Title: A design exploration method for resolving parameter coupling in engineering change propagation

Authors: Yuliang Li; Wei Zhao; Y-S. Ma

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, 38 Zheda Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, 310027, China. ' Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, 18 Xueyuan Street, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, 310018, China. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G8, Canada

Abstract: Product design tasks in the upstream and downstream stages are often interdependent in engineering design processes. When design changes propagate from the upstream to the downstream, or vice versa, design tasks in different stages affect each other. Then solving the relevant design problems has to be repeated if the designer cannot find an acceptable solution to satisfy both downstream and upstream design requirements. In this paper, those design task connections with the interdependent nature or phenomena are referred to as design change propagation couplings and the analysis of the coupling is presented. Two types of coupling morphology named concurrent coupling and sequential coupling are identified. A theoretical method as well as a software system to solve such propagation couplings is developed. A design case of the feeding servo system on a numerical controlled machine tool is used to demonstrate the application of the software.

Keywords: propagation coupling; engineering analysis; evolutionary design; engineering change; product design; design change; NC machine tools; servo feeds; machine tool design.

DOI: 10.1504/IJDE.2011.045276

International Journal of Design Engineering, 2011 Vol.4 No.3, pp.220 - 243

Published online: 30 Sep 2014 *

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