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Abstract

The architecture of a product is defined as the scheme in which functions are mapped to physical components. Architecture affects how a product satisfies design objectives. There are several ways to measure architecture, and one is implemented into a solid modelling program that will do the quantification automatically. The software used is the I-DEAS solid modelling package, for which an internal program file was created to perform the calculations automatically. This program works by counting the parts that the user has created and then uses an internal I-DEAS function to find all of the joined parts. The program counts the joints and then prompts the user for the strength of each joint. With this information, an adjusted parts connectivity and average joint strength are calculated and can be used to evaluate the degree to which the architecture of a product is either integral or modular. Several case studies are presented that were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the program.

Keywords

product architecture design solid model

References

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Calculation of product architecture metrics within a solid modeller

Abstract

Abstract

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References