Current Design Theory Research Articles

Art Design of Non-Heritage Cultural and Creative Products Based on the Concept of Sustainability

With the continuous development of social economy and the gradual improvement of intangible culture protection system, the express train that integrates intangible culture into cultural and creative products to drive economic development has been on the highway. The integration of the two has become an important direction of traditional art protection and development in the industry and business of intangible cultural protection. From the perspective of sustainable development theory, this paper points out that the designers and developers of cultural and creative products need to take sustainable design as the core theory, organically combine the narrative of consumers with the intangible culture, and give full play to the social, cultural and commercial value of the current sustainable design theory in the visual design of intangible cultural and creative products. Taking the sustainability of ecological design and the sustainability of people-oriented design as the innovative ideas of visual design.

Optimal Design Method for Vessel-Bridge Collision Based on Life-Cycle Theory

As structures crossing waterways, bridges are obstacles to vessels. Vessel-bridge collisions are inevitable. They not only involve the safety of vessel passage but also seriously affect the safe operation of bridges. Vessel-bridge collisions cause not only huge economic losses and casualties but also severe political and environmental losses. Vessel collision safety of existing and new bridges is one of the key technical problems that engineers and bridge managers must solve. Comprehensive consideration of vessel-bridge collision risk loss and structural performance in the design stage to achieve optimal cost over the life cycle is an important aspect of bridge design. Based on the current life-cycle design theory of engineering structures, this paper proposes a theoretical framework for vessel-bridge collision optimization design based on the life cycle, which includes three parts: vessel-bridge collision probability analysis, vessel-bridge collision vulnerability analysis, and vessel-bridge collision hazard. Taking the minimum cost of the bridge structure in the design service life period as the objective function, the optimization design model and design process of vessel-bridge collision based on whole life are established, and the key problems to be solved in each part are expounded.

Study on Design Method of Pile Wall Combination Structure in a Deep Foundation Pit Considering Deformation Induced by Excavation

The technology of pile wall combination in a deep foundation pit is a kind of technology to resist soil and water pressure by using the great stiffness of the retaining pile and basement wall. As a part of basement wall, the retaining pile can reduce the thickness of the basement wall. However, the influence of excavation deformation and the interaction mechanism between the retaining pile and basement wall are ignored in the current design theory of the pile wall combination in a deep foundation pit. Therefore, we proposed a composite structure model of an elastic subgrade beam associated with a continuous beam, and introduced an elastic spring to simulate the interaction between the pile and basement wall. The finite difference equation and calculation method were established to figure out the internal force and displacement of the pile wall combination structure, which was able to accurately calculate the internal force and deformation of the retaining pile during the excavation stage. Based on the above results, further investigation was carried on the interaction between the pile and basement wall during the construction and normal service stage of the basement structure. It was concluded that the basement wall could reduce the lateral displacement on the top of the retaining pile caused by removal of the strut and affect the bending moment of the upper part of the retaining pile among the depth of the basement wall. The bending moment of the basement wall was closely related to the deformation of the retaining pile and changes with the working condition. In addition, the results of factor sensitivity analysis showed that the pile-wall relative stiffness ratio, stiffness of the horizontal beam, and slab of the basement had a significant influence on the interaction between the pile and basement wall.

Participation reimagined: co-design of the self through territory, memory, and dignity

ABSTRACT Participation is a key theoretical and methodological aspect at the nexus of tensions between design as professional practice and design in community settings. In this article, we navigate some of these tensions by thinking with a case of community-based co-design in Colombia. We build on the work of participatory design scholars to surface the challenges posed by participation when dealing with design’s critical examination, and the need for new frameworks for theory and practice, especially when working with historically underrepresented populations. Using narrative inquiry, we centre and explore the methodology used by an ‘experiencia comunitaria’ (communal experience) in Colombia: the ‘Saber y Vida’ programme. We highlight three key aspects of the programme’s propositions: (1) identity as an anchor to participation; (2) symbolic language as a device mediating between individuals and communities; and (3) dignity as a pre-condition to participation. We end by reflecting on how these features are in tension and resonance with current design theory and practice.

Shear Strengthening of Deep T-Section RC Beams with CFRP Bars.

Deep T-section beams have been widely used in engineering structures due to their high bearing capacity, high construction efficiency and economic benefits, while the current beam design theory can hardly interpret reasonably the mechanical behaviors of deep beams. The performance features of the deep T-beam were investigated, involving in strain distribution and principal stress trace using experimental tests. Different near surface mounted (NSM) reinforcement schemes were proposed for deep T-beams aiming at improving the shear capacity. The results show that the behaviors of deep T-beams dissatisfy the assumption of plane cross-section, and the ‘strut-and-tie’ model is applicable in such structures. The reinforcement systems can significantly relieve the strain concentration, mid-span deflection and crack width in deep T-beams, consequently improving the shear capacity range from 45 to 65%. The scheme is preferential for the reinforcement of deep T-beams when the applied angles, positions and lengths of CFRP bars are optimized based on the ‘strut-and-tie’ model.

A phenomenological material model for PTFE coated fabrics

Membrane structures have the advantages of excellent mechanical behaviors and beautiful forms, and have been widely used in large-span buildings. The constitutive model of coated fabrics plays an important role in the design, analysis, and construction of membrane structures. However, the coated fabrics are usually assumed to be linear elastic. It reduces the computational accuracy of membrane structural analysis. In this work, a phenomenological model is proposed based on the experimental data obtained from uniaxial monotonic tensile tests, uniaxial cyclic loading tests and picture frame tests. Additional the varying Poisson’s ratio without considering the orthogonal interaction was obtained through the uniaxial tensile tests, and the shear behavior was investigated. The proposed model is implemented in the ABAQUS software as a user material subroutine and subsequently validated with the data obtained from on-axial cyclic loading tests and local full-size model test of membrane roof of Expo Central Axis. The model shows a good performance in computation and the obtained results are also in good agreement with experimental data. In contrast to published models, the proposed model can capture the orthotropic nonlinearity in first loading paths and roughly describe the unloading and reloading behaviors without considering the ratcheting behaviors. Besides, it can also make a good prediction on the failure modes and ultimate tensile strength. The approach can be generally used for different kinds of coated fabric. It can enhance the analysis accuracy and improve the current design theories of tensioned fabric membrane structures.

Categorical formulation of mathematical design theories applied to system design process analysis

Given hierarchical system specifications, embodiment and integration processes of subsystems are crucial in designing complex engineered systems. To complement the current mathematical design theories that do not sufficiently support these processes, this study applies general design theory to formulate these processes based on the mathematical structure of design knowledge studied in the literature using category theory. Specifically, the composition of embodiment operations and the relations among subsystems in integration operations on the category of sets and topological spaces are elucidated. Furthermore, the formulation is applied to analysis of a system design process of a production line in model-based systems engineering.

Catalyst Organizations as a New Organization Design for Innovation: The Case of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies

The crucial contingencies surrounding organization design for innovation are experiencing drastic shifts. First, environmental uncertainty is rising with the increasingly connected nature of innovation. Second, the internet provides an almost costless supply of external knowledge. Current organization design theory does not provide adequate frames for studying organizations attempting to simultaneously leverage shifts of uncertainty and the costless supply of external knowledge. In the process of qualitatively examining one such organization—the crowd-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc. (HTT)—we find that HTT’s design does not fit existing design schema. We label this new design form a “catalyst” organization, clarifying how HTT’s design challenges existing organization design principles while simultaneously showing researchers a way forward to new theorizing. We derive implications for theories of organization design, exploration, and online knowledge-creating communities.Whiteboard Video AbstractAOM Video Player5966343293001

Electromagnetic exploration of far-field super-focusing nanostructured metasurfaces

Planar multi-annular nanostructured metasurfaces have provided a new way to realize far-field optical super-resolution focusing and nanoscopic imaging, due to the delicate interference of propagating waves diffracted from the metasurface mask. However, so far there are no proper methods that can be used to essentially interpret the super-focusing and nano-imaging mechanisms. This research proposes an electromagnetic methodology for the super-resolution investigation of nanostructured metasurfaces. We have physically modeled the polarization-dependent transmission effect of the subwavelength nanostructure and the vectorial imaging process of a high-numerical-aperture microscopic system. We have found theoretically and experimentally that the current design theories may produce imprecise results; the microscopic imaging experimental method can only detect transversely polarized electric field component and cannot map out three-dimensional total electric energy density distribution behind metasurfaces. This method will potentially be used in far-field nanoscopy, nanolithography, high-density optical storage, etc.

Design Heuristics in Innovative Products

Current design theory lacks a systematic method to identify what designers know that helps them to create innovative products. In the early stages of idea generation, designers may find novel ideas come readily to mind, or may become fixated on their own or existing products. This may limit the ability to consider more and more varied candidate concepts that may potentially lead to innovation. To aid in idea generation, we sought to identify “design heuristics,” or “rules of thumb,” evident in award-winning designs. In this paper, we demonstrate a content analysis method for discovering heuristics in the designs of innovative products. Our method depends on comparison to a baseline of existing products so that the innovative change can be readily identified. Through an analysis of key features and functional elements in the designs of over 400 award-winning products, 40 heuristic principles were extracted. These design heuristics are outlined according to their perceived role in changing an existing product concept into a novel design, and examples of other products using the heuristics are provided. To demonstrate the ease of use of these design heuristics, we examined outcomes from a classroom study and found that concepts created using design heuristics were rated as more creative and varied. The analysis of changes from existing to innovative products can provide evidence of useful heuristic principles to apply in creating new designs.

User experience dimensions in product design: a consolidation of what academic researchers know and what design practitioners do

Product design is more than form-giving. This paper gathers design dimensions from academic research and consolidates them with those handled by product designers. The dimensions are extracted from various theoretical models on experience design. To analyse dimensions in product designers' concepts, lexical techniques are employed to obtain keywords that are then classed into design dimensions. We see a good fit between theory and practice. Practice is more precise on dimensions like situational use context and product behaviour. Theory addresses human sensory states, product character as perceived by the user and social use context - dimensions that were missing in the designers- concepts. A compiled dimensions list shows gaps in current design theory and can be a useful tool for design practitioners.

Out of Context: Ethnographic Interviewing, Empathy, and Humanitarian Design

ABSTRACTUser-centered and participatory design methods focus on the importance of understanding, and including, the end user in concept development. Current theories especially emphasize so-called “empathic design methods” and the necessity of designing for the “cultural context.” Current design theory therefore assumes that people have a static culture and a set value system. These methods are often difficult to apply when designing for vulnerable people: in this case in a refugee or post-disaster setting. When people are displaced and have gone through life-changing events, they have been uprooted and their individual and collective cultural identities interrupted. New motivations and cultures emerge, often together with an identity crisis. In addition, if designers wish to use empathic design methods for the challenging field of emergencies, we need to find ways of understanding the refugee; also when field access and traditional participatory methods prove difficult. In this article I explore the pote...

Learning from new millennium science fiction cities

Fiction, and particularly current science fiction, (1) reflects, gives voice to, and may shape popular images of the city; (b) provides models of ‘world building’ whose methods may complement and critique other methods of informing the design of cities; and (3) plays out poetically rich thought experiments – cities of feeling – that can help designers understand nuances of current urban design and architectural theory. This paper examines the urban landscapes of three 21st-century award-winning science fiction novels. These cities of the fictive imagination can inform the creation of cities of the design imagination.

Measuring the impact of scale and coupling on solution quality for building design problems

This paper presents the results of an experiment that measured human abilities to solve parameter design problems specific to the building design domain. The subjects of the experiment were university students who solved a series of parameter design problems that varied in terms of scale (number of design variables) and coupling (interactions between variables). Results show an exponential decrease in solution quality as the scale of the problem increases. Coupling has a comparable impact on solution quality for problems involving two to three variables, but becomes less significant as the scale of the problem increases. We discuss these findings in the context of information processing models for human cognition and explore the implications for current design theories and methodologies.

Performance of 45-year-old corroded prestressed concrete beams

The design of prestressed concrete bridge beams usually assumes that the full capacity of the tendons can be achieved under ultimate load, based on the assumption of sufficient deformation capacity of the prestressing wires. Whether this is achieved also in older bridges is of increasing interest in remaining-life assessments since, especially in aggressive marine environments, corrosion of steel is known to cause loss of wire ductility. Results are reported herein of load tests to destruction for three full-sized and deteriorated prestressed concrete bridge beams recovered from a 45-year-old bridge exposed to an aggressive marine environment. The two beams with the greatest superficial deterioration showed progressive and premature failure of the prestressing wires. The beam with little superficial deterioration also showed progressive failure and failed to reach the ultimate load capacity based on current design theory and actual material properties. Possible reasons for the observed behaviour and the practical implications are discussed.

Informed Tectonics in Digital Design Based on GEP

Digital design has resulted in the need for a reconfigurable of current design theories. The present research postulates the oretical framework of informed tectonics in digital design. The research for the evolution algorithmgene expression programming is developed and discussed. This paper mainly talk about the oretical framework of informed tectonics in digital design based on evolution algorithmGEP. The methodologies is used to explain and guide future research anddevelopment.

Design theory of full face rock tunnel boring machine transition cutter edge angle and its application

At present, the inner cutters of a full face rock tunnel boring machine (TBM) and transition cutter edge angles are designed on the basis of indentation test or linear grooving test. The inner and outer edge angles of disc cutters are characterized as symmetric to each other with respect to the cutter edge plane. This design has some practical defects, such as severe eccentric wear and tipping, etc. In this paper, the current design theory of disc cutter edge angle is analyzed, and the characteristics of the rock-breaking movement of disc cutters are studied. The researching results show that the rotational motion of disc cutters with the cutter head gives rise to the difference between the interactions of inner rock and outer rock with the contact area of disc cutters, with shearing and extrusion on the inner rock and attrition on the outer rock. The wear of disc cutters at the contact area is unbalanced, among which the wear in the largest normal stress area is most apparent. Therefore, a three-dimensional model theory of rock breaking and an edge angle design theory of transition disc cutter are proposed to overcome the flaws of the currently used TBM cutter heads, such as short life span, camber wearing, tipping. And a corresponding equation is established. With reference to a specific construction case, the edge angle of the transition disc cutter has been designed based on the theory. The application of TBM in some practical project proves that the theory has obvious advantages in enhancing disc cutter life, decreasing replacement frequency, and making economic benefits. The proposed research provides a theoretical basis for the design of TBM three-dimensional disc cutters whose rock-breaking operation time can be effectively increased.

Design principles for virtual worlds

In this research note, we examine the design, development, validation, and use of virtual worlds. Our purpose in doing so is to extend the design science paradigm by developing a set of design principles applicable to the context of virtual environments, particularly those using agent-based simulation as their underlying technology. Our central argument is that virtual worlds comprise a new class of information system, one that combines the structural aspects of traditional modeling and simulation systems in concert with emergent user dynamics of systems supporting emergent knowledge processes. Our approach involves two components. First, we review the characteristics of agent-based virtual worlds (ABVWs) to discern design requirements that may challenge current design theory. From this review, we derive a set of design principles based on deep versus emergent structures where deep structures reflect conventional modeling and simulation system architectures and emergent structures capture the unpredictable user-system dynamics inherent in emergent knowledge processes, which increasingly characterize virtual worlds. We illustrate how these design challenges are addressed with an exemplar of a complex mirror world, a large-scale ABVW we developed called Sentient World. Our contribution is the insight of partitioning ABVW architectures into deep and emergent structures that mirror modeling systems and emergent knowledge processes respectively, while developing extended design principles to facilitate their integration. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our design principles for informing and guiding future research and practice.

Design Principles for Virtual Worlds

In this research note, we examine the design, development, validation, and use of virtual worlds. Our purpose in doing so is to extend the design science paradigm by developing a set of design principles applicable to the context of virtual environments, particularly those using agent-based simulation as their underlying technology. Our central argument is that virtual worlds comprise a new class of information system, one that combines the structural aspects of traditional modeling and simulation systems in concert with emergent user dynamics of systems supporting emergent knowledge processes. Our approach involves two components. First, we review the characteristics of agent-based virtual worlds (ABVWs) to discern design requirements that may challenge current design theory. From this review, we derive a set of design principles based on deep versus emergent structures where deep structures reflect conventional modeling and simulation system architectures and emergent structures capture the unpredictable user-system dynamics inherent in emergent knowledge processes, which increasingly characterize virtual worlds. We illustrate how these design challenges are addressed with an exemplar of a complex mirror world, a large-scale ABVW we developed called Sentient World. Our contribution is the insight of partitioning ABVW architectures into deep and emergent structures that mirror modeling systems and emergent knowledge processes respectively, while developing extended design principles to facilitate their integration. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our design principles for informing and guiding future research and practice.

Innovations in Design Through Transformation: A Fundamental Study of Transformation Principles

The act of creating a new product, system, or process is an innovation; the result of excogitation, study and experimentation. It is an inductive and/or deductive process. The inductive process involves studying systems that exist, for example, in nature, patents and products, and inducing from the behavior of these systems elemental features for innovating novel products. The deductive process involves deducing such aspects from hypothetical concepts and situations where systems or products could exist. By the application of a combined inductive and deductive approach, this paper reports on a methodology for the creation of innovative products with a broader functional repertoire than traditional designs. This breed of innovative products is coined as transformers, transforming into different configurations or according to different states. Current design theory lacks a systematic methodology for the creation of products that have the ability to transform. This paper identifies analogies in nature, patents, and products along with hypothesizing the existence of such products in different environments and situations. Transformation design principles are extracted by studying key design features and functional elements that make up a transforming product. These principles are defined and categorized according to their roles in general transformations. The principles and categorizations are then validated and applied to conceptualize transforming products as part of an innovative design process.