FORM FEATURE BASED DESIGN KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION FOR ULCE

IN LARGE, LONG LIFE, COMPLEX PRODUCTS SUCH AS MODERN WEAPONS SYSTEMS THE ORIGINAL DESIGN TEAM IS LONG SINCE GONE WHEN THE PRODUCT EXHIBITS THE DESIGN PROBLEMS. THE ONLY WAY TO PROVIDE THE NEW DESIGN TEAM WITH VISIBILITY INTO THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE DESIGN DECISIONS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS IS TO PROVIDE A MEANS OF CAPTURE OF THE DESIGN RATIONALE AND THE CORRELATE THIS RATIONAL TO THE EFFECTS. THIS PROJECT FOCUSES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DESIGN KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (DKMS) CONCEPTUAL DESIGN WITH VARIOUS FORM FEATURE CAPABILITIES TO ALLOW FOR THE: 1) INTEGRATION OF A NUMBER OF "DESIGN DECISION SUPPORT TOOOLS"; 2) DEVELOPMENT OF "DESIGNER" SYSTEMS WHICH AUTOMATICALLY MAKE THE DESIRED DESIGN TRADEOFF DECISIONS; 3) REDUCE THE TIME FOR CONCEPT ENTRY PARTICULARY THE ENTRY OF FORM FEATURE GEOMETRY DATA AND THE GENERATION OF DESIGN TRADEOFF MODEL INPUT DATA DERIVED FROM THAT PRODUCT GEOMETRY; 4) DELIVERY OF QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENTS OF DESIGN OPTIONS BY PROVIDING THE ABILITY TO ASSOCIATIVELY INDEX HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE STRUCTURE AROUND FORM FEATURE INTERPRETATION OF THE EVOLVING PRODUCT GEOMETRY.