6533b852fe1ef96bd12aab2d

RESEARCH PRODUCT

A theoretical framework for product relationships description over space and time in integrated design

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ABSTRACTThis paper presents a novel qualitative description theory in the context of integrated design, which here incorporates assembly sequence planning in the early product design stages (also called assembly oriented design – AOD). Based on a literature review of current AOD approaches, product models and mereotopology-based theories, the authors introduce a promising mereotopological theory which enables the formal product relationships description in integrated design by introducing an emerging framework, four-dimensionalism (i.e. perdurantism in philosophy). The proposed efforts aim at providing a concrete basis for describing the evolution of spatial entities (i.e. product parts) and their relationships over time and space during the design phases by considering their related assembly processes. In product design, the interpretation of engineering reality from a perdurantist point of view leads to a seamless consideration of relationships between spatial, temporal and spatiotemporal dimensions. In...