Knowledge flow in engineering design: An ontological framework

Engineering design is a structured and systematic process of finding solutions to meet certain requirements. Research in this field has focused heavily on developing more effective and efficient product realization process models. Today’s engineering design has become a knowledge intensive and collaborative process, requiring multidisciplinary design knowledge. Therefore, the modeling of knowledge flow plays a key role in determining a successful design alternative, which provides valuable insights into design problems for designers. This article proposes an ontological framework, purpose-function-working space-structure-behavior (PFWSB) for knowledge representation and knowledge flow based design process modeling. An illustrative case is also presented to demonstrate how to use the proposed framework to represent engineering design knowledge and describe the knowledge flow between decision makers during a design process. The results show that this framework can help designers capture the flow of knowledge in engineering design process more effectively.

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Modeling Collaborative Engineering Design Process Using Petri-Net

Volume 1: 20th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference ◽

10.1115/detc2000/cie-14609 ◽

2000 ◽

Author(s):

Li Zhao ◽

Yan Jin

Keyword(s):

Engineering Design ◽

Design Process ◽

Petri Net ◽

Collaborative Design ◽

Process Model ◽

New Technologies ◽

Process Models ◽

Collaborative Engineering ◽

Routine Design ◽

High Level

Abstract Collaborative engineering involves multiple engineers and managers working together to develop engineering products. As the engineering problems become more and more complicated, new technologies are required to achieve better effectiveness and efficiency. While process models management and technologies have been developed to support engineering design, most of them apply only to routine design tasks and do not explicitly deal with the change of processes during execution. Our research proposes a process-driven framework to support collaborative engineering. The framework is composed of a process model that captures both high level and low level activity dependencies, an agent network that monitors process execution and facilitates coordination among engineers, and a Petri-net based modeling tool to represent and analyze process features and predict the performance of engineering processes. In this paper, we first describe a simple collaborative design problem and our proposed ActivePROCESS collaborative engineering framework. After that we present our Petri-net based analytical model of collaborative design process and discuss the model along with a case example.

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Matching pedagogical intent with engineering design process models for precollege education

Artificial intelligence for engineering design analysis and manufacturing ◽

10.1017/s0890060410000260 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 24 (3) ◽

pp. 379-395 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Derrick Tate ◽

John Chandler ◽

A. Dean Fontenot ◽

Susan Talkmitt

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Engineering Design ◽

Design Process ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Public Perception ◽

Process Models ◽

Cognitive Approach ◽

Engineering Programs ◽

Engineering Design Process ◽

Major Factors

AbstractPublic perception of engineering recognizes its importance to national and international competitiveness, economy, quality of life, security, and other fundamental areas of impact; but uncertainty about engineering among the general public remains. Federal funding trends for education underscore many of the concerns regarding teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects in primary through grade 12 (P-12) education. Conflicting perspectives on the essential attributes that comprise the engineering design process results in a lack of coherent criteria against which teachers and administrators can measure the validity of a resource, or assess its strengths and weaknesses, or grasp incongruities among competing process models. The literature suggests two basic approaches for representing engineering design: a phase-based, life cycle-oriented approach; and an activity-based, cognitive approach. Although these approaches serve various teaching and functional goals in undergraduate and graduate engineering education, as well as in practice, they tend to exacerbate the gaps in P-12 engineering efforts, where appropriate learning objectives that connect meaningfully to engineering are poorly articulated or understood. In this article, we examine some fundamental problems that must be resolved if preengineering is to enter the P-12 curriculum with meaningful standards and is to be connected through learning outcomes, shared understanding of engineering design, and other vestiges to vertically link P-12 engineering with higher education and the practice of engineering. We also examine historical aspects, various pedagogies, and current issues pertaining to undergraduate and graduate engineering programs. As a case study, we hope to shed light on various kinds of interventions and outreach efforts to inform these efforts or at least provide some insight into major factors that shape and define the environment and cultures of the two institutions (including epistemic perspectives, institutional objectives, and political constraints) that are very different and can compromise collaborative efforts between the institutions of P-12 and higher education.

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A Proposal of Design Reasoning Model that Takes Notice of Design Knowledge (the Fifth Report) : Comparison of a reasoning model with Existing Design Process Models

The Proceedings of Design & Systems Conference ◽

10.1299/jsmedsd.2001.10.289 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 2001.10 (0) ◽

pp. 289-292

Author(s):

Akira TSUMAYA ◽

Yutaka NOMAGUCHI ◽

Masaharu YOSHIOKA ◽

Hideaki TAKEDA ◽

Tamotsu MURAKAMI ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Design Process ◽

Process Models ◽

Design Knowledge ◽

Design Reasoning

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On the integration of product and process models in engineering design

Design Science ◽

10.1017/dsj.2017.2 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Claudia M. Eckert ◽

David C. Wynn ◽

Jakob F. Maier ◽

Albert Albers ◽

Nikola Bursac ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Engineering Design ◽

Design Process ◽

Design Research ◽

Process Models ◽

Integrated Modelling ◽

Model Integration ◽

Research And Practice ◽

Engineering Designs ◽

Key Issues ◽

Product And Process

Models of products and design processes are key to interacting with engineering designs and managing the processes by which they are developed. In practice, companies maintain networks of many interrelated models which need to be synthesised in the minds of their users when considering issues that cut across them. This article considers how information from product and design process models can be integrated with a view to help manage these complex interrelationships. A framework highlighting key issues surrounding model integration is introduced and terminology for describing these issues is developed. To illustrate the framework and terminology, selected modelling approaches that integrate product and process information are discussed and organised according to their levels and forms of integration. Opportunities for further work to advance integrated modelling in engineering design research and practice are discussed.

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Towards a Framework for Acquisition of Design Knowledge

Volume 2A: 27th Design Automation Conference ◽

10.1115/detc2001/dac-21049 ◽

2001 ◽

Author(s):

Martin Dzbor ◽

Zdenek Zdrahal

Keyword(s):

Engineering Design ◽

Tacit Knowledge ◽

Iterative Process ◽

Theoretical Framework ◽

Design Knowledge ◽

Design Problems ◽

Design Theories ◽

Knowledge Intensive ◽

Key Terms ◽

The Given

Abstract Engineering design is a knowledge-intensive process driven by various design objectives. Design is an iterative process where the objectives evolve together with the solutions in order to deliver an artefact with the desired properties and functions. Many design theories developed so far suggest more or less efficient ways for finding a suitable solution to the given goals. However, they often leave open the issue of ‘solution talkback’. Discovery of new design objectives and amendment of the existing ones is as important as the development of design solutions. The biggest issue with solution talkback is the presence of tacit knowledge in addition to the explicit one. This paper draws on a theory that incorporates some typical features of design problems, and transfers theoretical findings about reflection on the design actions to a tool for acquisition of design knowledge. First, key terms are defined and theoretical framework is introduced. Afterwards we look at the means for capturing explicit and tacit design knowledge more in depth.

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Measuring Qualities of Different Engineering Design Process Models: A Critical Review

10.18260/1-2--22826 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

James Oplinger ◽

Micah Lande

Keyword(s):

Engineering Design ◽

Design Process ◽

Critical Review ◽

Process Models ◽

Engineering Design Process

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A Web-Based Environment for Documentation and Sharing of Engineering Design Knowledge

Volume 3: 28th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, Parts A and B ◽

10.1115/detc2008-50086 ◽

2008 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Justin A. Rockwell ◽

Paul Witherell ◽

Rui Fernandes ◽

Ian Grosse ◽

Sundar Krishnamurty ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Product Development ◽

Knowledge Base ◽

Engineering Design ◽

Design Process ◽

Circuit Breaker ◽

Design Knowledge ◽

Web Based ◽

Distributed Information ◽

Knowledge Framework

This paper presents the foundation for a collaborative Web-based environment for improving communication by formally defining a platform for documentation and sharing of engineering design knowledge throughout the entire design process. In this work an ontological structure is utilized to concisely define a set of individual engineering concepts. This set of modular ontologies link together to create a flexible, yet consistent, product development knowledge-base. The resulting infrastructure uniquely enables the information stored within the knowledge-base to be readily inspectable and computable, thus allowing for design tools that reason on the information to assist designers and automate design processes. A case study of the structural optimization of a transfer plate for an aerospace circuit breaker is presented to demonstrate implementation and usefulness of the knowledge framework. The results indicate that the ontological knowledge-base can be used to prompt engineers to document important product development information, increase understanding of the design process, provide a means to intuitively retrieve information, and seamlessly access distributed information.

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