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Variations in functional decomposition for an existing product: Experimental results

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2012

Claudia Eckert*
Affiliation:
Design Group, Department of Design, Development, Environment and Materials, The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
Anne Ruckpaul
Affiliation:
Institut für Produktentwicklung, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Thomas Alink
Affiliation:
Institut für Produktentwicklung, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Albert Albers
Affiliation:
Institut für Produktentwicklung, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
*
Reprint requests to: Claudia Eckert, Design Group, Department of Design, Development, Environment and Materials, Room N2056, Venables Building, The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK. E-mail: c.m.eckert@open.ac.uk

Abstract

This paper describes the findings of an experiment on how different engineers understand notions of function and functional breakdown in the context of design by modification. The experiment was conducted with a homogenous group of 20 design engineers, who had all received the same education. The subjects were asked to analyze how a hydraulic pump works and summarize their understanding in a function tree. The subjects were given either the hydraulic pump itself (with part of its casing removed) or a maintenance drawing that showed a section cut of the pump. This paper shows typical outputs of the designers. It discusses the different notions of function that the subjects had and the differences in the function trees they generated. The paper focuses an eight detailed analyses to show the range of approaches the subjects took.

Type
Special Issue Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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