Ontological approach to design reasoning with the use of many-sorted first-order logic

This paper is a continuation and extension in developing the knowledge-based decision support design system (called HSSDR) which communicates with the designer via drawings. Graph-based modeling of conceptualization in the CAD process, which enables the system to automatically transform design drawings into appropriate graph-based data structures, is considered. Hierarchical graphs with bonds are proposed as a representation of designs. An ontological commitment between design conceptualization and internal representations of solutions, which enables us to capture intended design models, is described. Moreover, the first-order logic (FOL) of HSSDR is replaced by many-sorted FOL that makes it possible to define different sorts in specification of functions and predicates in semantics and design constraint verification