Abstract

Complexity in modern product design is manifest through large numbers of diverse parts, functions, and design disciplines that require an intricate web of synergistic relationships to link them together. It is extremely difficult for designers to assimilate or represent such complex designs in their totality. Few CAD tools provide support for managing complex design relationships. Instead, designers must document and track these relationships independent of the design model. This increases the burden on the design team and increases the risk of inconsistencies and errors in the design. This researches introduces a framework that utilizes the intricate relationships between design components to enhance the representational power of design models and to provide focal points for automating the management of design complexity. Automated mechanisms, based on aggregation, interaction, and variational relationships between design components, are presented that integrate model structure, a v...

Citations