Dimensioning a product in preliminary design through different exploration techniques

Abstract

Once a design concept chosen and parameterized, the embodiment design stage consists in choosing materials and dimensions to ensure a "good matching" with the expected performances. In this context of the first stages of a parametric design, several approaches exist which correspond to slightly different complexities and issues, which are more or less easy to implement and must, consequently, be used at different stages. We consider in this paper three families of approaches: (1) exploring design (parametric) dimensioning under uncertainty (through constraint programming techniques, representations of feasible design points or Pareto frontiers), (2) robust design and multidisciplinary optimization and, lastly, (3) design for reliability. One advocates and states in this paper that these approaches must be used in that order of increasing complexity. Indeed, applying an approach allows to quickly figure out inadequacies with performance specifications or initial allowable bounds of design parameters and then to backtrack or to refine the design issue before passing to the next stage or approach. We illustrate that phenomenon in successively applying the three approaches on an ever more complex parametric dimensioning issue of a two-member truss structure. We clearly show that the successive optimal designs obtained by the three categories of methods are notably different, but that the optimal point obtained in a given approach is used to explore its surroundings in the next approach. Her research interests concern Product Design and, more accurately, the integration of virtual prototyping in product design process. Within this framework, she contributes to a knowledge management and knowledge modeling approach in order to enhance the use of structural analysis as soon as possible in the design process in order to improve product and process robustness. Engineering from the UTC. His research topics concern statistical analysis for quality management, design of experiments, robust design and design for sixsigma. Alaa Chateauneuf is a Full Professor in

Information visualization for selection in Design by Shopping

“…It is worth mentioning the use of Constraint Programming as a relevant method for reducing uncertainty in the preliminary design stage (cf. Yannou & Hamdi, 2004;Yannou et al, 2009). With this paradigm, the designer is part of the process and the design selection is derived from the process.…”

Set-based design of mechanical systems with design robustness integrated

“…The techniques proposed by Taguchi rely on the formulation of quality loss function and utilisation of design of experiment to evaluate the sensitivity of the performances taking uncertainties into account (Taguchi et al, 2005;Yannou et al, 2009). Using this approach, the integration of robustness takes place as a downstream function in the design process.…”