A Software System Embodying the Support for Conceptual Design Synthesis

Conceptual design synthesis is recognized as the most critical design task, where functional decomposition and function to structure mapping are widely advocated as two fundamental synthesis strategies. However, these strategies only provide some top-level guidelines to the designers in carrying out such essential design task. Embodiment methods and tools are thus much needed by the designers, especially for the novice. In this paper, we present a design synthesis software system, where functional decomposition is embodied as including not only decomposition of function, but also decomposition of design problem and/or design task. The function to structure mapping is embodied as including not only direct function to structure mapping, but also mapping via behaviour and behaviour process. Besides, both structure and materials are taken as part of design solutions. The object-oriented technology is employed in the implementation of the software, and a design case of a GMM speaker is studied to demonstrate its usage as well as its applicability.