrated using the design of paper handling mechanisms of an ATM (Automatic teller machine).

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Development of a Novel Deployment Hinge Mechanism for a Spacecraft Using Axiomatic Design

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.314-316.863 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 314-316 ◽

pp. 863-871 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ju Won Jeong ◽

Young Ik Yoo ◽

Jung Ju Lee ◽

Jae Hyuk Lim ◽

Kyung Won Kim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Static Analysis ◽

Conceptual Design ◽

Design Theory ◽

Axiomatic Design ◽

Bending Stiffness ◽

Bending Test ◽

Solar Arrays ◽

Axiomatic Design Theory

This paper presents a novel hinge mechanism for deployment of spacecraft subsystems such as antennas, solar arrays. By using Axiomatic design theory, the conceptual design of the hinge mechanism is suggested, which has not only high deployed stiffness and low deployment shock but also does not require lubrication and accurate fabrication. That is, optimization of deployment torque and maximization of the deployed stiffness can be possible since this suggested hinge mechanism is decoupled design. And the suggested hinge mechanism is fabricated and tested to evaluate the feasibility. Quasi-static analysis is performed to optimize deployment torque for low deployment shock by using FEM. Also, the bending stiffness is measured by 4 point bending test.

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