Application of Axiomatic Design principles in conceptual design

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to propose a modified methodology for concept evaluation by applying Axiomatic Design principles. Several drawbacks were recognised during the literature review and application of established Axiomatic Design principles that limit its use for concept evaluation. These drawbacks include the lack of analysis of concepts that violate the Independence Axiom, the application to concepts that are not generated with Axiomatic Design and inclusion of constraints and requirements in the evaluation process. The proposed methodology consists of four steps of which the first one is to analyse the compliance of concepts with a set of functional requirements. Afterwards, to determine the possible violation of the Independence Axiom, non-diagonal elements need to be examined and reangularity and semiangularity values calculated for each concept. Finally, concepts are evaluated in terms of Information Axiom to include requirements, criteria and constraints other than functional requirements. Applying Information Axiom to all concepts regardless of Independence Axiom violation provides insight into the complexity of concepts. The proposed methodology was applied to mobility scooter conceptual design conducted in cooperation with an industrial partner. The partner company provided input and system constraints at the beginning of the project and guidelines for concept development. Constraints were taken into consideration by applying the Information Axiom in which constraints are compared with values measured on prototypes.