2/9/2016 Corinna Königseder and Kristina Shea
J. Mech. Des. 2015;138(1):011102-011102-12. doi:10.1115/1.4031714

​Computational Design Synthesis (CDS) methods can be used to enable the computer to generate valid and even creative solutions for engineering tasks. In grammatical approaches to CDS, formal grammars are used to represent a desired design language. This language consists of vocabulary that usually describes components and subsystems of a design and a set of grammar rules that describe possible design transformations. The formalized engineering knowledge can then be used by the computer to synthesize designs. For most engineering tasks, two different kinds of rules are required: rules that change the topology of a design, i.e. how the components are connected, and rules that change parameters of a design. One of the main challenges in CDS using topologic and parametric grammar rules is to decide a priori which type of rule to apply in which stage of the synthesis process as well as whether to start from a valid design and perturb it or to start from a void design. The research presented in this paper compares different strategies for topologic and parametric rule applications during automated design synthesis driven by a search algorithm. The presented strategies are compared considering quantity and quality of the generated designs. The effect of the strategies, the selected search algorithm, and the initial design, from which the synthesis is started, are analyzed for two case studies: the synthesis of gearboxes and of bicycle frames. Results show that the effect of the strategy is dependent on the design task and recommendations are given on which strategies to use for which design task.

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