Archtecture of a Design System for Engineering Idealizations

This paper describes the conceptual architecture of a design system that supports engineering idealizations and allows the development of an engineering model in all phases of the design cycle from preliminary design through manufacture. The model representation for the design system consists of functional, geometric, and attribute models. Modelers, analytic applications, and knowledge-based applications communicate via links which support functional capabilities. The process navigator tracks and controls model idealizations by interacting with the major components of the design system.