Transforming functional models to critical chain models via expert knowledge and automatic parsing rules for design analogy identification

Abstract

Critical chains composed of critical flows and functions have been demonstrated as an effective qualitative analogy retrieval approach based on performance metrics. In prior work, engineers used expert knowledge to transform functional models into critical chain models, which are abstractions of the functional model. Automating this transformation process is highly desirable so as to provide for a robust transformation method. Within this paper, two paradigms for functional modeling abstraction are compared. A series of pruning rules provide an automated transformation approach, and this is compared to the results generated previously through an expert knowledge approach. These two approaches are evaluated against a set of published functional models. The similarity of the resulting transformation of the functional models into critical chain models is evaluated using a functional chain similarity metric, developed in previous work. Once critical chain models are identified, additional model evaluation criteria are used to evaluate the utility of the critical chain models for design analogy identification. Since the functional vocabulary acts as a common language among designers and engineers to abstract and represent critical design artifact information, analogous matching can be made about the functional vocabulary. Thus, the transformation of functional models into critical chain models enables engineers to use functional abstraction as a mechanism to identify design analogies. The critical flow rule is the most effective first step when automatically transforming a functional model to a critical chain model. Further research into more complex critical chain model architectures and the interactions between criteria is merited.

Analysis of Functional Reference Architecture Through an Industry Lens

“…Functional decomposition has long been performed using hierarchical Functional Breakdown Structures these permit only a limited analysis of function. The following sections explore a concept of creating a reference functional architecture using functional chain analysis (Lucero, 2014, Agyemang, 2017, Telleschi, 2018.…”

A structure mapping–based representation of knowledge transfer in conceptual design process

“…Through functional analysis, Fantoni et al 13 encoded a database of design instances by functional terms describing their subfunctions and then abstracted design problem into subfunctions which are used to search analogies from the database by the occurrence analysis on functions. Agyemang et al 14 transformed the generic functional model into a critical chain model used for design analogy identification, and the latter is composed of flows and functions that are significantly related to the performance of a design. Unlike the above methods using functional representations for analogy search, some structured analogical design methods take schematization concepts directly as analogical stimuli or use the schematization concepts to organize instance knowledge as the source for analogy search.…”

“…The process of conceptual design can be characterized as defining function specification, seeking principle solutions and finally formulating physical structure, and the involved engineering attributes (i.e. function, principle, and structure) can be used for the representation and comparison of design outputs, and further to find design analogies from them, such as in the researches by Qian and Gero, 10 McAdams and Wood, 11 Sartori et al, 12 Fantoni et al, 13 and Agyemang et al 14 2. Representation driven by expert schema.…”

Thoughts on benchmarking of function modeling: Why and how

“…In “Transforming Function Models to Critical Chain Models Via Expert Knowledge and Automatic Parsing Rules for Design Analogy Identification,” Malena Agyemang, Julie Linsey, and Cameron J. Turner seek to determine if pruning rules are a viable method to transform a complex function model into a model that only illustrates critical functions and critical flows (Agyemang et al, 2017). The authors use as a benchmark a set of expertly (manually) derived function models and compare those to models derived using pruning or parsing rules.…”