A Formalism for Modeling Engineering Design Processes

ABSTRACT This paper presents a mathematical and graphical formalism for modeling computational engineering design processes, particularly to enhance variant product design in industries. The proposed modeling formalism provides a methodology for transforming a textual problem statement into a mathematical, parametric model. The explicit representation of the designer’s solution strategy is also formalized. Petri net theory provides a framework for developing a graph-theoretical tool for representing the parametric process model. The parametric process model is formally interpreted in terms of atomic process units, called design actors. The assembly of design actors according to their data dependencies results in a directed graph, called a design actor network, whose execution produces a promising solution (or solutions) to the problem. The dynamic behavior of a design process is investigated by the simulation of a design actor network. This modeling formalism is demonstrated with a simple example of caliper disc brake design for an automotive application.