This is the first of a two part paper summarizing and reviewing research in mechanical engineering design theory and methodology. Part I includes: 1) descriptive models; 2) prescrptive models; and 3) computer-based models of design processes. Part II, which will appear in the next issue of this journal, will include: 4) languages, representations, and environments for design; 5) analysis in support of design; and 6) design for manufacture and the life-cycle. For each major area, we discuss the current topics of research and the state of the art, emphasizing recent significant advances. We also discuss the important open research issues in each area. The six categories are certainly not mutually exclusive nor even collectively exhaustive; however, some organization is necessary, and these categories have been effective in making sense of a body of research that is expending rapidly in many exciting and promising directions. The mechanical engineering design research community has made major advances over the last few years. The research community in mechanical engineering design has made significant progress not only in advancing our knowledge of design, but also in clarifying the research methods necessary to study design. Great progress is being made toward a better understanding of design, and hence toward better design tools.

A review of research in mechanical engineering design. Part I: Descriptive, prescriptive, and computer-based models of design processes

Assembly planning and evaluation is an important component of the product design process in which details about how parts of a new product will be put together are formalized. A well designed assembly process should take into account various factors such as optimum assembly time and sequence, tooling and fixture requirements, ergonomics, operator safety, and accessibility, among others. Existing computer-based tools to support virtual assembly either concentrate solely on representation of the geometry of parts and fixtures and evaluation of clearances and tolerances or use simulated human mannequins to approximate human interaction in the assembly process. Virtual reality technology has the potential to support integration of natural human motions into the computer aided assembly planning environment (Ritchie et al. in Proc I MECH E Part B J Eng 213(5):461–474, 1999). This would allow evaluations of an assembler’s ability to manipulate and assemble parts and result in reduced time and cost for product design. This paper provides a review of the research in virtual assembly and categorizes the different approaches. Finally, critical requirements and directions for future research are presented.

https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1129&context=me_pubs

Virtual reality for assembly methods prototyping: a review

The paper reports on the development of a 2D geometric constraint solver. The solver is a major component of a new generation of cad systems based on a high-level geometry representation. The solver uses a graph-reduction directed algebraic approach, and achieves interactive speed. The paper describes the architecture of the solver and its basic capabilities. Then, it discusses in detail how to extend the scope of the solver, with particular emphasis on the theoretical and human factors involved in finding a solution, in an exponentially large search space, so that the solution is appropriate to the application, and so that the way of finding it is intuitive for an untrained user.

/pdf/geometric-constraint-solver-1rperl7hbt.pdf

Geometric constraint solver

Ever since the plus/minus limits on dimensions first started to appear on engineering drawings in the early 1900s, tolerances have been one of the most important issues for every engineer involved in the product realization processes. In particular, with the advancement of computers and CAD/CAM techniques in the 1970s, the tolerance-related issues have continuously drawn the attention of many researchers since then. As a result, a tremendous number of research articles have been published over the last 30 years. This paper aims at a comprehensive state-of-the-art review on various tolerancing issues in design and manufacturing. However, due to the overwhelming number of existing research publications, any reviews on tolerancing issues could by no means be exhaustive. Rather, this review attempts to provide the reader with a view toward a balanced understanding of the various problems in tolerancing by presenting some typical research work for each of the classified fields, and tries to draw the potential ...

A comprehensive review of tolerancing research

The industry foundation class (IFC) standard building model schema is a necessary but not sufficient condition for achieving full interoperability between building information modeling (BIM) tools....

Exchange Model and Exchange Object Concepts for Implementation of National BIM Standards

Systems for computer-aided mechanical design use geometric models for drafting, analysis and programming of NC machines. Because design is iterative in nature, the topology, geometry or dimensioning of a geometric model must be modified many times during the design cycle. The effectiveness of future CAD systems will depend in large part upon the ease with which geometric models can be created and modified. This paper presents the results of a research effort to develop flexible procedures for the definition and modification of geometric models. A central idea of this effort is that dimensions, such as appear on a mechanical drawing, are a natural descriptorr of geometry and provide the most appropriate means for altering a geometric model. A procedure is described by which geometry is determined from a set of dimensions. The geometry corresponding to an altered dimension is found through the simultaneous solution of the set of constraint equations. Presented in this paper are the basic approach to modifications of geometric models, a procedure for significant reduction of the number of constraint equations to be solved, and the effect of sparse matrix methods in reducing the time required to solve the equations.

Modification of geometric models through variational geometry

Variational geometry: A new method for modifying part geometry for finite element analysis

The Use of Symbolic Dimensioning in Computer-Aided Design

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Modification of geometric models through variational geometry

Variational geometry: A new method for modifying part geometry for finite element analysis

The Use of Symbolic Dimensioning in Computer-Aided Design