Change Impact Analysis in Engineering Design Process

Design changes frequently occur while design activities are performed. If the impact of design changes is estimated, design efficiency can be improved. But, the types of design changes are various and they can affect other design parts. Hence, it is difficult to deal with design changes directly. The purpose of this research is to develop systematic algorithms for change propagation tracing and change impact analysis, and then to implement a change impact analysis system. We have selected a process-based design and a design environment which is composed of design parameters and constraints. The algorithm for change propagation tracing tracks the change propagation of design parameters and finds design parameters, constraints and tasks which are probably changed. In the algorithm for change impact analysis, a change impact value is calculated from the list of changeable tasks. These two algorithms have been implemented into change impact analysis system (CIAS). CIAS has been applied to the redesign of 2 stage gear drives. CIAS can improve the efficiency of design activities. If there are many alternatives for a design change at the redesign step, designers can calculate the change impact value of each alternative and perform design change activities in the direction of minimizing design change impact.

공학 설계 프로세스에서 설계 변경 영향 해석