Design Information Modeling in 3-D CAD System for Concurrent Engineering and Its Application to Evaluation of Assemblability/Disassemblability in Conceptual Design

In order to achieve high concurrence for product design at the stage of conceptual design, we propose four concepts for the modeling of the products in 3-D CAD system, that is, the solid model involving various kinds of design information (Design Information Solid-Model), the functional block with the design information for conceptual design, the evaluation engine for the concurrence, and the interpretation of functional block as an object/agent in knowledge processing. We made a prototype system for the evaluation of assemblability/disassemblability, as examples of the evaluation of concurrence. The prototype system is based on DIS-model, functional model and evaluation engine. It is shown that the system is very useful for product design based on the concurrent engineering.