Axiomatic Design Approach Research Articles

Design of a Network of Scalable Modular Manufacturing Systems to Support Geographically Distributed Production of Mass Customized Goods

In our globalized economic system, industrial production has to step outside the boundaries of individual enterprises and single production units [1]. The increasing globalisation, new models for growth and Internationalization like Franchising, a high level of responsiveness as well as rising fuel costs and therefore higher logistics costs are significant for the development versus geographically distributed production sites. The purpose of this paper is to examine a best practice company case to identify the critical success factors and guidelines for the design of networks of scalable modular manufacturing systems to support geographically distributed production of mass customized goods. Information was collected through multiple site visits and semi- structured interviews with the company's key staff of the project, as well as examination of relevant company documentations. With the help of the Axiomatic Design (AD) approach, the information was structured into a multi-level tree of relations between functional requirements (FR) and suitable design parameter (DP). The structured AD based analysis of the design pathway helped to identify a theoretical framework of guidelines for production system designers. An industrial case is taken to illustrate the single design steps and the relative outcomes.

A hierarchical fuzzy axiomatic design methodology for ergonomic compatibility evaluation of advanced manufacturing technology

Advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) is a relevant resource that has been extensively used in modern industries around the world with the aim of being competitive and maintaining high levels of quality and performance. There is a wide variety of tools and models available in the literature to support AMT selection and evaluation processes. Usually, they consist of analyses of tangible aspects, such as cost, time, speed, precision, among others; however, some other important aspects are commonly neglected, that is, the case of human factors and ergonomic characteristics. This paper presents a new methodology for the evaluation of ergonomic compatibility of AMT. This methodology may be considered as a decision aid; thus, decision makers might perform their duties in a more complete manner taking into account ergonomic attributes. Fuzzy axiomatic design applications are state of the art methods for decision making, and this paper contributes with a unique application for ergonomic compatibility evaluation for AMT. The first part of the paper presents the findings of an extensive literature review about important ergonomic attributes of AMT. Then, those attributes were originally structured following a multi-attribute axiomatic design approach for AMT ergonomic evaluation under a fuzzy environment. Also, a unique ergonomic compatibility survey was proposed for data collection and an original procedure was developed for AMT evaluation, a numerical example is provided. The ergonomic compatibility concept was tested and validated using the Cronbach's alpha test (α ≥ 0.7), finding that the instrument is suitable for the measurement of the proposed construct.

Systems Engineering for the Design of a Smart Energy Box

AbstractThis paper illustrates that the inclusion of system‐level safety analysis, in this case Systems Theoretic Accident Model and Processes (STAMP)‐based Process Analysis (STPA), in conjunction with systems engineering tools, such as Axiomatic Design, in the conceptual design phase of complex socio‐technical systems is critical to capturing key functional and non‐functional requirements early in the development lifecycle. In particular, capturing safety‐related non‐functional requirements during the conceptual design phase can help avoid operational scenarios that result in conditions hazardous to life and property. In addition, such an approach prevents costly “add‐ons” later in the design and implementation phases of the system life cycle. We illustrate this through the design of a “smart box” that enables large‐scale integration of distributed Renewable Energy Systems (RES) into the electrical power grid to more effectively and efficiently manage overall power demands across the grid. In the conceptual design of this system we arrive at a first set of functional requirements using stakeholder interviews and the Axiomatic Design approach. We then present a detailed discussion of the STPA tool and its application to our “smart box” concept, to arrive at unique safety‐related requirements identified through application of the STPA.

Axiomatic agent based architecture for agile decision making in strategic information systems

Strategic decisions to be seriously made by strategic information systems (SIS) in uncertain environments are considered as the main concern of organizations to achieve differentiating advantages. Architecting such an SIS in which strategic decisions are made continuously can be well performed by employing an axiomatic design approach by which basic constituents of an agent based SIS are determined. People may decide differently in the same situation not because they are logical but because they sometimes decide emotionally. Here architecting an SIS based on emotional agents which contribute in strategic decision making has been proposed in a model based on axiomatic design theory to consider critical points such as emotional decision making and flexibility which results in agile SIS.

Software development for the evaluation of the ergonomic compatibility on the selection of advanced manufacturing technology

Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) is one of the most relevant resources that companies have to achieve competitiveness and best performance. The selection of AMT is a complex problem which involves significant amount of information and uncertainty when multiple aspects must be taken into consideration. Actual models for the selection of AMT are found scarce of the Human Factors and Ergonomics perspective which can lead to a more complete and reliable decision. This paper presents the development of software that enhances the application of an Ergonomic Compatibility Evaluation Model that supports decision making processes taking into consideration ergonomic attributes of designs. Ergonomic Compatibility is a construct used in this model and it is mainly based in the concept of human-artifact compatibility on human compatible systems. Also, an Axiomatic Design approach by the use of the Information Axiom was evolved under a fuzzy environment to obtain the Ergonomic Incompatibility Content. The extension of this axiom for the evaluation of ergonomic compatibility requirements was the theoretical framework of this research. An incremental methodology of four stages was used to design and develop the software that enables to compare AMT alternatives by the evaluation of Ergonomic Compatibility Attributes.

Collaborative design process of large-scale engineering systems using the axiomatic design approach

The complexity of engineering systems is rapidly increasing because the number of components has increased and various engineering disciplines are involved. According to this trend, large-scale engineering systems are designed by multiple design teams with many designers of various disciplines. Although the design process by the design teams is a great deal similar to the design process by an individual designer, there is an important difference between them. Designing a large-scale engineering system with design teams can cause potential conflict among the subsystems because each team may design a subsystem without considering the other team’s subsystems. In this article, a collaborative design process is proposed to design a large-scale engineering system efficiently without the conflict among the subsystems using the Independence Axiom of axiomatic design. The proposed process uses a zigzagging process between the functional domain and the physical domain, and the online electric vehicle (OLEV) is designed by the proposed process. The OLEV is an electric vehicle which uses electric power transmitted wirelessly from the power source buried in the road. The functional requirements (FRs) and constraints of the OLEV are specified to clarify the design objectives and specifications. The prototype, which is designed by the design teams based on the defined FRs, is evaluated using the proposed process. It is found that the proposed process can lead design teams to design a product more efficiently without unnecessary iterations.

Development of Universal Test Method to Evaluate the Plastic Deformation of Sheet Metal

Universal test method to evaluate sheet metal formability was developed using finite element method based on axiomatic design. The newly developed formability test intended to generate the various modes of deformation and to control the onset of failure independently under each mode of deformation. The functional requirements (FRs) and the design parameters (DPs) of the test system were defined on axiomatic design approach and decomposed until the design reaches final stage. The independence axiom was applied throughout the design process to maintain the hierarchical independence of the formability test system. The flow diagram representing the system architecture was introduced after decomposition to give a help to establish the systematic design procedures and to determine the design parameters. Numerical simulation was carried out to determine the specific value of DPs which satisfies the FRs. Numerical results showed that modes of deformation varies accompanying various strain paths and good controllability of sheet forming is obtained for different kinds of materials. Experimental work was finally conducted to validate the proposed design. Stamping results represented that the outcome of the deformed geometry and strains are in good agreement with the numerical results.

Replicating data objects in large distributed database systems: an axiomatic game theoretic mechanism design approach

Data object replication onto distributed servers can potentially alleviate bottlenecks, reduce network traffic, increase scalability, add robustness, and decrease user perceived access time. The decision of selecting data object and server pairs requires solving a constraint optimization problem that in general is NP-complete. In this paper, we abstract the distributed database system as an agent-based model, wherein agents continuously compete for allocation and reallocation of data objects. Each agent aims to replicate objects onto its server such that the communication cost is minimized. However, these agents do not have a global view of the system. Thereby, the optimization process becomes highly localized. Such localized optimization may severely affect the overall system performance. To cope with such localized optimization, we propose a "semi-distributed" axiomatic game theoretical mechanism. The mechanism's control is unique in its decision making process, wherein all the heavy processing is done on the servers of the distributed system and the central body is only required to take a binary decision: (0) not to replicate or (1) to replicate. The cost model used by the agents in the mechanism for the purpose of identifying beneficial data objects is tailored made so that even though the agents take decisions based on their local knowledge domain, the effect is translated into a system-wide performance enhancement. The proposed mechanism is extensively compared against seven well-known conventional and three game theoretical replica allocation methods, namely, branch and bound, greedy, genetic, data-aware replication, tree inspired bottom-up procedure, tree inspired min-max procedure, Benders' decomposition based procedure, game theoretical English auction, game theoretical Dutch auction, and game theoretical selfish replication procedure. The experimental setup incorporates GT-ITM, Inet network topology generators, Soccer World Cup 1998 access logs, and NASA Kennedy Space Center access logs to closely mimic the Web in its infrastructure and user access patterns. The experimental results reveal that the proposed technique despite its non-cooperative nature improves the solution quality and reduces the execution time compared to other techniques.

A Case Study of a Systematic Iterative Design Methodology and its Application in Engineering Education

Iterative design is a design methodology based on a cyclical process of idea generation, evaluation, and design improvement until the design requirement is met. It is a widely used design strategy due to its intuitive nature and effectiveness in facilitating design improvement. As technologies advance rapidly nowadays, the level of complexity of design problems also increases. It is often impossible to develop a good design solution in the first attempt, making the effective application of iterative design strategy even more important. Over the years, researches have been carried out to refine the iterative design strategies and attempts have been made to integrate these design strategies into engineering education. Nevertheless, more efforts should be expended in the field of engineering education to encourage effective use of iterative design strategies by both educators and students. To this end, this paper presents a case study on the development of a plastic foaming visualization system to demonstrate the effectiveness of the axiomatic design approach, which is a systematic iterative design methodology. The methodology is based on two previously established design axioms that were designed to guide idea generation, as well as to streamline analysis and evaluation processes in a product development cycle. In addition, this paper explores possible methods to improve students’ learning experiences by integrating iterative design elements in engineering education with regards to course design and assessment/evaluation tools.

Multi-criteria Axiomatic Design Approach to Evaluate Sites for Grid-connected Photovoltaic Power Plants: A Case Study in Turkey

Global warming and climate change are the most serious problems for developing countries as well as the world. Therefore, the usage of renewable energy sources is gaining importance for sustainable energy development and environmental protection. Turkey is one of the developing countries whose demand of electricity is sharply increasing. In order to meet this demand by means of renewable sources, solar power is a suitable source due to the high solar energy potential of Turkey among the renewable sources. In this article, the multi-criteria axiomatic design (AD) approach is proposed for the evaluation of sites for a grid-connected photovoltaic power plant (GCPP) in Turkey. For this aim, four evaluation criteria, which have great influence on determination of a GCPP site are taken into account.

Extension of axiomatic design principles under fuzzy environment

Axiomatic design gives a design map to designers in order to establish a scientific basis, which improves design activities. In the classical axiomatic design (AD) approach, the relationships between functional requirements ( FRs) and design parameters ( DPs) are defined in crisp numbers notably “ 0” or “ 1”. This definition restricts relevant designers due to the incomplete information or uncertainty in various circumstances. This study debates the adaptation of the current AD principles into fuzzy sets theory. Those transformations are expressed by the developed formulas to prove the independence degree of the design in quantitative manner. A numerical study illustrates the logic of the proposed ideas clearly. Consequently, the proposed methodology provides a genuine link to explain the correspondences among FRs and DPs in linguistic form.

Identification of Key Coupled Design Parameters in Axiomatic Design

During the product design process with axiomatic design approach,coupled design is usually inevitable especially for complex product. Therefore,a method for identification key coupled design parameters is developed. Coupled functional requirement set is separated by using partition operation,and is quantified with analytical hierarchy process based on triangular fuzzy number. The coupled design matrix is transformed into design structure matrix of the design parameters based on functional requirements utilizing total differential calculation,and subsequently work transform matrix model is established to judge whether the design is convergent and identify key coupled parameters that cause design iterations mostly. A horizontal shell-tube condenser is selected as an illustrative example,and the validation results show that the presented method can identify the key coupled parameters and design modes,which mostly lead to long development cycle,and offer guidance for further redesign.

Supplier Selection in an Agile Supply Chain Environment using Fuzzy Axiomatic Design Approach

Abstract In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the design and implementation of agile supply chains (ASCs). Competitive ASCs requires suppliers to also demonstrate agile attributes. Therefore, maximum benefit will be attained from ASC if each company of the chain can identify suitable agile suppliers. This paper proposes to use an analytical model, more precisely an axiomatic design based fuzzy group decision making approach, in order to support the effective evaluation of ASC suppliers. The applicability of the proposed approach is verified through a case study.

An axiomatic design approach in development of nanofluid coolants

The experimental data for nanofluids in thermal-fluid systems have shown that the new fluids promise to become advanced heat transfer fluids in terms of thermal performance. While enhancing thermal characteristics, the solid–liquid mixtures present an unavoidable disadvantage in terms of pumping cost for economic operation of thermal-fluid systems. In addition, there is a lack of agreement between experimental data provided in the literature. The present work found that there would be no comprehensible design strategy in developing nanofluids. In this work, the Axiomatic Design (AD) theory is applied to systemize the design of nanofluids in order to bring its practical use forward. According to the Independence Axiom of the AD theory, the excessive couplings between the functional requirements and the parameters of a nanofluid system prevent from meeting the functional goals of the entire system. At a parametric level, the design of a nanofluid system is inherently coupled due to the characteristics of thermal-fluid system; the design parameters physically affect each other sharing sub-level parameters for nanoparticles with making a feedback loop. Even though parts of the nanofluids are naturally coupled, it is possible to reduce and/or eliminate the degree of coupling by help of AD principles. From the perspective of AD, this implies that we are able to ascertain which nanofluid system is feasible in the light of functional achievement. This study contributes to establishment of the standard communication protocol in the nanofluid research.

Axiomatic design theory for the analysis, comparison, and redesign of curriculum for special education

This paper explores a novel approach to instructional planning using the axiomatic design theory to create an optimized curriculum. First, an existing piece of curriculum is analyzed by axiomatic design approach and design matrices are made to check whether the independence axiom is satisfied or not. Second, functional requirements (FRs) are derived from the FRs of the existing curriculums developed through conventional methods. Constraints (Cs) are defined considering the time and subject. Design parameters (DPs) are conceived in physical domain to satisfy these specified FRs and Cs, and two alternative DPs for one FR are proposed. One of these alternatives having the least information content is selected by defining FRs as the minimization of the irrelevant subjects/topics and time. Also feasibility is estimated by comparing the information content of the redesigned curriculum with that of other curriculums in consideration of costs-involved, time, and subjects-relevance.

Fuzzy axiomatic design-based performance evaluation model for docking facilities in shipbuilding industry: The case of Turkish shipyards

The closest relationships between ship management companies and shipyards begin with the initial design process of new ships and they continue during the life cycle of operating ships. Periodic docking facilities which can be recognized as the biggest logistical issue in the content of ship maintenance program are the critical processes from the viewpoint of ship owners. Hence, this process should be well-planned and organized to satisfy the various expectations such as quality of service, capacity limitations, and geographical advantages, by taking cost and time constraints into account. Hence, the selection problem with respect to several criteria to find the most suitable shipyards is getting more important for ship management companies. This paper investigates a systematic evaluation model on docking facilities of shipyards to provide a decision aid for technical ship managers and to perform this responsibility in an efficient manner. Multiple criteria fuzzy axiomatic design (FAD) approach is used for selection among shipyards since FAD lets us define the design interval of each criterion. The original contributions of the paper are seemed in both enhancing the theoretical frame of FAD in terms of managing group consensus and performing an application to a real case in maritime industry.

Ride comfort evaluation and suspension design using axiomatic design

This study presents a theoretical formulation based on the axiomatic design (AD) approach to suspension systems for improving both ride comfort and static design factors (SDFs) of passenger vehicles. This approach was adapted to the kinematic design of suspension systems to create a decoupled or less coupled relationship between the functional requirements (FRs) and design parameters (DPs). SDFs related to wheel alignment and ride comfort are selected for FRs and suspension hardpoint positions are chosen for common DPs. A flexible commercial vehicle body model is used to mathematically express SDFs by defining the performance index and analyzing the dynamic characteristics for ride comfort evaluation. The sensitivity matrices are defined between the FRs and DPs. The SDF design sequences are proposed by using these matrices with the vehicle model. This study improves both ride comfort and SDFs by properly designing the kinematic DPs.

Configuration design considering the impact of design changes on downstream processes based upon the axiomatic design approach

This research introduces a new systematic approach for configuration design considering the impact of design changes on downstream processes. In this approach, the relationships between design configurations and their implementation processes are modelled by axiomatic design matrices. The design configuration that is the most independent of its implementation processes is identified as the optimal design whose changes have the minimum impact on the processes based upon the axiomatic design approach. Various quantitative measures are introduced in this research to evaluate different types of design matrices. Estimation of potential process change cost due to potential design configuration changes is also studied based on probability theory. Design considering multiple-level configuration structures is also discussed. Case studies in pipeline engineering design and construction have been conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of this new configuration design approach.

A decomposition-based approach for the development of a supply chain strategy

This paper presents an application of the Axiomatic Design (AD) approach to supply chain management (SCM) for the development of a supply chain strategy. Following AD principles, we developed a method of supply chain design decomposition (SCDD) that distinguishes objectives and means of SCM. Because it systematically relates means to objectives at different levels of abstraction, higher-level objectives can be made actionable step-by-step. Using a structured procedure, the SCDD can be utilized to develop a supply chain strategy that is in alignment with corporate strategic goals and the context and the environment of the enterprise. A case study illustrates application of the methodology.

Applying axiomatic design theory to the evaluation and optimization of large-scale engineering systems

Large-scale engineering systems provide important functions to the human society. The involvement of multiple, competing functionality requirements and lots of resources has imposed high expectations, and at the same time challenges, for achieving reliable, affordable design. Axiomatic design approach has demonstrated its strength in various types of large-scale system design, including vehicles, aircrafts, manufacturing facilities, and so on. However, several obstacles are yet to be overcome in proper application of the axioms to a real-world design problem, by both researchers and practitioners. In this work, a systematic methodology is presented for applying Suh’s axioms to evaluate and optimize large-scale engineering systems. When using the proposed methodology, design matrices are first obtained to map multiple, competing functionality requirements to their associated physical embodiments at different system hierarchical levels based on Axiom 1. An R/S analysis using surrogate modelling is then conducted on the design matrices to evaluate the existing system design. If the evaluation shows any areas for improvement, a combination of surrogate modelling-based R/S analysis and optimization is used to achieve a less functionally coupled design. An application in a nuclear reactor system design is used to demonstrate the use of the proposed methodology in dealing with real-world design problems. The results show that the proposed methodology provides a promising approach to efficiently evaluate and optimize a large-scale engineering system against multiple, competing design objectives.