Scaling of technical systems using an object-based modelling approach

Abstract

Companies that operate and manufacture products in the technical area are exposed to increasingly challenging market situations. The developed products should be individualized to the customers' needs while offering high quality at an acceptable price. The temporal and especially economic claims are constantly growing, forcing the companies to develop a given product that matches the cost-side as well as the technical requirements in a short period of time. Following an initial development, it is often necessary to provide further product variants regarding a modified geometry or performance. A time and cost efficient way is the scaling of the initially developed product. Existing scaling methods focus on uniform geometry changes, not taking into account influences from non-uniform requirement or geometry alterations. Therefore, this article proposes an approach on how to modell and assess the outcome of a scaled assembly, based on the connection of individual scalable components inside an object-based approach. © 2019 Design Society. All rights reserved.