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This research builds on previous work on function-based failure analysis and dimensional analysis to develop a design stage failure identification framework. The proposed framework is intended to provide an alternative approach to model the behavior for use in function-based failure analysis proposed in the literature. This paper specifically proposes to develop more detailed behavioral models derived from information available at the configuration level. The new behavioral model uses design variables, which are associated with units and quantities (i.e., mass, length, time, etc…), and generates a graph of interactions for each component to define the quantitative behavior of components. The dimensionless behavioral modeling is applied briefly to the analysis of functional failures and fault propagation at a highly abstract system concept level before any potentially high-cost design commitments are made. The main contributions in this paper include: a method to automatically select the main variables of interest, an automatic causal ordering of the variables based on their units, an automatically generated graph associating the variables, a machinery based on dimensional analysis allowing a quantitative simulation of the graphs, and a methodology to combine subgraphs and create component behavioral models.

The application of additive manufacturing technologies in the industry is growing fast. This leads to an increasing need for reliable modeling techniques in the field of additive manufacturing. A methodology is proposed to systematically assess the influence of process parameters on the final characteristics of additively manufactured parts. The current study aims at presenting a theoretical framework dedicated to the modeling of the additive manufacturing technology. More specifically, the framework is used in the context of the study to plan and optimize the experimental process to minimize the amount of experiments required to populate the model. The framework presented is based on the Dimensional Analysis Conceptual Modelling framework (DACM). DACM is an approach supporting the production of models. This approach is designing networks representing a system architecture and behavior using an approach sharing similarities with neural networks. Based on the proposed approach, it is possible to detect where supplementary experimental data have to be collected to complete the model generated by the DACM approach. The modeling of the Direct Material Deposition process is conducted as an illustrative case study. The scope of the approach is vast and supported by validated scientific methods combined to form the core of the DACM method. The DACM framework is step by step extracting information from a description of the system architecture to create semi-automatically a model that can be simulated and used for multiple types of analyses associated for example with innovation and design improvement. The current paper will focus on the usage of the DACM framework, recently developed in a project, in the field of additive manufacturing.

Methodologies of the literature tend to separate clearly the design problem definition from the solutions to this problem. Nevertheless, this paper argues that conceptual design solutions are deeply rooted in the definition of the design problem. Hence, it is shown that conceptual solutions can emerge from the semantic analysis of the functional definition of a problem. This paper addresses the recursive aspect of conceptual design and the iterative loops between each step of design methodologies which are usually presented as a sequential flow. This paper presents that, in fact, in the early design phases, the functional representation of the design problem may often emerge from ideas of potential solutions. Afterward, this functional representation can be refined into concept of solutions, which can then give emergence to another functional representation. We hence argue here that the conceptual design process involves a constant duality between the functional representation of a problem and the potential solutions to this problem. Furthermore, we argue that the concepts of solution to a design problem can already be embedded semantically in the description of the problem as well as the description of these potential solutions enables the discovery of new design problem. This article presents these developments through the study of the sub-system of a robot used for harvesting fruits in a robot competition.

The focus in the businesses of manufacturing and selling technological devices has been increasingly shifting from USA and Europe towards Asiatic countries due to cost-effectiveness and lower costs of resources. In the areas where costs are inevitably higher, new measures have to be considered in order to be able to compete in the global economy. In this article, we study how can we utilize combined benefits of technological and service innovations in competing against the traditional product-oriented offerings. Product-service systems are integrated systems of products and services that create value through use for customers; the hypothesis in this article is that the efficiency of the business network can be increased by designing an integrated product-service system in comparison to the product-oriented approach. The hypothesis is studied via a real-life product-service system design case study of an automated recycling system, and system dynamics simulation is used to analyze the value created with the system in the related business network. In theory, product-service systems have many potential benefits in comparison to product-oriented offerings; identifying the benefits in practice in a case study increases the understanding of product-service systems design and facilitate their application in the industry.