Journal of Mechanical Design

companion website

FEATURED ARTICLES

Incorporating Field Effects Into Functional Product-System Architecting Methods

Kevin Otto, Katja Hölttä-Otto, Roozbeh Sanaei, Kristin L. Wood
J. Mech. Des. Apr 2020, 142(4): 041402
This paper considers systems with field constraints, when elements cannot be placed in special regions such as a high-temperature field, a high-pressure field, a high magnetic field, etc.  Fields place constraints on architectural modularity choices and provide creative opportunities for the design of complex systems. This paper develops practical design guidelines for modularity by considering field constraints and highlighting on a system block diagram which elements are within a high field region. The ideas are demonstrated on a medical contrast injector that must partially operate in magnetic and sterile fields. These field constraints are shown to be designer choices: by changing the design concept one can move functional elements into or out of fields. This approach provides opportunities for innovation through a focus on moving field boundaries to generate new product-system architecture concepts. For the medical contrast injector device, an exemplar innovation for higher accuracy dosage was moving the pump away from the motor into the magnetic field through an umbilical drive. Overall, field boundaries are inherent considerations in product architecture, and the techniques in this paper provide a foundational set of guidelines and a general approach for designing systems within such considerations. ​
Incorporating Field Effects Into Functional Product-System Architecting Methods
For the full article visit ASME’s Digital Collection

SHARE: 

Featured Articles Subjects

Additive Manufacturing
Ancient design
Artificial Intelligence
Associate Editors
Awards
Bioinspired Design
Complex Engineered Systems
Compliant Mechanisms
Composites
Data Driven Design
Data Mining
Data-driven Design
Design Automation
Design Communities
Design Education
Design Fixation
Design Innovation
Design of Mechanisms and Robotic Systems
Design Optimization
Design Research
Design Theory
Design Theory And Methodology
Digital Twin
Direct Contact Mechanisms
Double-Blind Review Option
Dynamics
Editors' Choice Award
Energy
Engineered Materials And Structures
Ethics
Fluids
Gears
Generative Design
Guest Editorials
IDETC
Industry
Information Design
International Perspectives
JMD History
JMD Review Process
JMD Statistics
Kinematics
Leadership
Machine Learning
Manufacturing
Mechanisms
Mechanisms Robotics
Memoriam
Optimization
Origami
Orthotics
Piezoelectric Actuators
Power transmission gearing
Product Development
Robotics
Simulation-based Design
Smart Structures
Special Issues
Sustainable Design
System Design