Structuring knowledge of life-cycle consequences for supporting concurrent design exploration

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the development of a model for knowledge of consequences which can support provident reasoning design. The work is focused on part design synthesis decision making so as to support individual designers engaged in life-cycle design exploration. The emerging model is one based on structured relationships between a number of aspects which are considered to be the source of life-cycle consequences. namely Features [Fl. Parameter values [V]. Material [M]. Constraints [C] and Process [PI factors. The approach is seen to be a framework for the systematization of domain knowledge which can subsequently be employed in a Knowledge Intensive CAD system for supporting concurrent design of components. Examples in the approach are drawn from the domain of injection moulded plastic components.