Functional Decomposition in Engineering: A Survey
Abstract
Functional reasoning is regarded as an important asset to the engineering designers' conceptual toolkit. Yet despite the value of functional reasoning for engineering design, a consensus view is lacking and several distinct proposals have been formulated. in this paper some of the main models for functional reasoning that are currently in use or discussed in engineering are surveyed and some of their differences clarified. the models included the Functional Basis approach by Stone and Wood [1], the Function Behavior State approach by Umeda et al. [2, 3, 4], and the Functional Reasoning approach of Chakrabarti and Bligh [5, 6]. This paper explicates differences between these approaches relating to: (1) representations of function and how they are influenced by design aims and form solutions, and (2) functional decomposition strategies, taken as the reasoning from overall artifact functions to sub-functions, and how these decomposition strategies are influenced by the use of existing engineering design knowledge bases. Copyright © 2007 by ASME.
Recommended Citation
D. Van Eck et al., "Functional Decomposition in Engineering: A Survey," 2007 Proceedings of the ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, DETC2007, vol. 3 PART A, pp. 227 - 236, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Jun 2008.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC2007-34232
Department(s)
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
International Standard Book Number (ISBN)
978-079184802-9;978-079184804-3
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2024 American Society of Mechanical Engineers, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
13 Jun 2008
