Research of the effectual action unit–based inverse method for solving the functional structure of design history

Abstract

The functional structure information of a design history is analyzed to capture product design intent information, which is significantly important for the rapid and efficient solving of local demand-varying designs. Based on the intent capture and reuse issues of the design histories of existing products, this study proposes the use of the effectual action unit–based inverse method to solve the functional structure of design history. Effects are regarded as an intermediary between functional requirements and principle solutions of design history. After the effectual action unit model is built, function unit synthesis could be constructed by effect function between the input and output parameters. The functional structure frame of design history is obtained by constructing the design history structure–principle–effect–function inverse solving model. The prototype system of the inverse solving of the functional structure of the complex electromechanical product-oriented design history is developed in this study. Moreover, the feasibility of the proposed method is verified using a new laptop as an example. Overall, design intent of design history can be described by the proposed method.