Modelling and assessing platform architectures in pre-embodiment phases through set-based evaluation and change propagation

The establishment of a platform architecture is a critical task but there is no methodological support for this in the firstphases of development. There are several approaches for evaluating designs and architectures when an initial design is present,however, not for the phases foregoing the embodiment of ideas into concepts. This paper fills this void by introducing a newdesign methodology for modelling, assessing and narrowing down the architectural design space. It allows exploration of morealternatives in the earliest phases of development, which ultimately may produce better designs. The result is a design space of amanageable and desirable size for subsequent embodiment and detailed design with traditional engineering tools. The advantageis that feasibility of the candidate platforms have been established to a high degree of certainty. The approach is illustrated witha case of redesign showing how a manufacturer of parts for a jet engine can use the methodology to model and assess platformconcepts in the earliest phase of development

Enhanced function-means modeling supporting design space exploration

One problem in incremental product development is that geometric models are limited in their ability to explore radical alternative design variants. In this publication, a function modeling approach is suggested to increase the amount and variety of explored alternatives, since function models (FM) provide greater model flexibility. An enhanced function-means (EF-M) model capable of representing the constraints of the design space as well as alternative designs is created through a reverse engineering process. This model is then used as a basis for the development of a new product variant. This work describes the EF-M model's capabilities for representing the design space and integrating novel solutions into the existing product structure and explains how these capabilities support the exploration of alternative design variants. First-order analyses are executed, and the EF-M model is used to capture and represent already existing design information for further analyses. Based on these findings, a design space exploration approach is developed. It positions the FM as a connection between legacy and novel designs and, through this, allows for the exploration of more diverse product concepts. This approach is based on three steps-decomposition, design, and embodiment-and builds on the capabilities of EF-M to model alternative solutions for different requirements. While the embodiment step of creating the novel product's geometry is still a topic for future research, the design space exploration concept can be used to enable wider, more methodological, and potentially automated design space exploration

S... comme Superstars (théorie des)

Approche théorique des très hauts revenus des superstars du sport. Voir l'article paru dans la Revue d'économie politique, 118, n 3, mai-juin 2008, pp. 375-394)