Title: A structured process model for conceptual design of mechanisms

Authors: Chi-Lan Cai, Ren-Bin Xiao

Addresses: School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Shanghai Second Polytechnic University, Shanghai 201209, PR China. ' CAD Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, PR China

Abstract: This paper presents a process model for conceptual design of mechanisms, which is based on Axiomatic Design (AD), set theory and Artificial Immune Systems (AIS). AD is used as the modelling basis. Behaviour bridges the gap between functional domain and physical domain. Set theory describes the problem space and solution space to formalise the design. Based on AD framework and set theory-based representation, the automated function decomposition technique is presented. An immune optimisation algorithm is introduced into this model to avoid combinatorial explosion during searching for feasible combinatorial solutions. A design case is presented to illustrate the application of this model.

Keywords: conceptual design; axiomatic design; set theory; immune optimisation algorithms; process modelling; mechanism design; artificial immune systems; function decomposition.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2010.030473

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 2010 Vol.37 No.1, pp.29 - 38

Received: 18 Aug 2007
Accepted: 12 Aug 2008
Published online: 17 Dec 2009 *

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